Kalgoorlie

The Division of Kalgoorlie was an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia, named after the city of Kalgoorlie. The Division was proclaimed in 1900 as one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election in 1901. In its final form, it covered most of the land area of Western Australia, with a size of —over 90 percent of the state's landmass (an area the size of France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland and Great Britain combined). It included the Goldfields-Esperance, Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia, in addition to the eastern and far northern parts of the Mid West region, and the town of Merredin. It was the largest single-member electorate by area in the world—almost a third of the continent. History For most of its history, Kalgoorlie was split between strongly pro-Labor territory in the mining regions and more conservative-leaning farming areas, and from the 1980s Labor also benefited from the support of indigenous voters in the northern parts of the electorate. Unlike seats in the eastern states with similar demographics, it was not usually reckoned as a bellwether for winning government—primarily because most elections have already been decided by the time the first returns come in from the state. The Liberals (and their predecessors) and Labor alternated for long spells in the seat. As evidence of how little it was affected by trends in the rest of the country, all but one of its members from 1922 onward spent at least one term in opposition. For most of the time from 1922 to 1995, the conservative farming areas were usually swamped by Labor support in mining towns. Labor lost the electorate only when its support in Western Australia collapsed, such as in the late 1970s due to the regional backlash against the Whitlam government. In 1995, however, sitting Labor MP Graeme Campbell was expelled from the party. He retained the electorate at the 1996 election, but in 1998 was defeated by Liberal Barry Haase, who held the seat until its abolition despite vigorous challenges from Labor. Haase benefited from the popularity of the Liberal Party in Western Australia during this period, as well as a sharp decline in Labor support in the city of Kalgoorlie, previously a Labor stronghold for the better part of a century.