2009 Pembroke state by-election

Last updated

2009 Pembroke state by-election
Flag of Tasmania.svg
1 August 2009
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Vanessa Goodwin.jpg
IND
GRN
Candidate Vanessa Goodwin Richard JamesWendy Heatley
Party Liberal Independent Greens
First preference vote7,8122,2852,604
Percentage38.55%11.28%12.85%
SwingIncrease2.svg38.55ppDecrease2.svg7.10ppDecrease2.svg0.56pp
Final preferences51.05%27.73%21.22%

MLC before election

Allison Ritchie
Labor

Elected MLC

Vanessa Goodwin
Liberal

A by-election was held in the Tasmanian Legislative Council division of Pembroke on 1 August 2009. [1] It was triggered by the resignation of sitting member Allison Ritchie.

Contents

Background

Ritchie was first elected to the Legislative Council in 2001 at the age of 26, the youngest person ever elected to that chamber. She spent nine and a half weeks as Minister for Planning and Workplace Relations in 2008, but resigned due to ill health. [2] She announced her resignation from parliament amid allegations of nepotism on 20 June 2009. [3]

Candidates

The writ for the by-election was issued on 30 June 2009; nominations closed on 9 July. [1] The eight candidates were:

Results

Pembroke state by-election, 2009 [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Vanessa Goodwin 7,81238.55+38.55
Greens Wendy Heatley2,60412.85–0.56
Independent Richard James2,28511.28–7.10
Independent Honey Bacon2,11010.41+10.41
Independent John Peers1,9429.58+0.32
Independent James Crotty1,7838.80+8.80
Independent Peter Cooper1,5107.45+7.45
Independent Kit (Sharon) Soo2191.08+1.08
Total formal votes20,26596.48–0.26
Informal votes7403.52+0.26
Turnout 21,00585.05–2.47
Liberal gain from Labor Swing N/A

Distribution of preferences

The distribution of preferences is shown in detail on the Tasmanian Electoral Commission website. [6] In accordance with the preferential voting system, the following candidates were excluded in the order shown and their votes distributed to remaining candidates or declared exhausted (no more preferences): Soo, Cooper, Crotty, Peers, Bacon.

Vanessa Goodwin attained a quota (an absolute majority of formal votes) when two other candidates were left in the count, meaning that no two-candidate-preferred figure was attained.

Result after distribution of preferences [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Vanessa Goodwin 10,14351.05
Independent Richard James5,51027.73
Greens Wendy Heatley4,21521.22

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmanian Legislative Council</span> Upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania

The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two chambers of the Parliament, the other being the House of Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. Members of the Legislative Council are often referred to as MLCs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Franklin</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Franklin is an Australian electoral division in Tasmania.

Allison Maree Ritchie was a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council for Pembroke from 2001 to 2009. Since 2022, Ritchie has served as Deputy Mayor of the City of Clarence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Tasmanian state election</span>

An election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 18 March 2006, the same day as the South Australian elections. The Labor Party led by Premier Paul Lennon, won a third successive majority government term in office, despite predictions the election would result in a minority government. Although there was a small swing against Labor, they finished with 14 seats, and there were no changes in the party composition of the assembly. The Liberal Party led by Rene Hidding gained a small swing and finished with seven seats. The Tasmanian Greens led by Peg Putt suffered a small swing and finished with four seats; meaning no change in seat representation since the last election. Had the Greens lost one of their four seats, they would have lost their status as a major party and would lose financial resources, offices and support staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two-party-preferred vote</span> Result of election after distribution of preferences

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 members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 2006 to 2010. Terms of the Legislative Council do not coincide with Legislative Assembly elections, with members serving six-year terms, and two or three members facing re-election every year. The members have been categorised here according to the four-year terms of the Legislative Assembly so as to avoid the need for separate member lists for each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanessa Goodwin</span> Australian politician

Vanessa Goodwin was an Australian politician. She was the Liberal Party member for the seat of Pembroke in the Tasmanian Legislative Council from the Pembroke by-election on 1 August 2009 until her resignation due to brain cancer on 2 October 2017.

This is a list of members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council between 2005 and 2011. Terms of the Legislative Council did not coincide with Legislative Assembly elections, and members served six year terms, with a number of members facing election each year.

Periodic elections for the Tasmanian Legislative Council were held on 7 May 2011. The three seats up for election were Launceston, held by retiring independent MLC Don Wing; Murchison, held by independent MLC Ruth Forrest; and Rumney, held by Labor MLC Lin Thorp. These seats were last contested in 2005.

Periodic elections for the Tasmanian Legislative Council were held on 2 May 2009. The three seats up for election were Derwent, held by Labor MLC Michael Aird; Mersey, held by retiring independent MLC Norma Jamieson; and Windermere, held by independent MLC Ivan Dean. These seats were last contested in 2003.

Periodic elections for the Tasmanian Legislative Council were held on 6 May 2007. The three seats up for election were Montgomery, held by independent MLC Sue Smith; Nelson, held by independent MLC Jim Wilkinson; and Pembroke, held by Labor MLC Allison Ritchie. Montgomery was last contested in 2002, while Nelson and Pembroke were last contested in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Australia Party (2013)</span> Political party in Australia

The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is a currently deregistered Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party was deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission in 2017, revived and re-registered in 2018, and voluntarily deregistered in 2022. The party fielded candidates in all 150 House of Representatives seats at the 2013 federal election. Palmer, the party's leader, was elected to the Division of Fairfax and it reached a peak of three senators following the rerun of the Western Australian senate election in 2014. When the party was revived under its original name in 2018, it was represented by ex-One Nation senator Brian Burston in the federal parliament.

Periodic elections for the Tasmanian Legislative Council were held on 6 May 2013. The three seats up for election were Montgomery, Nelson and Pembroke.

This is a list of members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council between 2017 and 2023. Terms of the Legislative Council did not coincide with Legislative Assembly elections, and members served six year terms, with a number of members facing election each year.

A by-election was held in the Tasmanian Legislative Council division of Pembroke on 4 November 2017. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting member Vanessa Goodwin, who was diagnosed with brain cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Siejka</span> Australian politician

Joanna Clare Siejka is an Australian politician and not-for-profit leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Tasmanian state election</span>

The 2021 Tasmanian state election was held on 1 May 2021 to elect all 25 members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly.

Periodic elections for the Tasmanian Legislative Council were held on 4 May 2019. The three seats up for election were Montgomery, Nelson and Pembroke. Montgomery and Nelson were previously contested in 2013. Pembroke was won by the Labor Party in a 2017 by-election, following the resignation of the sitting member, Vanessa Goodwin of the Liberal Party.

Periodic elections for the Tasmanian Legislative Council were held on 1 May 2021. The three seats that were up for election are Derwent, Mersey and Windermere. They were last contested in 2015. Only two of the three seats were actually contested, as the incumbent candidate for Mersey, Mike Gaffney, was returned unopposed.

A by-election was in the Tasmanian Legislative Council seat of Pembroke on 10 September 2022, triggered by the resignation of Jo Siejka, who did so in order to spend more time with her family.

References

  1. 1 2 "Tasmanian Legislative Council Pembroke 2009". Archived from the original on 14 August 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
  2. Minister resigns from Cabinet, ABC News, November 24, 2008
  3. Allison Ritchie quits Tas Parliament, ABC News, June 20, 2009
  4. ABC Elections
  5. 1 2 "Pembroke by-election results table: Tasmanian Electoral Commission". Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  6. "Pembroke Election Final Result". Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2009.