| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cunningham (dark) within New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The 2002 Cunningham by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Cunningham in New South Wales on 19 October 2002. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party's Stephen Martin on 16 August 2002. The writ for the by-election was issued on 16 September 2002.
The by-election was notable as it was won by Michael Organ, the candidate for the Australian Greens, making Cunningham the first seat in the Australian House of Representatives to be won by a minor party since Jack Lang won Reid for his Lang Labor party in 1946, and the first seat in the House won by the Greens.
Cunningham had been held by Labor since its creation 52 years previously, but a recent local government election for Lord Mayor of Wollongong had seen the Labor candidate lose to an independent, Alex Darling, causing concern in the ALP about their ability to hold the seat given the expectation of a significant protest vote against them. [1] The ALP candidate preselected to replace Martin was Sharon Bird.
The Liberal Party of Australia received 28 percent of the primary vote at the previous election, they chose not to run a candidate in the by-election. Independent candidate David Moulds held Liberal Party membership. [2]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labor | Sharon Bird | 25,671 | 38.13 | −6.06 | |
Greens | Michael Organ | 15,505 | 23.03 | +16.39 | |
Independent Liberal | David Moulds | 9,147 | 13.59 | +13.59 | |
Independent Labor | Peter Wilson | 7,107 | 10.56 | +10.56 | |
One Nation | Geoff Crocker | 2,696 | 4.00 | −0.63 | |
Christian Democrats | Owen Nannelli | 2,566 | 3.81 | +1.32 | |
Democrats | Linda Chapman | 1,514 | 2.25 | −4.92 | |
Against Further Immigration | David Hughes | 889 | 1.32 | +1.32 | |
Independent | Meg Sampson | 671 | 1.00 | +1.00 | |
Non-Custodial Parents | John Flanagan | 556 | 0.83 | +0.83 | |
Independent | James Keene | 483 | 0.72 | +0.72 | |
Socialist Alliance | Chris Williams | 399 | 0.59 | +0.59 | |
Citizens Electoral Council | Hal A. Johnson | 120 | 0.18 | +0.18 | |
Total formal votes | 67,324 | 92.26 | −2.90 | ||
Informal votes | 5,647 | 7.74 | +2.90 | ||
Turnout | 72,971 | 89.51 | −5.91 | ||
Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
Greens | Michael Organ | 35,160 | 52.23 | +52.23 | |
Labor | Sharon Bird | 32,164 | 47.77 | −12.88 | |
Greens gain from Labor | Swing | N/A |
Although Labor received the highest primary vote, the Australian Greens candidate, Michael Organ, won the by-election on a 52.2 percent two-candidate preferred (2CP) vote. Asymmetrical preference flows in the absence of an official Liberal candidate contributed to Labor losing the seat, with their 2CP being reduced by 12.9 percent. Labor, Liberal and Green all contested Cunningham in the 2004 federal election, Labor won the seat back with a two-party preferred (2PP) vote of over 60 percent. Another example is the 2008 Mayo by-election. However, other factors attributed by some to the loss include Martin's premature departure, a messy preselection process for Bird, and discontent from the NSW Labor branch towards federal leader Simon Crean. [5]
The Australian Greens (AG), commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a confederation of green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and the fourth-largest by elected representation. The leader of the party is Adam Bandt, with Mehreen Faruqi serving as deputy leader. Larissa Waters currently holds the role of Senate leader.
The 1998 Australian federal election was held to determine the members of the 39th Parliament of Australia. It was held on 3 October 1998. All 148 seats of the House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Senate were up for election. The incumbent centre-right Liberal/National Coalition government led by Prime Minister John Howard of the Liberal Party and coalition partner Tim Fischer of the National Party defeated the centre-left Australian Labor Party opposition led by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, despite losing the nationwide popular and two-party preferred vote. However, the Australian Labor Party gained seats from the previous election.
The 2004 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 9 October 2004. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by John Anderson defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Mark Latham.
