2024 Australian Capital Territory general election

2024 Australian Capital Territory general election

←  2020 19 October 2024 2028  →
All 25 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	86.8% ( 2.5 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Andrew Barr Elizabeth Lee Party Labor Liberal Leader since 11 December 2014 27 October 2020 Leader's seat Kurrajong Kurrajong Last election 10 seats, 37.8% 9 seats, 33.8% Seats before 10 9 Seats won 10 9 Seat change Popular vote 93,569 91,652 Percentage 34.1% 33.5% Swing 3.7 0.3   Third party Fourth party   Leader Shane Rattenbury Thomas Emerson Party Greens IFC Leader since 20 October 2012 29 January 2024 Leader's seat Kurrajong Kurrajong Last election 6 seats, 13.5% Did not exist Seats before 6 0 Seats won 4 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 33,368 23,328 Percentage 12.2% 8.5% Swing 1.3 8.5
Map of electorates to be used for the 2024 ACT election
Chief Minister before election Andrew Barr Labor–Greens Coalition Elected Chief Minister TBD TBD

The 2024 Australian Capital Territory general election was held on 19 October 2024 to elect all 25 members of the unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly. ^[1]

The centre-left Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, which had been in government in the territory since the 2001 election, and in coalition with the progressive Greens since 2012, sought to win a seventh consecutive term in office. They were challenged by the centre-right Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, as well as several minor parties and independent candidates. Lee is the first Asian Australian leader of a state or territory opposition. ^{[2] [lower-alpha 1]}

Following several hours of vote counting, media outlets and election analysts projected Labor had won the election, having won sufficient seats to form a government with the support of the Greens and potentially other crossbenchers. ^{[3] [4]} Labor won 10 seats in the assembly, steady with their result in the previous election, though the party did suffer a swing against them of more than three percent. The Liberal vote slipped by around half a point and the party retained nine seats. The Greens vote also dropped, in this case by slightly above one percent, and ministers Rebecca Vassarotti and Emma Davidson lost their seats to reduce the party's share of seats in the chamber to four. The swings against these parties were picked up by minor parties and independents, resulting in Thomas Emerson of the Independents for Canberra party winning a seat in Kurrajong and Fiona Carrick (who ran under an eponymous party banner) winning the final seat in Murrumbidgee. ^{[5] [6]}

The formation of the government in the eleventh assembly will take place over the coming weeks.

The election was conducted by Elections ACT.

Background

Labor was attempting to win re-election for a seventh consecutive term (either with a majority of seats or via forming a coalition with another party) in the 25-member unicameral Legislative Assembly. The party formed a coalition government with the Greens after the last election, and together the two parties held 16 of the 25 seats in the Assembly. Elizabeth Lee replaced Alistair Coe as Liberal leader and Leader of the Opposition following the party's defeat at the 2020 election.

The composition of the assembly was unchanged until 12 November 2023, when Greens MLA Johnathan Davis resigned from the assembly and as a member of the Greens. He was replaced by Laura Nuttall after a countback was conducted. ^[7]

In September 2024, Ginninderra MLA Elizabeth Kikkert was disendorsed by the Liberals over alleged breaches of the Electoral Act 1992 and allegations of bullying of party staff. On 24 September 2024, she subsequently joined the Family First Party and unsuccessfully sought re-election in the seat under her new party's banner. ^{[8] [9]}

Electoral system

The election was conducted by the ACT Electoral Commission, also known as Elections ACT. All members of the unicameral Assembly faced re-election, with members being elected by the Hare-Clark system of proportional representation. The Assembly is divided into five electorates with five members elected from each electorate: ^[10]

• Brindabella – contains the district of Tuggeranong.
• Ginninderra – contains the district of Belconnen (except the suburbs of Giralang and Kaleen).
• Kurrajong – contains the districts of Canberra Central (excluding Deakin, Forrest, Red Hill, and Yarralumla), Jerrabomberra, Kowen and Majura.
• Murrumbidgee – contains the districts of the Woden Valley, Weston Creek, Molonglo Valley, and the South Canberra suburbs of Deakin, Forrest, Red Hill, and Yarralumla.
• Yerrabi – contains the districts of Gungahlin, Hall and the Belconnen suburbs of Giralang and Kaleen.

