Australian Capital Territory general election, 2016

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Australian Capital Territory general election, 2016
Flag of the Australian Capital Territory.svg
←  2012 15 October 2016 2020  →
All 25 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
13 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Andrew Barr 2016.JPG Jeremy Hanson 2016.jpg Shane Rattenbury MLA ACT Greens.jpg
Leader Andrew Barr Jeremy Hanson Shane Rattenbury
Party Labor Liberal Greens
Leader since11 December 201411 February 2013October 2012
Leader's seat Kurrajong Murrumbidgee Kurrajong
Last election8 seats, 38.9%8 seats, 38.9%1 seat, 10.7%
Seats won12 seats11 seats2 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 4Increase2.svg 3Increase2.svg 1
Percentage38.4%36.7%10.3%
SwingDecrease2.svg 0.5Decrease2.svg 2.2Decrease2.svg 0.5
Australian Capital Territory Election 2016 Map.svg
Winning party seats by division for the Legislative Assembly.
Chief Minister before election

Andrew Barr
Labor

Elected Chief Minister

Andrew Barr
Labor

A general election for the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly was held on Saturday, 15 October 2016. [1]

Contents

The 15-year incumbent Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, won a fifth term over the main opposition Liberal Party, led by opposition leader Jeremy Hanson. On election night, ABC analyst Antony Green predicted that Labor would once again form a minority government with the support of the Greens, with Liberal leader Hanson saying in a speech it would be very difficult for the Liberals to win government. [2] On 22 October, the final list of elected candidates was confirmed; the Labor Party winning 12 seats, the Liberal Party 11 seats and the Greens 2 seats. [3] Labor and the Greens subsequently signed off on a formal Parliamentary Agreement, which outlined shared policy priorities and allowed Greens leader Shane Rattenbury to retain a seat in the Cabinet whilst mandating that the Greens not move or support any motion of no confidence in the Labor Government, except in instances of gross misconduct or corruption. [4] [5]

The Australian Labor Party , commonly known as ACT Labor, is the ACT branch of the Australian Labor Party. It is one of two major parties in the unicameral Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory.

Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory position

The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role. Unlike other states and territories, the Chief Minister of the ACT is not nominally appointed by an administrator or viceroy, but elected directly by the Assembly. Since there are no local governments in the territory, the Chief Minister's role is not only roughly equivalent to that of the Premiers of the states of Australia, but also that of the mayor of a local council.

Andrew Barr Australian politician; Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory

Andrew James Barr is an Australian politician and Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. He has been a Labor Party member for the seat of Molonglo in the ACT Legislative Assembly since 5 April 2006, after being elected on a countback to replace former Treasurer Ted Quinlan, who resigned mid-term. Barr was immediately promoted to Cabinet upon his election. As one of only five Ministers in the Territory government, he held a number of portfolios: Treasurer, Economic Development, Community Services, Tourism, Sport and Recreation, and Tourism and Events. On 11 December 2014 he was elected as Chief Minister after his predecessor, Katy Gallagher, resigned and announced her intention to run for the Senate.

Prior to this election, candidates were elected to fill all 17 Legislative Assembly seats in the unicameral parliament which consisted of three multi-member electorates, Brindabella (five seats), Ginninderra (five seats) and Molonglo (seven seats), using a proportional representation single transferable vote method known as the Hare-Clark system. On 5 August 2014, the Assembly voted to increase the size of the Assembly to 25 members, elected from five electorates of five seats each. The Hare-Clark system continued. [6]

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory

The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Square, close to the centre of the city of Canberra.

Brindabella electorate electorate of the Australian Capital Territory

The Brindabella electorate is one of the five electorates for the unicameral 25-member Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. It elects five members, and is the largest of the electorates in geographic area.

Ginninderra electorate electorate of the Australian Capital Territory

The Ginninderra electorate is one of the five electorates for the unicameral 25-member Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. It elects five members, and is the smallest of the electorates in geographic area.

