Pilbara Electorate Profile (2025)

Map showing the boundaries of the Pilbara electorate for the 2021 election

PDF version of the Pilbara electorate map

Area (sq km): 220,327
Number of Electors: 31,487 (28,182 + 3,305 large district allowance)
Source: 2023 Final Distribution Report, Western Australian Electoral Distribution Commission.

Origin of the Name:
According to the Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre Wangka Maya, the name for the Pilbara region derives from the Aboriginal word bilybara, meaning 'dry' in the Nyamal and Banyjima languages. Another suggested origin is pilbarra, an Aboriginal word for the salt-water mullet found in local waters, reflected in the name of a tributary of the Yule River, Pilbarra Creek, which evolved to 'Pilbara' Creek.
Source: Western Australian Electoral Commission. State Electorate Information.

Suburbs and Towns within the Electorate:
The electorate of Pilbara includes all or part of Baynton, Bulgarra, Cane, Chichester, Dampier, Exmouth, Fortescue, Innawanga, Jigalong, Juna Downs, Karratha, Karijini, Learmonth, Maitland, Marble Bar, Mardie, Millars Well, Millstream, Mt Sheila, Nanutarra, Newman, Nickol, North West Cape, Nullagine, Onslow, Pannawonica, Paraburdoo, Pardoo, Peedamulla, Pegs Creek, Port Hedland, Rocklea, Roebourne, South Hedland, Strelley, Talandji, Tom Price, Wedgefield, Wickham, Wittenoom and Yannarie.
Source: Western Australian Electoral Commission.

Local Governments within the Electorate:
City of Karratha
Shire of Ashburton; Statistical profile of the Shire of Ashburton
Shire of East Pilbara; Statistical profile of the Shire of East Pilbara
Shire of Exmouth
Town of Port Hedland

Schools
Government: Baler Primary School; Baynton West Primary School; Cassia Primary School; Cassia Education Support Centre; Dampier Primary School; Hedland Senior High school; Jigalong Remote Community School; Karratha Primary School; Karratha Senior High school; Marble Bar Primary School; Millars Well Primary School; Newman Primary School; Newman Senior High School; Nullagine Primary School; Pegs Creek Primary School; Port Hedland Primary School; Port Hedland School of the Air; Roebourne District High school; South Hedland Primary School; South Newman Primary School; Tambrey Primary School; Wickham Primary School; Yandeyarra Remote Community Schools.

Other: St Cecilia's Catholic Primary School; St Luke's College; St Paul's Primary School; Strelley Community School.

Local Newspapers:

Books about Pilbara

W Owen: Cossack gold - the chronicles of an early Goldfields warden (216p. Hesperian Press, 1984)
Kathy de la Rue: Pearl shell and pastures - the story of Cossack and Roebourne and their place in the history of the North West, from earliest explorations to 1910 (134p. Cossack Project Committee, 1979)
D Gordon: the West Pilbara - sail and teams to bulk carriers and bitumen (149p. Hesperian Press, 2004)
Noel Olive: Enough is enough - a history of the Pilbara mob (300p. Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2007)
Keith Smith: The great challenge - the saga of Yampi (230p. K R Smith, 1979)
Nancy Taylor: A saga of the north west - Yeera-muk-a-doo, an authentic history of the first settlement of North West Australia told through the Withnell and Hancock families, 1861-1890 (254p. Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1980)
Eloise Sharp: Some ghosts, some not (225p. Hesperian Press, 2011)
Bert Wells: The wild Pilbara - iron country and its natural wonders (96p. Jaycees Community Foundation, 1982)
Kathleen Mallett: To the bar bonded - a history of early Marble Bar (334p. Hesperian Press, 1992)
Hugh Edwards: Gold dust and iron mountains, Marble Bar and beyond, the story of the Eastern Pilbara (267p. Hugh Edwards, 1993)
W Charnley: What happened at Braeside (21p. Hesperian Press, 2010)
Tish Lees: Lonely for my land - tales of Karratha Station and the nor' west (402p. Sid Harta Publications, 2010)
Jennie Hardie: Nor'westers of the Pilbara Breed (264p. Shire of Port Hedland, 1981)

Constituency created under the Redistribution of Seats 2007

Name	Party	Term
Thomas (Tom) Gregory Stephens	Australian Labor Party	2008 - 2013
Brendon John Grylls	National Party	2013 - 2017
Kevin Joseph Jude Michel	Australian Labor Party	2017 -

Source:
Black, David & Valerie Prescott. Election Statistics: Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, WA: Parliament of Western Australia Electoral Commission, 1997.
Parliament of Western Australia, Members (website) http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au

Pilbara Electorate Profile (2025)

About the Pilbara Electorate

Statistical Profile of the Pilbara Electorate

Elections

Current Member

Successive Members for the Pilbara Electorate