The seat was first contested at the 2016 federal election. Based on the results from the 2013 federal election the division was created as a notionally fairly safe Liberal with a notional two-party preferred margin of 6.1 percent.[6] However, based on federal polling indicating a large nine percent two-party swing to Labor since the last election, Burt was tipped as one of several seats that could have potentially fallen to Labor at the 2016 federal election.[7] Additionally, much of the seat's territory is represented by Labor at state level.
The seat was won by Labor's Matt Keogh, who had been the Labor candidate in the 2015 Canning by-election, on a swing of over 13 percent, turning it from fairly safe Liberal to fairly safe Labor.
Geography
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[8]