The Poll Bludger - Australian State and Federal Elections

CHURCHLANDS Independent 21.6% (versus Labor)*
Upper house region: North Metropolitan Federal division: Curtin/Stirling * 2005 result on old boundaries
	SINISA KRSTIC Labor (bottom) GEORGE CRISP Greens ELIZABETH CONSTABLE Independent (top)


Two-candidate booth results are IND vs ALP in booths that served Churchlands at the 2005 election, and LIB vs ALP elsewhere

Churchlands was created in 1996 in place of abolished Floreat, both covering the affluent post-war suburbs of City Beach and Wembley Downs. Floreat was held for the Liberals by Andrew Mensaros from 1968 until his death in 1991, when it was won at a by-election by conservative independent Elizabeth Constable. Constable had been the popular choice locally for the Liberal nomination but withdrew when it became clear she was headed for defeat by a candidate who had the backing of Noel Crichton-Browne. In a scenario that would later play out in the federal electorates of Curtin and Moore, the defeated candidate went on to carry the seat as an independent. Unlike her federal counterparts, Constable has survived and prospered, so much so that the Liberals did not bother to challenge her in 1996 when she polled 83.2 per cent in a two-horse race against Labor. With the Liberals back in the contest in 2001, Constable was back down to 46.6 per cent without being seriously troubled by a Liberal candidate who polled 36.6 per cent. The subsequent redistribution pushed the electorate north into lower income Scarborough and Osborne Park, allowing Labor to finish second ahead of the Liberals, but Constable again went untroubled with 43.7 per cent of the primary vote. The current redistribution has drawn the electorate back to the south, transferring its northern areas to the new seat of Scarborough and adding City Beach in the south and West Leederville in the east.

One of Colin Barnett's first orders of business on returning to the Liberal leadership the day before the election was called was to bolster his party's meagre ranks of female talent by making overtures to Liz Constable. On the second day of the campaign he announced that Constable, while remaining an independent, would be given a place in cabinet as Public Sector Management and Government Accountability Minister in an incoming Liberal government.

ASSESSMENT: Independent retain