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 The location of the seat of Northern Tablelands in New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Northern Tablelands on 25 May 2013. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of independent member Richard Torbay, which was announced on 20 March 2013. Adam Marshall was declared elected on 28 May 2013. [1]
| Date | Event [2] |
|---|---|
| 22 April 2013 | Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. [3] |
| 22 April 2013 | Close of electoral rolls |
| 8 May 2013 | Close of party nominations |
| 9 May 2013 | Close of independent nominations |
| 13 May 2013 | Early voting began |
| 25 May 2013 | Polling day, between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm |
| 7 June 2013 | Return of the Writ of election was due |
The seat became vacant when the former Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and Member for Northern Tablelands, Richard Torbay, who was the endorsed candidate for the Nationals for the federal seat of New England, suddenly resigned from State Parliament. Immediately prior to his resignation, the National disendorsed Torbay as preselected candidate for New England. It was claimed that his resignation was due to the controversy surrounding his ownership of more than twenty Centrelink buildings dating back to the era when John Howard was Prime Minister. [4]
Former mayor of Gunnedah Shire, Adam Marshall, won preselection as the Nationals nominee ahead of Jock Laurie and Claire Coulton. [5]
During the campaign it was reported in the Armidale Express that Marshall had been a financial member of both the Labor and the National parties between 2001 and 2003; by the time his membership of the former expired in 2004, he was employed as a staff member for the then Independent Member for Tamworth, Peter Draper. [4] [6]
One week prior to the by-election, Mal Peters, a councillor of Inverell Shire Council referred a matter of an undisclosed nature relating to Marshall to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Marshall claimed that Peters' actions were spurious and questioned the timing of the complaint. [7]
The seven candidates in ballot paper order were:
| Candidate nominations [8] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Bill Bush | ||
| Nationals | Adam Marshall | Former mayor of Gunnedah Shire | |
| Australian Greens | Dora Koops | ||
| Labor Party | Herman Beyersdorf | Deputy Mayor of Armidale Dumaresq Shire | |
| Independent | Katherine Nicholson | ||
| Independent | Jim Maher | Mayor of the Armidale Dumaresq Shire | |
| Christian Democratic Party | Silvana Nero | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Adam Marshall | 27,276 | 63.3 | +35.0 | |
| Independent | Jim Maher | 5,814 | 13.5 | +13.5 | |
| Labor | Herman Beyersdorf | 4,190 | 9.7 | +6.3 | |
| Independent | Katherine Nicholson | 1,845 | 4.3 | +4.3 | |
| Greens | Dora Koops | 1,782 | 4.1 | +0.8 | |
| Independent | Bill Bush | 1,270 | 2.9 | +2.9 | |
| Christian Democrats | Silvana Nero | 912 | 2.1 | +0.5 | |
| Total formal votes | 43,089 | 97.1 | -1.7 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,304 | 2.9 | +1.8 | ||
| Turnout | 44,393 | 85.7 | +7.5 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| National | Adam Marshall | 29,817 | 81.0 | +4.9 | |
| Labor | Herman Beyersdorf | 7,014 | 19.0 | -4.9 | |
| National gain from Independent | Swing | +4.9 | |||
The Division of New England is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
Tingha is a small town on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia in Inverell Shire. Formerly part of Armidale Region, on 1 July 2019, responsibility for Tingha was transferred from Armidale Regional Council to Inverell Shire Council. The town is 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Inverell and 559 kilometres (347 mi) north-north-east of Sydney. Tingha is an Aboriginal word for "flat or level".
George Richard Torbay, an Australian politician, was an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Northern Tablelands from 1999 to 2013. Torbay was the 30th Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, serving from 2007 until 2011, and was the first independent member to be Speaker of the House since 1913. Prior to his election to state parliament, he served as Mayor of Armidale City Council from 1995 to 1998.
Northern Tablelands is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is currently held by Adam Marshall representing the National Party, following a by-election triggered by the resignation of independent member Richard Torbay. The electorate currently includes Uralla Shire, Armidale Regional Council, Glen Innes Severn, Inverell Shire, Gwydir Shire and Moree Plains Shire.
The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England region, stretching from the Moonbi Range in the south to the Queensland border in the north. The region corresponds generally to the Bureau of Meteorology forecast area for the Northern Tablelands which in this case includes Inverell although it is significantly lower in elevation.
The Armidale Dumaresq Council was a local government area in the New England and Northern Tablelands regions of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed in 2000 from the merger of the original City of Armidale with the surrounding Dumaresq Shire and abolished on 12 May 2016, where the council, together with Guyra Shire, was subsumed into the Armidale Regional Council with immediate effect.
Uralla Shire is a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The New England Highway passes through the Shire.
Inverell Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia adjacent to the Macintyre River and the Gwydir Highway.
Armidale was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, named after and including Armidale. It was originally created in 1894, when multi-member districts were abolished, and the three member district of New England was largely divided between Armidale, Uralla-Walcha and Bingara. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Northern Tablelands, along with Gough and Tenterfield. It was recreated in 1927 and abolished in 1981 and partly replaced by the recreated Northern Tablelands.
Gough was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, named after the Gough County, which includes the town of Glen Innes. It was created in the 1904 re-distribution of electorates following the 1903 New South Wales referendum, which required the number of members of the Legislative Assembly to be reduced from 125 to 90. It consisted of the abolished seat of Glenn Innes and part of Inverell.
Tenterfield was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1859, partly replacing New England and Macleay, and named after, and including, Tenterfield. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Northern Tablelands, along with Armidale and Gough. It was recreated in 1927 and abolished in 1981 and partly replaced by the recreated Northern Tablelands.
New England and Macleay was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1856 to 1859, in the Northern Tablelands region of New England and part of the Mid North Coast region, including the area to the north of the Macleay River. but excluding the area south of the Macleay River which was included in the Counties of Gloucester and Macquarie. To the north was the electorate of Clarence and Darling Downs and to the west the electorate of Liverpool Plains and Gwydir. It elected two members, with voters casting two votes and the first two candidates being elected. It was partly replaced by New England.
Raymond Francis Chappell is a former Australian politician. He was the National Party member for Northern Tablelands in the New South Wales Parliament from 1987 to 1999, and served as a minister from 1993 to 1995.
William John Patrick McCarthy was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Armidale from 1978 to 1981, and Northern Tablelands from 1981 to 1987.
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the 55th parliament held their seats from 2011 to 2015. They were elected at the 2011 state election and at by-elections. The Speaker was Shelley Hancock.
Northern Tablelands, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, has had two incarnations: as a two-member district from 1920 to 1927, and as a single-member district from 1981 until the present.
Adam John Marshall, an Australian politician, is the New South Wales Minister for Agriculture and Western New South Wales in the second Berejiklian ministry since April 2019. Marshall is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and has represented Northern Tablelands since a 2013 by-election, as a member of The Nationals.
CountryMinded was an Australian political party formed in 2014 that claimed to represent the interests of regional Australians whose livelihoods depend either directly or indirectly on agricultural production. The party was founded by a group of people looking for accountable regional representation, including two brothers from New South Wales, David and Peter Mailler as the Country Party of Australia, and changed its name to CountryMinded in September 2015. In 2018, the party merged with the Australian Democrats.
Oxley is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales.
The Armidale Region is a local government area in the New England and Northern Tablelands regions of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed in 2016 from the merger of the Armidale Dumaresq Shire with the surrounding Guyra Shire.
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