Of the 25 elected members, 13 were women, representing the first female parliamentary majority in Australian history. [7]

Results

Australian Capital Territory general election, 15 October 2016 [8] [9]
Legislative Assembly
<< 2012–2020 >>

Enrolled voters283,162
Votes cast249,840 Turnout 88.2%−1.2
Informal votes5,768Informal2.3%−1.2
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes%SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 93,77038.4−0.512+4
  Liberal 89,57636.7−2.211+3
  Greens 25,10910.3−0.52+1
  Sex Party 7,4783.1+3.100
  Liberal Democrats 5,0292.1+1.000
  Sustainable Australia 3,8391.6+1.600
  Animal Justice 3,6801.5+1.500
  Like Canberra 2,6361.1+1.100
  Canberra Community Voters 1,7110.7+0.700
  Community Alliance 4150.2+0.200
 Ungrouped10,8294.4+2.600
Total244,072  25 

Primary vote by electorate

Brindabella Ginninderra Kurrajong Murrumbidgee Yerrabi
ACT Labor 33.6%41.3%38.5%34.5%43.9%
Liberal Party 41.9%32.0%31.0%42.8%35.8%
ACT Greens 5.1%9.7%18.8%10.6%7.1%
Sex Party 7.9%0.0%0.0%3.5%4.0%
Liberal Democrats 2.5%1.2%2.2%1.6%2.7%
Other6.6%14.8%8.4%4.8%5.6%

Final distribution of seats

ElectorateSeats held
Brindabella      
Ginninderra      
Kurrajong      
Murrumbidgee      
Yerrabi      
 Labor
 Liberal
 Green

Key dates

The electoral roll is a list of persons who are eligible to vote in a particular electoral district and who are registered to vote, if required in a particular jurisdiction. An electoral roll has a number of functions, especially to streamline voting on election day. Voter registration is also used to combat electoral fraud by enabling authorities to verify an applicant's identity and entitlement to a vote, and to ensure a person doesn't vote multiple times. In jurisdictions where voting is compulsory, the electoral roll is used to indicate who has failed to vote. Most jurisdictions maintain permanent electoral rolls while some jurisdictions compile new electoral rolls before each election. In some jurisdictions, people to be selected for jury or other civil duties are chosen from an electoral roll.

Background

Labor led by Jon Stanhope came to power as a minority government at the 2001 election with the support of the Greens and Democrats who held the balance of power. The 2004 election resulted in a historic majority government for Labor, the first time the ACT elected a parliamentary majority. Labor again formed a minority government after the 2008 election resulted in a Green balance of power – Labor seven seats, Liberal six seats, Greens four seats. Stanhope resigned as Chief Minister and Labor leader on 12 May 2011, and was replaced by his deputy, Katy Gallagher.

Jon Stanhope former Australian politician; Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory; Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories

Jonathan Donald Stanhope is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly from 1998 until 2011. He is the only ACT Chief Minister to have governed with a majority in the ACT Assembly. From 2012 to 2014 Stanhope was Administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories, which consists of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

A minority government, or minority cabinet or minority parliament, is a cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament. It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, to enable a government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support of enough other members of the legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In bicameral parliaments, the term relates to the situation in chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government.

The 1989 election saw the start of self-governance in the ACT. Elections see all members of the unicameral Assembly face re-election, with members being elected by the Hare-Clark system of proportional representation. The Assembly was previously divided into three electorates: five-member Brindabella (including Tuggeranong and parts of the Woden Valley) and Ginninderra (including Belconnen and suburbs) and seven-member Molonglo (including North Canberra, South Canberra, Gungahlin, Weston Creek, and the remainder of the Woden Valley). These electorates, were redistributed following the increase in the size of the Assembly.

Electorates from the 2016 election. ACT Electorates 2016.png
Electorates from the 2016 election.

At the end of May 2015, the following electorates were announced:

Election dates are set in statute with four-year fixed terms, to be held on the third Saturday of October every four years.

Candidates

Registered parties

Twelve parties were registered with the ACT Electoral Office as eligible for the October 2016 election, ten of which nominated candidates for the election. [11]

Retiring members

Labor

Liberal

Brindabella

Five seats were up for election.