Parties

Signs and volunteers for political parties contesting the 2024 ACT general election

Main article: List of political parties in Australia

The list of parties registered at the time the election was called was: ^{[11] [12]}

• Animal Justice Party
• Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch)
• Belco Party (ACT)
• Canberra Progressives (did not run in this election)
• Democratic Labour Party (DLP)
• Family First Party (ACT)
• Fiona Carrick Independent
• First Nation Party
• Independents for Canberra
• Liberal Party of Australia (A.C.T. Division)
• Libertarian Party
• Strong Independents
• Sustainable Australia Party – Universal Basic Income (did not run in this election) ^[13]
• The ACT Greens
• The Community Action Party (did not run in this election)

Retiring members

Labor

• Joy Burch (Brindabella) – announced retirement on 8 August 2023 ^[14]

Liberal

• Nicole Lawder (Brindabella) – announced retirement on 20 October 2023 ^[15]

Candidates

On 25 September the full list of candidates was finalised. ^[16]

A record number of 149 candidates ran. ^[12]

Brindabella

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Independents for Canberra candidates	Animal Justice candidates
Louise Crossman [17] Brendan Forde [17] Mick Gentleman [17] Caitlin Tough* [17] Taimus Werner-Gibbings* [17]	James Daniels [18] Rosa Harber [18] Sandi Mitra [18] Deborah Morris* [18] Mark Parton* [18]	Laura Nuttall* [19] Sam Nugent [19] Troy Swan [19]	Riley Fernandes [20] Vanessa Picker [20] Elise Searson [20]	Gareth Ballard [21] Robyn Soxsmith [21]
Family First candidates	First Nations candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Bruce Gartshore [22] Merle Graham [22]	Wendy Brookman [16] Jack McDougall [16] Dylan Robb [16]	Emmanuel Ezekiel-Hart [16]

Ginninderra

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Independents for Canberra candidates	Animal Justice candidates
Yvette Berry* [17] Tim Bavinton [17] Tara Cheyne* [17] Heidi Prowse [17] Sean Sadimoen [17]	Chiaka Barry* [18] Peter Cain* [18] Joe Prevedello [18] Darren Roberts [18]	Jo Clay* [19] Dani Hunterford [19] Tim Liersch [19] Adele Sinclair [19]	Leanne Foresti [20] Suzanne Nucifora [20] Mark Richardson [20]	Carolyn Drew [21] Lara Drew [21]
Belco Party candidates	Family First candidates	Libertarian candidates	Labour DLP candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Angela Lount [23] Bill Stefaniak [23] Alan Tutt [23]	Sunil Baby [22] Elizabeth Kikkert [22] Andrew Wallace [22]	Guy Jakeman [16] Arved Von Busch [16]	Douglas Cooper [16] Helen Crowe [16] Rick Howard [16] Maxwell Spencer [16] John Vanderburgh [16]	Mignonne Cullen [16] Janine Haskins [16]

Kurrajong

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Independents for Canberra candidates	Animal Justice candidates
Andrew Barr* [17] Aggi Court [17] Martin Greenwood [17] Rachel Stephen-Smith* [17] Marina Talevski [17]	Ramon Bouckaert [18] Mick Calatzis [24] Elizabeth Lee* [18] Sarah Luscombe [18] Patrick Pentony [18]	James Cruz [19] Isabel Mudford [19] Shane Rattenbury* [19] Jillian Reid [19] Rebecca Vassarotti [19]	Thomas Emerson* [20] Ben Johnston [20] Tenzin Mayne [20] Sara Poguet [20] Sue Read [20]	Walter Kudrycz [21] Teresa McTaggart [21]
Strong Independents candidates	Family First candidates	First Nations candidates	Labour DLP candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Ann Bray [25] Peter Strong [25]	Andrew Adair [22] Jenny Hentzschel [22]	Rhiannon Connors [16] Thaddeus Connors [16] Paul Girrawah House [26] Harrison Pike [16] Jessika Spencer [16]	Belinda Haley [16] Boston White [16]	Marilena Damiano [16]

