Division of Fremantle facts for kids

Fremantle Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Fremantle (green) in Western Australia
Created	1901
MP	Melissa Parke
Party	Labor
Namesake	Fremantle
Electors	93,378 (2010)
Area	201 km2 (77.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner Metropolitan

The Division of Fremantle is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. It was one of the original 75 divisions for the first federal election in 1901. It is named for the city of Fremantle, which in turn is named for Captain Charles Fremantle. Fremantle was captain of HMS Challenger, which brought the first settlers to Western Australia. The Division includes the southern suburbs of Perth, Cockburn, Coolbellup, Palmyra, Fremantle and Rottnest Island.

The division originally included Perth's southwestern suburbs. Boundary changes since 1949 have made it a very safe seat for the Australian Labor Party.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Elias Solomon	Free Trade	1901–1903
	William Carpenter	Labor	1903–1906
	William Hedges	Western Australian	1906–1909
		Commonwealth Liberal	1909–1913
	Reginald Burchell	Labor	1913–1916
		National Labor	1916–1917
		Nationalist	1917–1922
	William Watson	Independent	1922–1928
	John Curtin	Labor	1928–1931
	William Watson	United Australia	1931–1934
	John Curtin	Labor	1934–1945
	Kim Beazley (senior)	Labor	1945–1977
	John Dawkins	Labor	1977–1994
	Carmen Lawrence	Labor	1994–2007
	Melissa Parke	Labor	2007–present

Many senior Labor members have held Fremantle. The most famous was John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 to 1945.Others were Kim Beazley (senior), a minister in the Whitlam Government; John Dawkins, a minister in the Hawke Government and Keating Governments; and Carmen Lawrence, the former Premier of Western Australia and a minister in the Keating Government. Melissa Parke is a former United Nations lawyer.