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The 1996 Blaxland by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Blaxland in New South Wales on 15 June 1996. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party's Paul Keating on 23 April 1996. The writ for the by-election was issued on 13 May 1996.
Blaxland had been held since 1969 by Paul Keating, who had been Treasurer under Bob Hawke from 1983, until he defeated Hawke in a leadership challenge in December 1991, becoming Prime Minister of Australia. Keating went on to defeat John Hewson at the 1993 election, but three years later the ALP was defeated in a landslide victory by a resurgent Coalition led by John Howard at the 1996 election on 2 March. Following the party's election loss, Keating immediately resigned as party leader, and several weeks later, resigned from the Parliament. [1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Michael Hatton | 37,804 | 58.83 | +0.12 | |
| Against Further Immigration | Peter John Krumins | 8,759 | 13.63 | +10.88 | |
| Reclaim Australia | John Hutchinson | 5,771 | 8.98 | +8.98 | |
| Greens | Vicki Kearney | 3,148 | 4.90 | +4.90 | |
| Call to Australia | Melodie Rahme | 2,782 | 4.33 | +4.16 | |
| Independent | Peter Sayegh | 2,334 | 3.63 | +2.65 | |
| Independent | Neil Baird | 1,499 | 2.33 | +2.33 | |
| Independent | Bob Reid | 750 | 1.17 | +1.17 | |
| Anti-Super League | Adam Spencer | 499 | 0.78 | +0.78 | |
| Marnie Kennedy | 388 | 0.60 | +0.60 | ||
| Independent | Marc Aussie-Stone | 298 | 0.46 | +0.11 | |
| Natural Law | Linda Cogger | 224 | 0.35 | +0.10 | |
| Total formal votes | 64,256 | 92.66 | −0.72 | ||
| Informal votes | 5,092 | 7.34 | +0.72 | ||
| Turnout | 69,348 | 87.00 | −9.06 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Michael Hatton | 44,188 | 69.06 | +6.08 | |
| Reclaim Australia | John Hutchinson | 19,800 | 30.94 | +30.94 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | N/A | |||
The Australian Labor Party retained the seat with an increased majority, with Michael Hatton as their candidate. The Liberal Party of Australia declined to run a candidate, and this saw a rise in the vote for two minor anti-immigration parties: Australians Against Further Immigration and Reclaim Australia: Reduce Immigration, which came second and third in the popular vote. On a two-party preferred basis, RARI gained their best ever result in an election, gaining over 30% of the vote on preferences.
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