Albany is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Albany is named for the port and regional city of Western Australia which falls within its borders. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member having been elected in the inaugural 1890 elections of the Legislative Assembly. It is regarded as a swinging seat, and has been held by the Western Australian National Party since the 2025 election.
Geography The electoral district of Albany, as of 2023, contains the entirely of the City of Albany and the Shire of Plantagenet (including the town of Mount Barker). It also contains the areas of the Shires of Cranbook and Gnowangerup within the Stirling Range National Park.
History At the 2007 redistribution, the electoral district of Albany had the same boundaries as the City of Albany, including Albany and its suburbs, the nearby towns of Elleker, Kalgan, Lower King, Torbay. This represented a significant expansion of its boundaries, in part due to the "one-vote one-value" electoral legislation which largely abolished malapportionment between country and metropolitan electorates in the Legislative Assembly. Prior to 2007, the electorate was largely limited to Albany and its suburbs—the additional sections were within the now abolished electorate of Stirling.
By the 2015 redistribution, the electoral district of Albany contains the entirety of two local government areas: the City of Albany, and the Shire of Jerramungup. The distribution in 2023 resulted in Albany expanding further to absorb the relatively populous but conservative-leaning Shire of Plantagenet.
Albany was held by the Labor Party since the 2001 election, at which Peter Watson was first elected. Watson announced his retirement prior to the 2021 election and was succeeded in the seat by Labor Party colleague, Rebecca Stephens. Stephens held the seat for one term before losing the seat in the 2025 election to the Nationals WA challenger Scott Leary in a three-person competition.
Members for Albany MemberPartyTerm Lancel de Hamel Oppositionist 1890–1894 George Leake Oppositionist 1894–1900 John Hassell Oppositionist 1900–1901 James Gardiner Oppositionist 1901–1904 Charles Keyser Labor 1904–1905 Ministerialist 1905 Edward Barnett Ministerialist 1905–1909 William Price Labor 1909–1917 Herbert Robinson Nationalist 1917–1919 John Scaddan Nationalist 1919–1920 Country 1920–1923 Country (MCP) 1923–1924 Arthur Wansbrough Labor 1924–1936 Leonard Hill Country 1936–1956 Jack Hall Labor 1956–1970 Wyndham Cook Labor 1970–1974 Leon Watt Liberal 1974–1993 Kevin Prince Liberal 1993–2001 Peter Watson Labor 2001–2021 Rebecca Stephens Labor 2021–2025 Scott Leary National 2025–present
Election results
References
External links Electorate profile (Antony Green, ABC)