Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to update the chamber on what the WA redistribution means for my electorate. From 2 August, O'Connor, not known for its lack of size, will get a whole lot bigger, expanding to an area of 1.13 million square kilometres. That's larger than Spain and France combined. This expansion is partly due to the addition of the Shire of Wiluna. The Wiluna community has strong connections to the northern Goldfields and the Ngaanyatjarra lands that fall entirely within the current electorate of O'Connor. So it's with great delight that I welcome Wiluna into my electorate.

I also look forward to representing the people of Boddington. While geographically distant from the Goldfields region, Boddington is home to Australia's largest gold mine and a large bauxite mining province. The inclusion of Boddington means O'Connor now houses most of WA's prime goldmining areas. Gold is not the only commodity produced in abundance by the people of my electorate. As a former farmer, I'm delighted the wheat belt shires of Beverley, Bruce Rock, Cunderdin, Kellerberrin, Koorda, Merredin, Mount Marshall, Mukinbudin, Narembeen, Nungarin, Quairading, Tammin, Trayning, Westonia, Wyalkatchem and Yilgarn will all come on board. WA regularly produces one-third of Australia's wheat and over 50 per cent of Australia's wheat exports. That's a lot of wheat and a lot of extra shires. With the addition, too, of the scenic South West Shire of Nannup, O'Connor will now stretch across 57 local government areas. That means it will encompass more local government areas than any other electorate in Australia, which serves to remind us that, no matter how big O'Connor gets, it's the local communities that matter.