Area 1,949 km² Namesake Darling Scarp | Electors 31,142 (2017) | |
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Dates current 1950–1974; 1977–present Demographic Electoral region of East Metropolitan Party Liberal Party of Australia | ||
Darling Range is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.
Contents
The district is based to the east and south-east of Perth.
Geography
Darling Range is situated in the outer east and south-east of Perth. It is a mixture of suburbia and hinterland, falling inside the Metropolitan Region Scheme and running along most of its southern and eastern boundary. The district covers all of the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale as well as the less urbanised parts of the City of Armadale, Shire of Kalamunda and Shire of Mundaring.
History
Darling Range was first created for the 1950 state election. The seat's first member was Country MP Ray Owen, who was previously the member for Swan. The district was abolished ahead of the 1974 state election. By this time its member was Liberal MP Ian Thompson, who went on to represent the new district of Kalamunda. Darling Range was recreated just one term later for the 1977 state election.
The seat was radically redistributed ahead of the 2008 state election, with just 15% of the voters in the redrawn district coming from its former configuration. Half of the district's voters—and indeed the vast majority of its territory—previously belonged to the abolished district of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, with the remainder coming from Armadale and Swan Hills. Thus, sitting Serpentine-Jarrahdale member, Liberal MP Tony Simpson became the new member for Darling Range at the 2008 election. Whilst the former member for Darling Range, Liberal MP John Day, successfully contested the new seat of Kalamunda.
Whilst the district in both its incarnations has never been held by the Labor Party, it has at times been highly marginal.