The Division of Forrest is an

Australian Electoral Division Electorates (also known as electoral divisions or seats) of the Australian House of Representatives are single member electoral districts for the lower house of the Parliament of the Commonwealth. There are currently 150 electorates. Constitut ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...

. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.

History

The division was created in 1922 and is named for

Sir John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...

, the first

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

and a federal Cabinet minister. It is located in the

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

region of the state and, as of the 2022 election, includes the Cities of Bunbury and

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destin ...

along with the Shires of Augusta-Margaret River, Capel, Dardanup, Donnybrook-Balingup, and Harvey. The Shire of Nannup was previously part of the seat, but was transferred to the neighbouring electorate of

O'Connor O'Connor or O'Conor may refer to: People * O'Connor or O'Conor, an Irish clan * O'Connor Sligo, a royal dynasty ruling the northern part of the Kingdom of Connacht * O'Connor (surname), including a list of people with the surname Places * Burdett ...

following a 2021 redistribution.https://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2021/wa/files/redistribution-of-western-australia-into-electoral-divisions-august-2021.pdf Before the 1943 election, it was a Country Party seat, but since the 1949 election it has been held by the Liberals for all but one term.

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

has only held the seat for three terms, during the high-tide elections of

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

and

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, and in the midst of the Coalition's near-defeat of

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

. It reverted to the Liberals in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

even as Labor won government. The seat was marginal for most of the 1980s, but a 1990 redistribution made the seat much more secure for the Liberals. In 2022, amidst a statewide collapse of Liberal Party support, sitting member

Nola Marino Nola Bethwyn Marino (née Catalano; born 18 February 1954) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2007, representing the Division of Forrest in Western Australia. She is a member of the Liberal Pa ...

suffered a swing of over 10 percent, leaving her holding the seat on a 4.29 percent margin. Notable members include

Nelson Lemmon Nelson Lemmon (22 March 1908 – 20 March 1989) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Minister for Works and Housing (1946–1949) in the Chifley government. He played a key role in esta ...

, a minister in the Chifley Government,

Gordon Freeth Sir Gordon Freeth, KBE (6 August 191427 November 2001) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1969, including as a minister in the Coalition governments from 1958 to 1969. He later ...

, a minister in the

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

, Holt and

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A ...

governments, and

Geoff Prosser Geoffrey Daniel Prosser (born 6 November 1948) is an Australian businessman and former politician. He served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, L ...

, a minister in the

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

government.

Members

Election results

References

External links

Division of Forrest - Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, Division of Electoral divisions of Australia Electoral divisions of Australia in Western Australia Constituencies established in 1922 1922 establishments in Australia