Division of Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Kalgoorlie (green) in Western Australia as at the 2007 election
Created	1901
Abolished	2010
Namesake	Kalgoorlie
Electors	80,773
Area	2,295,354 km2 (886,241.1 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Kalgoorlie was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia, named after the city of Kalgoorlie. The Division was proclaimed in 1900 as one of the original 75 divisions to be contested at the first Federal election. In its final form, it covered most of the land area of Western Australia, with a size of 2,295,354 square kilometres (886,241 sq mi)--over 90 percent of the state's landmass (an area the size of France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland and Great Britain combined). It included the Goldfields-Esperance, Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia, in addition to the eastern and far northern parts of the Mid West region, and the town of Merredin. It was the largest single-member electorate by area in the world--almost a third of the continent.

For most of its history, Kalgoorlie was split between strongly pro-Labor territory in the mining regions and more conservative-leaning farming areas, and from 1980s Labor also benefited from the support of indigenous voters in the northern parts of the electorate. Unlike seats in the eastern states with similar demographics, it was not usually reckoned as a bellwether for winning government--primarily because most elections have already been decided by the time the first returns come in from the state. The Liberals (and their predecessors) and Labor alternated for long spells in the seat. As evidence of how little it was affected by trends in the rest of the country, all but one of its members from 1922 onward spent at least one term in opposition.