Division of Tangney
The Division of Tangney is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. The Division was named after Dame Dorothy Tangney, the first female member of the Australian Senate, and is at present a safe Liberal seat. It is currently held by Ben Morton, a former state director of the Liberal Party.
Tangney Australian House of Representatives Division | |
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![]() Division of Tangney in Western Australia, as of the 2021 redistribution. | |
Created | 1974 |
MP | Ben Morton |
Party | Liberal Party of Australia |
Namesake | Dame Dorothy Tangney |
Electors | 94,353 (2019) |
Area | 83 km2 (32.0 sq mi) |
Demographic | Inner metropolitan |
Dennis Jensen lost Liberal preselection in Tangney for the 2016 election.[1] Jensen ran against the endorsed Liberal candidate Ben Morton and lost.
History

Tangney was established at the Western Australia redistribution of 19 April 1974 and was first contested at the 1974 election. Until the 1984 redistribution, the seat included a much wider area including the traditional Labor areas of Spearwood and Gosnells, and the seat was a bellwether seat represented by the party of government. In 1984, the seat was confined to its present borders and has been held by the Liberal Party ever since.
It was first held by John Dawkins, later a Treasurer of Australia (as Member for Fremantle), and was held from 1993 until 2004 by Daryl Williams, former Attorney-General of Australia and Rhodes Scholar.[2]
The seat briefly made national headlines in August 2006 when Matt Brown, once a chief-of-staff to former Defence Minister Robert Hill, defeated incumbent Dennis Jensen for preselection, despite support for the latter from John Howard. However, on 7 October 2006, the decision was overturned by the Liberals' Western Australian state council and Jensen was once again confirmed as the candidate for the 2007 election.[3]
Jensen lost Liberal preselection in Tangney for the 2016 federal election. Announced on 3 April 2016, it was revealed he had written an unpublished book that included a sex scene, subsequently published as an e-book.[4][5][6] Former party state director Ben Morton won preselection. On 2 July 2016 Ben Morton won the Tangney seat with 61.5% of the vote, losing 1.5% towards the Labor Party.
Geography
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. 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.[7]
The seat presently contains most of the City of Melville, a part of the City of Canning and a small portion of the City of Cockburn and is located south of the Swan and Canning rivers. Suburbs presently included are:[8]
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In August 2021, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced Tangney would gain the Canning suburb of Wilson from the seat of Swan and the Canning-Gosnells suburb of Canning Vale from the seat of Burt. These boundary changes will take place as of the next Australian federal election.[9]
Members
Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
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John Dawkins (1947–) |
Labor | 18 May 1974 – 13 December 1975 |
Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Fremantle in 1977 | |
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Peter Richardson (1939–) |
Liberal | 13 December 1975 – 13 October 1977 |
Did not contest in 1977. Failed to win a Senate seat | |
Progress | 13 October 1977 – 10 November 1977 | ||||
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Peter Shack (1953–) |
Liberal | 10 November 1977 – 5 March 1983 |
Lost seat | |
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George Gear (1947–) |
Labor | 5 March 1983 – 1 December 1984 |
Transferred to the Division of Canning | |
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Peter Shack (1953–) |
Liberal | 1 December 1984 – 8 February 1993 |
Retired | |
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Daryl Williams (1942–) |
Liberal | 13 March 1993 – 31 August 2004 |
Served as minister under Howard. Retired | |
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Dennis Jensen (1962–) |
Liberal | 9 October 2004 – 9 May 2016 |
Lost preselection and then lost seat | |
Independent | 9 May 2016 – 2 July 2016 | ||||
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Ben Morton (1981–) |
Liberal | 2 July 2016 – present |
Incumbent |
Election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Ben Morton | 44,740 | 53.63 | +4.82 | |
Labor | Marion Boswell | 21,644 | 25.95 | +2.40 | |
Greens | Martin Spencer | 9,319 | 11.17 | −1.22 | |
Independent | Jillian Horton | 1,933 | 2.32 | +2.32 | |
One Nation | Scott Rafferty | 1,732 | 2.08 | +2.08 | |
Christians | Mark Staer | 1,695 | 2.03 | −1.34 | |
Western Australia | Gavin Waugh | 1,080 | 1.29 | +1.29 | |
United Australia | Chris Fernandez | 969 | 1.16 | +1.16 | |
Independent | Paul Waddy | 307 | 0.37 | +0.37 | |
Total formal votes | 83,419 | 95.61 | −1.84 | ||
Informal votes | 3,831 | 4.39 | +1.84 | ||
Turnout | 87,250 | 92.47 | +1.27 | ||
Two-party-preferred result | |||||
Liberal | Ben Morton | 51,275 | 61.47 | +0.40 | |
Labor | Marion Boswell | 32,144 | 38.53 | −0.40 | |
Liberal hold | Swing | +0.40 |
References
- Dennis Jensen, West Australian MP, blames 'dirty tricks' after being dumped by Liberal preselectors: ABC 3 April 2016
- "ABC "Australia Votes" - Tangney Electorate Profile". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- "Dumped MP re-endorsed for federal seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. AAP. 8 October 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
- Robin, Myriam (13 April 2016). "We read the not-so-erotic thriller that brought down Dennis Jensen". Crikey. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- Clarke, Jenna (16 April 2016). "Dennis Jensen MP's The Skywarriors erotic book: reviewed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- Jensen, Dennis (2016). The Skywarriors. OCLC 951640930.
- Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- "Profile of the electoral division of Tangney (WA)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- https://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2021/wa/files/redistribution-of-western-australia-into-electoral-divisions-august-2021.pdf
- Tangney, WA, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.