Murrumbidgee

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Independents for Canberra candidates	Animal Justice candidates
Noor El-Asadi [17] Marisa Paterson* [17] Chris Steel* [17] Nelson Tang [17] Anna Whitty [17]	Ed Cocks* [18] Jeremy Hanson* [18] Elyse Heslehurst [18] Amardeep Singh [18] Karen Walsh [18]	Michael Brewer [19] Sam Carter [19] Emma Davidson [19] Harini Rangarajan [19]	Kathleen Bolt [20] Anne-Louise Dawes [20] Robert Knight [20] Paula McGrady [20] Nathan Naicker [20]	Gwenda Griffiths [21] Ashleigh Griffiths-Smith [21]
Family First candidates	Fiona Carrick Independent candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Andrew Copp [22] Andy Verri [22]	Fiona Carrick* [27] Marea Fatseas [27] Bruce Paine [27]	Rima Diab [16]

Yerrabi

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Independents for Canberra candidates	Belco Party candidates
Suzanne Orr* [17] Michael Pettersson* [17] Mallika Raj [17] Pradeep Sornaraj [17] Ravinder Sahni [17]	Leanne Castley* [18] Ralitsa Dimitrova [18] James Milligan* [18] John Mikita [18] Krishna Nadimpalli [18]	Andrew Braddock* [19] Soelily Consen-Lynch [19] Alex Gias [19]	Sneha KC [20] Vikram Kulkarni [20] David Pollard [20] Trent Pollard [20]	Greg Burke [23] Jason Taylor [23]
Family First candidates	First Nations candidates	Labour DLP candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Greg Amos [22] Henry Kivimaki [22]	Lisa Barnes [16] Michael Duncan [16] Kye Moggridge [16] Cooper Pike [28] Tyson Powell [16]	Michael Hanna [16] Colin Joery [16]	Fuxin Li [16] Mohammad Munir Hassan [16] Joanne McKinley (AJP) [16]

Campaign

The election period began on 13 September, when candidate nominations opened. On 24 September, nominations closed, and the following day, the randomly allocated ballot draw was announced. ^[29]

Chief Minister Andrew Barr launched the ACT Labor campaign on 13 September, alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and former Chief Minister and current federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher. ^[30] Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee launched the Canberra Liberals' campaign on 5 October, alongside former Chief Minister Kate Carnell. ^[31]

Prominent campaign issues included infrastructure (particularly proposals for a new stadium in Civic), ^{[32] [33]} public transport (especially light rail), ^{[34] [35] [36]} and housing. ^{[37] [38]}

Much of the messaging of opposition candidates focused on the fact that the Labor Party have led the Government of the Australian Capital Territory for the last 23 years. ^{[39] [40]} If Andrew Barr wins re-election, he would become the only incumbent premier or chief minister to have won three elections, following the resignations of Daniel Andrews and Annastacia Palaszczuk in late 2023. The presence of many independents among the candidates, including but not limited to the new political grouping Independents for Canberra, was also notable. ^{[41] [42]}

Controversy

Certain individual candidates attracted controversy during the course of the campaign.

