Profile of the electoral division of Durack (WA)

Updated: 7 August 2020
State/Territory:
Western Australia
Date this name and boundary was gazetted:
19 January 2016
First election this name was used at:
2010 federal election
First election this boundary was used at:
2016 federal election
Map of Division:
Name derivation:
Named to honour succeeding generations of the Durack family who were pioneers and developers of the Kimberley region, including:
  • Patrick Durack, 1834–98, who took up land on the Ord River in the East Kimberley in 1882,
  • W J Durack who worked as a doctor in the Marble Bar and Murchinson district and was the first to diagnose leprosy in the Aboriginal people of this area,
  • Michael Patrick Durack, 1865–1950, who promoted the development of the northern parts of Western Australia,
  • Dame Mary Gertrude Durack DBE AC, 1913–94, the author and historian who wrote about the outback, Australian settlers, the history of missionaries in Western Australia and her family's struggles and achievements as pioneers in the Kimberley region,
  • Elizabeth Durack OBE, 1915–2000, the artist whose works capture remote parts of north and central Western Australia,
  • Kimberley Michael Durack, 1917–1968, who established the Ord River Research Station, which led to irrigated farming around Kununurra, and
  • Peter Drew Durack, 1926–2008, who was a Senator for Western Australia (1971–1993) and introduced the Freedom of Information Act.
Area:
1,629,858 sq km
Location description:
Durack covers a large area from Kununurra in the north to Quairading in the south and includes coastal islands. The division includes the Cities of Greater Geraldton and Karratha and the Shires of Broome, Carnarvon, Cunderdin, Dandaragan, Derby-West Kimberley, East Pilbara, Exmouth, Goomalling, Narembeen, Quairading, Sandstone, Shark Bay, Victoria Plains, Wiluna and Yilgarn.
Demographic rating:
Rural – outside capital cities and without majority of enrolment in major provincial cities.
Current member details:
Please refer to the Parliament of Australia website
Previous members:
Former members for an electoral division of this name can be found by searching ‘Electoral divisions’ or ‘Members of the House of Representatives since 1901’ in the historical information section of the Parliamentary Handbook
AEC contact:
Durack Divisional Office

Further information: