Final electoral boundary redistribution sees entire Shire of Plantagenet moved into Albany electorate for 2025

The entire Shire of Plantagenet will join the Albany electorate at the 2025 State election, adding an extra 3840 electors and nearly doubling the size of the electorate’s area. The boundaries published by the Office of the Electoral Distribution Commissioners on Friday confirmed the expansion of the Albany electorate at the next election. A proposal put forward in July suggested expanding the Albany boundary to include Mt Barker, Narrikup, Porongurup, Woogenellup and Takalarup, with the Roe electorate absorbing the rest of the Shire of Plantagenet. The decision to include the entire Shire of Plantagenet addressed concerns raised during the public comment period. The report stated the change “reflects the communities of interest that are shared by the Shire of Plantagenet and the City of Albany in terms of government service delivery, common industries, and shared infrastructure”. The boundary will also extend slightly further north into the shires of Cranbrook and Gnowangerup to include the entire Stirling Range National Park. The changes will result in the size of the electorate more than doubling, from 4324sqkm at the 2021 election to 9814sqkm, and add an extra 3840 electors, from 28,540 to 32,380. The Warren-Blackwood electorate, which will lose the Shire of Plantagenet, will retain the Shire of Denmark and encompass the entire Shire of Augusta-Margaret River at the next election. The new area is 4815sqkm smaller — from 23,045sqkm down to 18,230sqkm — and with a smaller elector base, from 31,822 down to 29,892. The 120,414sqkm electorate of Roe — up from 105,000sqkm — stretches from the Shire of West Arthur to the Shire of Esperance and includes all upper Great Southern local government areas. Its elector base will grow by 2257 to 27,644.