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Churchlands
Western Australia—Legislative Assembly
Churchlands; Western Australia—Legislative Assembly
	Location of Churchlands (dark green) in the Perth metropolitan area
State	Western Australia
Dates current	1996–present
MP	Christine Tonkin
Party	Labor
Namesake	Churchlands
Electors	29,084 (2021)
Area	24 km2 (9.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Metropolitan
Coordinates	31°56′S 115°47′E / 31.93°S 115.79°E

Churchlands is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Churchlands is named for the western suburb of Churchlands, which falls within its borders, and was created at the 1994 redistribution, replacing the seat of Floreat which had existed since 1968.^[1]

It was held for most of its history by Liz Constable, the independent former member for Floreat who had won the predecessor seat in a 1991 by-election. However, the seat's demographics suggested it was a strongly Liberal seat on paper, and it was taken for granted Constable would be succeeded by a Liberal once she retired. Constable retired at the 2013 election, and was succeeded as expected by Liberal Sean L'Estrange. L'Estrange held the seat until his unexpected defeat by Christine Tonkin in 2021.

Demographics

Churchlands and the neighbouring electorates of Nedlands to the southeast and Cottesloe to the southwest comprise the affluent western suburbs of Perth—the Australian Bureau of Statistics's SEIFA index (2001) ranked them as the highest three electorates by socio-economic status in Western Australia, with high scores on educational and employment opportunity. At the 2006 census, the median individual income in the Churchlands electorate, based on its 2005 boundaries, was $607 per week compared to $513 in the Perth metropolitan area, and the median weekly household income was $1,115 compared to $1,086 across Perth. 45.4% of the population were professionals or managers.^[2]

All three seats were considered comfortably safe Liberal seats, until the 2021 state election, and they are almost entirely within the federal seat of Curtin, which was safe Liberal as well until teal independent Kate Chaney won it in 2022.

Members for Churchlands

	Party	Term
Liz Constable	Independent	1996–2013
Sean L'Estrange	Liberal	2013–2021
Christine Tonkin	Labor	2021–present

Election results

2021 Western Australian state election: Churchlands^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sean L'Estrange	11,087	43.9	−9.2
	Labor	Christine Tonkin	9,938	39.4	+15.8
	Greens	Mark Twiss	2,640	10.5	−3.6
	Independent	Jim Bivoltsis	714	2.8	−1.3
	Christians	Ray Moran	394	1.6	−0.5
	No Mandatory Vaccination	L. Pearce	320	1.3	+1.3
	WAxit	Alexandra Farsalas	146	0.6	−0.9
Total formal votes			25,239	97.5	+0.7
Informal votes			650	2.5	−0.7
Turnout			25,889	89.0	+0.1
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Christine Tonkin	12,821	50.8	+12.5
	Liberal	Sean L'Estrange	12,413	49.2	−12.5
	Labor gain from Liberal		Swing	+12.5

References

^ "Electoral Distributions Act 1947 - Division of the State into Six Electoral Regions and 57 Electoral Districts by the Electoral Distribution Commissioners". Western Australia Government Gazette. 28 November 1994. p. 1994:6135-6327.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Community Profile Series: Churchlands (North Metropolitan) (State Electoral Division)". 2006 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
* Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Community Profile Series: Perth (Statistical Division)". 2006 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
^ 2021 State General Election – Churchlands District Results, WAEC