2015 South-West Coast state by-election

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2015 South-West Coast state by-election
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Electoral district of South-West Coast in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
 First partySecond party
  Roma Britnell MP.jpg
IND
Candidate Roma Britnell Roy Reekie
Party Liberal Independent
Popular vote15,4866,512
Percentage40.0%16.8%
SwingDecrease2.svg17.0ppIncrease2.svg16.8pp
TPP 60.6%39.4%
TPP swingDecrease2.svg0.4ppIncrease2.svg39.4pp
 Third partyFourth party
  Nationals Placeholder.png
ACP
CandidateMichael NeohJim Doukas
Party National Country
Popular vote5,5814,005
Percentage14.4%10.3%
SwingIncrease2.svg14.4ppIncrease2.svg8.0pp
VIC South-West Coast District 2014.png
The electoral district of South-West Coast in south-west rural Victoria is dominated by the town of Warrnambool, but also includes Portland, Port Fairy, Koroit, Heywood and Macarthur.
MP before election

Denis Napthine
Liberal

Elected MP

Roma Britnell
Liberal

A by-election for the seat of South-West Coast in the Victorian Legislative Assembly was held on 31 October 2015. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Premier Denis Napthine on 3 September 2015. Former Transport Minister Terry Mulder resigned his seat representing the adjacent district of Polwarth on the same day as Napthine. [1] The by-election for Polwarth was held on the same day.

Contents

Candidates

11 candidates in ballot paper order
PartyCandidateBackground
  Independent Rodney Van De HoefWarrnambool engineer. [2]
  Liberal Roma Britnell Dairy farmer. Vice President of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria. [3]
  Independent Roy ReekieLabor candidate for Warrnambool in 1999 and South-West Coast in 2002, 2006 and 2014. Narrowly lost 2002 on a 49.3 percent two-party vote. [4]
  Country Jim Doukas Shire of Moyne councillor. [5]
  National Michael NeohMayor of Warrnambool. [6]
  Independent Pete SmithIndependent Liberal. Dairy industry executive, advisor to BlueScope Steel, AWB and Australia Post, army press officer, naval officer. [7]
  Greens Thomas CampbellGreens candidate for South-West Coast in 2014. [8]
  Independent Swampy MarshWarrnambool dairy and chicken farmer. [9] [10] Subject of the 2015 film Oddball . [11]
  Animal Justice Jennifer GambleWarrnambool nurse. Animal Justice candidate for Western Victoria Region in 2014. [12]
  Christians Lillian Len
  Independent Michael McCluskeyFormer veterinarian. Independent candidate for South-West Coast in 2014. [13] [14]

The Labor government did not contest the by-elections in the safe Liberal seats of South-West Coast and Polwarth. [15]

How-to-vote cards

How-to-vote cards are distributed to voters at polling stations to provide information with how the candidate suggests preferences be allocated. Candidates and parties suggesting preferences are shown in each column of the table below. Michael McCluskey ran an open card at this by-election.

Van De Hoef [16] Liberal [17] Reekie [17] Country [18] National [17] SmithGreens [17] Marsh [17] AJP [17] Christians [17] McCluskey [16]
Van de Hoef1111044No card7975
Liberal1111192811103
Reekie261732639
Country3341511292
National425101910114
Smith553665457
Greens68211718211
Marsh7106286148
Animal Justice8778945110
Christians94831010781
McCluskey109951138661

Polling

South-West Coast polling
DatePrimary vote
LIBReekieNATOTH
23 October 2015 [19] 37%24%18%21%

Result

2015 South-West Coast state by-election [20]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Roma Britnell 15,48640.0−17.0
Independent Roy Reekie6,51216.8+16.8
National Michael Neoh5,58114.4+14.4
Country Jim Doukas4,00510.3+8.0
Greens Thomas Campbell2,9387.6−2.2
Independent Swampy Marsh1,1372.9+2.9
Independent Liberal Pete Smith6951.8+1.8
Independent Rodney Van de Hoef6771.7+1.7
Independent Michael McCluskey6161.6−0.0
Christians Lillian Len5791.5+1.5
Animal Justice Jennifer Gamble4901.3+1.3
Total formal votes38,71693.8−2.2
Informal votes2,5786.2+2.2
Turnout 41,29491.1−3.8
Two-candidate-preferred result
Liberal Roma Britnell 23,45560.6−0.4
Independent Roy Reekie15,26139.4+39.4
Liberal hold Swing −0.4

Roma Britnell retained the seat on preferences for the Liberals. Roy Reekie was second in the primary count. [20] [21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Former Victorian premier Denis Napthine, senior MP Terry Mulder both retire from politics triggering by-elections". ABC News. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Sinnott, Alex (2 October 2015). "Eleventh hour bid by poll aspirants". The Standard. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Sinnott, Alex (3 September 2015). "Britnell tipped to enter the political fray". The Australian Dairyfamer. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  4. ↑ Judd, Bridget (7 September 2015). "Denis Napthine refuses to endorse Liberal candidate Donna Petrovich for his former seat". ABC News. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  5. ↑ 2015 Polwarth by-election: ABC
  6. ↑ Sinnot, Alex. "Neoh opens mayoral chair". Warrnambool Standard. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Ind Lib could split Vic by-election vote". Nine News. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  8. ↑ "Warrnambool Mayor Michael Neoh still keen on South-West Coast candidacy despite preselection hiccup". ABC News. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Jefferson, Andrew (14 June 2015). "Warrnambool farmer Swampy Marsh refuses to stop selling unpasteurised milk at market". Herald Sun. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Egg-straordinary bid for South West Coast". The Standard. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Oddball election set for region". Mayne Gazette. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Sinnott, Alex (11 November 2014). "Warrnambool Animal Justice Party candidate wants jumps racing banned". The Standard. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Sinnott, Alex (25 September 2015). "'Independent Liberal' says the party's over". The Standard. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Sinnott, Alex. "Michael McCluskey's burning political interest". The Standard. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  15. ↑ Sullivan, Kath (3 September 2015). "Labor won't contest by-elections in South-West Coast and Polwarth". The Weekly Times. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  16. 1 2 "State District By-elections 2015 Registered How To Vote Cards by Independent - Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "State District By-elections 2015 South-West Coast District Registered How To Vote Cards - Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. ↑ Australian Country Party. "HTVdoukasprepoll.pdf" (PDF). Australian Country Party. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ↑ Sinnott, Alex (24 October 2015). "Close poll". The Standard. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  20. 1 2 State District By-elections 2015 : South-West Coast District, VEC.
  21. ↑ 2015 Polwarth by-election commentary, ABC.
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