Adele Carles | |
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Member of the Western Australian Parliament for Fremantle | |
In office 16 May 2009 –9 March 2013 | |
Preceded by | Jim McGinty |
Succeeded by | Simone McGurk |
Personal details | |
Born | Adele Simone Carles 19 February 1968 Kalgoorlie,Western Australia |
Citizenship | Australian |
Political party | Independent (since 2010) |
Other political affiliations | Greens Western Australia (until 2010) |
Spouse | Francois Carles |
Domestic partner | Troy Buswell (2010-2012) [1] |
Profession | Lawyer |
Adele Simone Carles (born 19 February 1968) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2009 to 2013,representing the electorate of Fremantle. She was initially elected as a Greens WA member at the 2009 Fremantle state by-election,becoming the first Greens candidate to be elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat. However,she resigned from the Greens on 6 May 2010 to sit as an independent. In November 2010,Carles agreed to guarantee confidence and supply votes for the incumbent Colin Barnett Liberal minority government. [2] [3] She ran for re-election as an independent at the 2013 state election,but was defeated,finishing fourth behind the Labor,Liberal and Greens candidates with 5.49% of the vote.
Carles,a solicitor before entering politics,was defeated in the 2008 state election. She polled 27.6% of the vote against Labor Attorney-General Jim McGinty (38.7%),marginally less than Liberal candidate Brian Christie (30.2%). [4]
In 2009,Carles was preselected by Greens WA to run again at the 2009 Fremantle state by-election following the retirement of McGinty. With the Liberals not contesting the election,Carles was rated a chance of becoming the first Greens candidate to be elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat. [5]
Carles won the seat with 44.06% of the primary vote,ahead of Labor candidate and former Fremantle Mayor,Peter Tagliaferri,as well as receiving enough preferences from other candidates to gain an absolute majority of ballots cast. [6] This was the highest primary vote result for the Greens in a state or federal election in Australia,and the first time the Greens had outpolled all other parties on their primary vote. Their previous record vote was 38.96% in the 2005 Marrickville state by-election in New South Wales (also not contested by the Liberals).
In April 2010,Carles publicly acknowledged that she and Liberal Treasurer,Troy Buswell,had been engaged in a "mutual,albeit stupid" affair that lasted several months. [7] Carles had previously denied the affair despite persistent rumours,claiming to be a victim of a Labor smear campaign. [8]
On 6 May 2010,she resigned from the Greens to sit as an independent. [9]
In December 2012,Buswell launched a $3 million defamation case against Carles in relation to allegations and counter-claims both made about Buswell's alleged lewd and drunken behaviour at the home of property developer Nigel Satterley in December 2011. [10] [11]
At the 9 March 2013 state election Carles was defeated by Labor's Simone McGurk. [12] She finished second from last with only five percent of the primary vote.
She ran for mayor of Fremantle in 2021 but lost to Hannah Fitzhardinge. [13]