Division of Moore

George Fletcher Moore, the division's namesake

The Division was named after George Fletcher Moore, the first Advocate-General of Western Australia, and is at present a safe Liberal seat held by Ian Goodenough since the 2013 federal election, having changed significantly throughout its history in both geographical area and in political character.

Due to significant demographic change, the seat's boundaries and constituency has evolved considerably since it was proclaimed at the 11 May 1949 redistribution. At that time, it was basically a rural electorate, which included parts of the Wheatbelt along the Indian Ocean coast to the north and east of Perth, the state capital — a similar region to that presently covered by the state seat of Moore. At the 1949 election, it was won by the Country Party. The seat maintained its rural character over the years, even though construction of the northern suburbs of Perth from the 1960s onwards meant that its southern boundary was eventually sited inside the urban fringe.

The 28 February 1980 redistribution moved much of the electorate's rural hinterland into the new seat of O'Connor, and the creation of Cowan four years later, in the suburbs north of Reid Highway to Whitfords Avenue, meant that Moore was transformed into a safe Labor seat, with a population centred on Midland, but still including the shires of Chittering, Gingin and Dandaragan to the north.

The creation of Pearce at the 31 March 1989 redistribution pushed Moore into the now heavily urban and relatively affluent coastal areas north of the Reid Highway, removing areas like Midland and Beechboro completely, and making it a notionally Liberal seat.[1] The Liberals won it at the 1990 election and have held it ever since, apart from the period between the 1996 and 1998 federal elections, when the member, Paul Filing, was disendorsed by the Liberal Party and was elected as an Independent. The Liberal candidate, Mal Washer, regained the seat for his party at the 1998 election.

The seat presently contains the majority of the City of Joondalup, in the northwest metropolitan area of Perth. Suburbs presently included are:[2]

• Division of Moore - Australian Electoral Commission