Michael Keith Organ is a former Australian politician and archivist. He was an Australian Greens member of the Australian House of Representatives between 2002 and 2004, representing the Division of Cunningham, New South Wales. He was the first member of the Greens to win a seat in the House of Representatives, having won a by-election which the Liberal Party did not contest.
Sharon Leah Bird is an Australian former politician. Bird served as an Australian Labor Party (ALP) member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Cunningham in New South Wales from 2004 to 2022. She served as a minister during the late Gillard-Rudd years until Labor lost government at the next election. She served as the Shadow Minister for Vocational Education from October 2013 until July 2016. In 2021, Bird announced she would not be re-contesting at the 2022 Federal Election, retiring from politics.
Marrickville was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It was an urban electorate in Sydney's inner west, centred on the suburb of Marrickville from which it took its name. At the time of its abolition it also included the suburbs of Camperdown, Darlington, Enmore, Lewisham, Newtown, Petersham, Stanmore and parts of Dulwich Hill and Erskineville as well as the University of Sydney.
The 1990 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 24 March 1990. All 148 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Bob Hawke, defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia, led by Andrew Peacock, with its coalition partner, the National Party of Australia, led by Charles Blunt, despite losing the nationwide popular and two-party-preferred vote. The result saw the re-election of the Hawke government for a fourth successive term.
An election was held in the Australian state of Queensland on 9 September 2006 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly, after being announced by Premier Peter Beattie on 15 August 2006.
The 2007 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday, 24 March 2007. The entire Legislative Assembly and half of the Legislative Council was up for election. The Labor Party led by Morris Iemma won a fourth four-year term against the Liberal-National coalition led by Peter Debnam.
In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, the Liberal/National Coalition is usually considered a single party, with Labor being the other major party. Typically the TPP is expressed as the percentages of votes attracted by each of the two major parties, e.g. "Coalition 50%, Labor 50%", where the values include both primary votes and preferences. The TPP is an indicator of how much swing has been attained/is required to change the result, taking into consideration preferences, which may have a significant effect on the result.
This is a list of electoral results for the Division of Cunningham in Australian federal elections from the division's creation in 1949 until the present.
The 2010 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 August 2010 to elect members of the 43rd Parliament of Australia. The incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard won a second term against the opposition centre-right Liberal Party of Australia led by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Coalition partner the National Party of Australia, led by Warren Truss, after Labor formed a minority government with the support of three independent MPs and one Australian Greens MP.
The 2008 Mayo by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Mayo, located in Adelaide, South Australia, on 6 September 2008, following the retirement of Liberal Party MP and former Liberal leader Alexander Downer. The by-election was held on the same day as the Lyne by-election, and the Western Australian state election.
A by-election was held for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Frome on 17 January 2009. This was triggered by the resignation of former Premier and state Liberal MHA Rob Kerin. The seat had been retained by the Liberals at the 2006 state election on a 3.4 per cent margin, and at the 2002 state election on an 11.5 per cent margin.
The 2011 New South Wales state election held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year-incumbent Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal–National Coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.
The 2013 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 9 March 2013 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council.
A by-election occurred in the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Port Adelaide on 11 February 2012. Labor's Susan Close won the seat on a 52.9 percent two-candidate-preferred (TCP) vote. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Deputy Premier, Treasurer and state Labor MHA Kevin Foley.
A by-election occurred for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Heffron on Saturday 25 August 2012. This was triggered by the resignation of former Premier of New South Wales Kristina Keneally (Labor) which she announced on 23 June 2012. Labor easily retained the seat with an increased margin. Ron Hoenig received a 60 percent primary and 70 percent two-candidate preferred vote.
The 2018 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 24 November 2018 to elect the 59th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Daniel Andrews, won a second four-year term, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition opposition, led by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy in a landslide victory. Minor party the Greens led by Samantha Ratnam also contested the election.
The 2023 New South Wales state election was held on 25 March 2023 to elect the 58th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC).
Labor polled 38.1%, the Greens 23.0%, an Independent Labor candidate 10.6% and an Independent Liberal 13.6% with smaller tallies for other candidates.