On 25 September, Liberal candidate Darren Roberts was accused by Labor of posting offensive content online related to the Voice to Parliament and dual naming, using a pseudonym account. ^{[43] [44]}

On 3 October, reports emerged that Liberal MLA Peter Cain, when he worked as a schoolteacher in 2002, wrote a workbook on Australian history that presented a Christian white savior narrative and did not mention the frontier wars. ^{[45] [46] [47]}

On 10 October, Greens candidate Harini Rangajaran was found to have written a blog post about martyrdom on Substack in 2023, a creative writing exercise that made mention of idolising Osama bin Laden. ^{[48] [49] [50]}

On 14 October, Greens candidate James Cruz was criticised for comments made in Facebook posts in 2014 and 2015, in which he expressed an apparent desire to "kill politicians" who enabled immigration detention, and an indifference towards the killing of Israeli soldiers. ^{[51] [52] [53]}

Lastly, on 16 October, Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee made headlines when she was filmed giving the finger to a journalist at the end of a combative press conference. ^{[54] [55] [56]}

Results

Main article: Results of the 2024 Australian Capital Territory general election

See also: Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2024–2028

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labor	93,569	34.15	3.67	10	0
	Liberal	91,652	33.45	0.36	9	0
	Greens	33,368	12.18	1.33	4	2
	Independents for Canberra	23,328	8.51	New	1	New
	Fiona Carrick Independent	7,302	2.66	New	1	New
	Family First	6,643	2.42	New	0	New
	Animal Justice	3,703	1.35	0.42	0	0
	First Nation	3,586	1.31	New	0	New
	Ungrouped Independents	3,540	1.29	1.17	0	0
	Belco	3,508	1.28	0.68	0	0
	Democratic Labour	2,283	0.83	0.61	0	0
	Strong Independents	1,131	0.41	New	0	New
	Libertarian	399	0.15	0.30	0	0
Total		274,012	100.00	–	25	–
Valid votes		274,012	98.10
Invalid/blank votes		5,320	1.90
Total votes		279,332	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		321,721	86.82
Source: [5] [57]

Distribution of seats

Electorate Seats held Brindabella           Ginninderra           Kurrajong           Murrumbidgee           Yerrabi

Labor   Liberal   Green   Independents for Canberra   Fiona Carrick Independent

See also

• Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2020–2024
• 2024 Pittwater state by-election (same day election)
• 2024 Hornsby state by-election (same day election)
• 2024 Epping state by-election (same day election)

Notes

1. Not including former Premier of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian, as Armenian Australians are usually considered European Australians.