Labor candidates Liberal candidates Greens candidates Animal Justice candidates Liberal Democrats candidates
 

Joy Burch *
Angie Drake
Mick Gentleman *
Karl Maftoum
Taimus Werner-Gibbings

Ed Cocks
Annette Fazey-Southwell
Nicole Lawder *
Mark Parton*
Andrew Wall *

Johnathan Davis
Michael Mazengarb
Ben Murphy

Sarah O'Brien
Robyn Soxsmith

Matt Donnelly
Jacob Gowor
Greg Renet
Vera Saragih
Matt Straschko

Like Canberra candidates Sex Party candidates Sustainable candidatesUngrouped candidates
 

Timothy Friel
Richard Tuffin

Steven Bailey
Monique Shepherd

Claude Hastir
Melissa Kemp

Andrew Holt (Ind)
Joel McKay (Ind)

Ginninderra

Five seats were up for election.

Labor candidates Liberal candidates Greens candidates CCV candidates Liberal Democrats candidates
 

Yvette Berry *
Chris Bourke
Tara Cheyne*
Kim Fischer
Gordon Ramsay*

Vicki Dunne *
Denise Fisher
Elizabeth Kikkert*
Ignatius Rozario
Paul Sweeney

Jason Chappel
Indra Esguerra
Richard Merzian

Beth Gooch
Mick Kaye
Geoff Kettle
Gilbert Reilly
Alan Tutt

Naomi Gowor
Guy Jakeman

Like Canberra candidates Sustainable candidatesUngrouped candidates
 

Richard Harriss
Sam Huggins

Geoff Buckmaster
Martin Tye

Bernie Brennan (AJP)
Ian Coombes (Ind)
Vijay Dubey (Ind)
David Edwards (Ind)
Emmanuel Ezekiel-Hart (Ind)
Kim Huynh (Ind)
Vanessa Jones (Ind)
Leigh Watson (Ind)
Lea Zangl (Ind)

Kurrajong

Five seats were up for election.

Labor candidates Liberal candidates Greens candidates CCV candidates Liberal Democrats candidates
 

Andrew Barr *
Josh Ceramidas
Leah Dwyer
Richard Niven
Rachel Stephen-Smith*

Candice Burch
Brooke Curtin
Steve Doszpot *
Elizabeth Lee*
Peter McKay

Shane Rattenbury *
Jill Thomsen
Rebecca Vassarotti

Richard Farmer
Mike Hettinger
Lucinda Spier

Mark Ellis
Michael O'Rourke
Hugh Upton

Like Canberra candidates Sustainable candidatesUngrouped candidates
 

Chris Bucknell
Maryann Mussared

John Haydon
Oliver Tye

Jeff Isaacs (AJP)
Marea Fatseas (Ind)
Peter Robinson (Ind)
Graeme Strachan (Ind)

Murrumbidgee

Five seats were up for election.

Labor candidates Liberal candidates Greens candidates Animal Justice candidates Community Alliance candidates
 

Bec Cody*
Mark Kulasingham
Brendan Long
Jennifer Newman
Chris Steel*

Jessica Adelan-Langford
Jeremy Hanson *
Peter Hosking
Paul House
Giulia Jones *

Emma Davidson
Jennifer Faerber
Caroline Le Couteur*

Deborah Field
Jessica Montagne

Michael Lindfield
Nancy-Louise Scherger

Liberal Democrats candidates Like Canberra candidates Sustainable candidatesUngrouped candidates
 

Fergus Brown
Brendan Cumpston
Roman Gowor
Tom Hamer
Alexander Klinkon

Shelley Dickerson
Rod Vickers

Jill Mail
Mark O'Connor

Robbie Swan (Sex)
Margaret Webber (Ind)
Brendan Whyte (Ind)

Yerrabi

Five seats were up for election.

Labor candidates Liberal candidates Greens candidates Liberal Democrats candidates Like Canberra
 

Meegan Fitzharris *
Deepak-Raj Gupta
Jayson Hinder
Suzanne Orr*
Michael Pettersson*

Alistair Coe *
Amanda Lynch
James Milligan*
Justin States
Jacob Vadakkedathu

Andrew Braddock
Tobias Holm
Veronica Wensing

Dave Green
Declan Keating

Tim Bohm
Casey Heffernan

Sex Party candidates Sustainable candidatesUngrouped candidates
 

Andrew Dewson
Susie Kennett

Paul Gabriel
Violet Sheridan

Mandy Cottingham (AJP)
Daniel Evans
David Pollard (Ind)

Newspaper endorsements

NewspaperEndorsement
The Canberra Times Liberal [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Brendan Michael Smyth is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Brindabella for the Liberal Party from 1998 until 2016. From 2002 to 2006 Smyth was the ACT Leader of the Opposition and served briefly as the Deputy Chief Minister during 2000 and 2001. He has held the ACT portfolios Urban Services, Business, Tourism and the Arts, and Police and Emergency Services.