References

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2. Na, Leah. "ACT Liberals' Elizabeth Lee becomes the first Asian leader of major political parties in Australia". SBS Korean. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
3. "Labor retains power in ACT election as swing goes to independents". The Guardian. 20 October 2024.
4. Georgia Roberts (20 October 2024). "The independent wave hits the ACT as Andrew Barr promises a 'progressive and stable' crossbench". ABC News.
5. "Australian Capital Territory Election 2024 Results". ABC News.
6. Antony Green (21 October 2024). "ACT2024 – Post-Election Results Thread". antonygreen.com.au.
7. King, Rosie; Travers, Penny (12 November 2023). "ACT Greens backbencher Johnathan Davis resigns after sexual misconduct allegations". ABC News. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
8. Jean, Peter (10 September 2024). "Canberra Liberals disendorse MLA Elizabeth Kikkert ahead of October ACT election". ABC News . Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
9. Meikle, Ian (25 September 2024). "Embattled Elizabeth Kikkert has always put her family first". CBRCityNews. Macquarie Publishing. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024. This is the shadow looming over the news that Kikkert will seek re-election in Ginninderra, this time as the leading candidate for Family First Party, a national Christian conservative party that's standing candidates for the first time in the ACT.
10. "Find your electorate". Elections ACT . Retrieved 15 August 2024.
11. "Register of political parties". elections.act.gov.au. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
12. Green, Antony (25 September 2024). "ACT 2024 – Candidates and Parties Contesting Election". Antony Green's Election Blog. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
13. "MEDIA RELEASE: Sustainable Australia Party a conscientious objector to ACT election". Sustainable Australia Party (Press release). 24 July 2024. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
14. Gore, Charlotte (8 August 2023). "ACT Legislative Assembly Speaker Joy Burch announces she will not contest 2024 election". ABC News. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
15. Lindell, Jasper (20 October 2023). "Canberra Liberal MLA Nicole Lawder to retire from politics at 2024 ACT Legislative Assembly election" . The Canberra Times. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
16. "Candidates 2024". Elections ACT . 25 September 2024. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
17. "Our Candidates". www.actlabor.org.au. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
18. "Our Team". Canberra Liberals. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
19. "2024 Legislative Assembly candidates | ACT Greens". greens.org.au. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
20. "Meet Your Candidates". www.independentsforcanberra.com. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
21. "Meet our Candidates". Animal Justice Party ACT. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
22. "Candidates". Family First ACT. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
23. "Meet the Team". Belco Party. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
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27. "Candidates". fionacarrick.com. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
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29. Government, A. C. T. (13 September 2024). "The ACT election period officially begins today, Friday 13 September". Elections ACT.
30. "'We take nothing for granted': Labor launches ACT election pitch". 14 September 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
31. "Canberra Liberals launch bid to retake government, declaring 23 years in opposition 'is long enough'". 5 October 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
32. Bushnell, Ian. "Election campaign kicks off with one big political football taking the spotlight". Riotact.
33. Bushnell, Ian. "Liberals to tap Lyric Theatre project funding for stadium, convention centre, says Barr". Riotact.
34. Jacques, Oliver. "ACT election candidates who would scrap Woden light rail revealed". Riotact.
35. "What is each party's plan for transport ahead of the ACT election?". www.abc.net.au. 15 October 2024.
36. Fuller, Nicholas (16 October 2024). "'Light rail is once again an election issue': Parties for and against".
37. "Striking the perfect housing policy balance is tricky, but pulling it off could be key to winning the ACT election". 20 September 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
38. Berry, Ashlee (17 October 2024). "This vote is a referendum on the future of housing in Canberra". The Canberra Times.
39. Jacques, Oliver. "'The electorate is in a grumbly mood': Experts have their say on the ACT election outcome". Riotact.
40. "'It's become a bit one-sided': Antony Green says the ACT has fallen into a pattern of 'forever government'. So will anything change?". 13 September 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
41. Karp, Paul (11 October 2024). "After 23 years of Labor, independents could be kingmaker in tense ACT election battle" – via The Guardian.
42. "Who are the minor parties running in the 2024 ACT election?". 11 October 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
43. "ACT Labor accuses Canberra Liberals candidate of making 'racist and offensive' comments using fake profile". 25 September 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
44. "Liberal candidate used separate social media account under fake name". The Canberra Times. 24 September 2024.
45. Shepherd, Tory (2 October 2024). "Canberra Liberal apologises for writing book that paints rosy colonisation picture and skips frontier wars" – via The Guardian.
46. Bushnell, Ian. "Cain's Aboriginal history textbook puts Canberra Liberals on back foot again". Riotact.
47. Fuller, Nicholas (4 October 2024). "Peter Cain's textbook: Is the timing of this story political?".
48. "ACT Greens leader says candidate's blog post comparing Osama bin Laden to Jesus Christ is 'not a reflection of our party as a whole'". 10 October 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
49. "Greens defend candidate's post about martyrdom as 'creative writing'". The Canberra Times. 10 October 2024.
50. "'Embarrassing blunder': ACT Greens candidate compares Osama bin Laden to Jesus | Sky News Australia" . Retrieved 20 October 2024.
51. "Greens candidate reportedly posted he wanted to 'f---ing kill politicians'". The Canberra Times. 14 October 2024.
52. Bushnell, Ian. "Greens under siege over candidate's 'hateful' social media posts". Riotact.
53. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Fact-greens-candidate-calls-for-politicians-to-be-hanged-brags-of-drug-use%2Fnews-story%2F5b9f1106526d892e55771915d288f476
54. Shteyman, Jacob (17 October 2024). "Flipped off: 'misogyny' behind Lib's finger to journo". The Canberra Times.
55. "Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee makes rude gesture at journalist following tense press conference exchange". 16 October 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
56. Blair Jackson (16 October 2024). "Canberra Liberals leader flips off reporter three days out from election day". News.com.au .
57. "2024 Results by Electorate and by Party". Elections ACT.