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Electorates of the Australian Capital Territory multi-member electorate for the ACT Legislative Assembly

From 2016, the 25-member unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is elected from five multi-member electorates, with five seats per electorate.

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 18 February 1995. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Kate Carnell. For the first time, candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single transferable vote method, known as the Hare-Clark system. The result was another hung parliament. However the Liberals, with the largest representation in the 17-member unicameral Assembly, formed Government with the support of Michael Moore and Paul Osborne. Carnell was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the third Assembly on 9 March 1995.

2001 Australian Capital Territory general election

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 20 October 2001. The incumbent Liberal Party, led by Gary Humphries, was challenged by the Labor Party, led by Jon Stanhope. Candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single transferable vote method, known as the Hare-Clark system. The result was another hung parliament. However Labor, with the largest representation in the 17-member unicameral Assembly, formed Government with the support of the ACT Greens and Democrats. Stanhope was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the fifth Assembly on 12 November 2001. The election was conducted by the ACT Electoral Commission and was the first time in Australia's history that an electronic voting and counting system was used for some, but not all, polling places.

2004 Australian Capital Territory general election

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 16 October 2004. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Jon Stanhope, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Brendan Smyth. Candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single transferable vote method, known as the Hare-Clark system. The result was a clear majority of nine seats in the 17-member unicameral Assembly for Labor. It marked the first and so far only time in the history of ACT self-government that one party was able to win a majority in its own right. Stanhope was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the sixth Assembly on 4 November 2004. The election was conducted by the ACT Electoral Commission and was the second time in Australia's history that an electronic voting and counting system was used for some, but not all, polling places, expanding on the initial trial of the system at the 2001 ACT election.

Molonglo electorate electorate of the Australian Capital Territory

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2008 Australian Capital Territory general election

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Mary Edith Porter is a former Labor member of the ACT Assembly. She was first elected to the Assembly in October 2004. Immediately prior to that, she was CEO of Volunteering ACT from 1993 until October 2004

Shane Stephen Rattenbury, Australian politician and former Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly, is a member of the multi-member unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Molonglo for the ACT Greens since 2008. He was the first Speaker in any Parliament in the world representing a Green political party.

Amanda Bresnan politician from Australia

Amanda Bresnan is an Australian politician and a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. Bresnan was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Brindabella for the ACT Greens at the 2008 election and defeated at the 2012 election

Meredith Hunter (politician) Australian politician

Meredith Hunter, Australian politician, is a former member of the multi-member unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Ginninderra for the ACT Greens from 2008 to 2012. She was also the Parliamentary Convenor of the ACT Greens.

Caroline Le Couteur is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Molonglo for the ACT Greens at the 2008 election and defeated at the 2012 election In October 2016, she was re-elected to the assembly representing the new electorate of Murrumbidgee.

2012 Australian Capital Territory general election

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly occurred on Saturday, 20 October 2012. The 11-year incumbent Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, won a fourth term over the main opposition Liberal Party, led by opposition leader Zed Seselja.

References

  1. ↑ Australian election dates: Australian Parliamentary Library
  2. ↑ "ACT election: Labor Chief Minister Andrew Barr claims victory, says Canberra has voted for light rail". ABC News. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "ACT election final tally announced; Labor holds lead over Liberals". ABC News. 22 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Labor and Greens hammer out deal to see Shane Rattenbury in Cabinet, Joy Burch as Speaker". Canberra Times. 30 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Full Text of the Parliamentary Agreement for the 9th Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory". ABC News. 30 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "ACT Legislative Assembly votes to increase the size of the Assembly to 25 members from the 2016 election". ACT Electoral Commission.
  7. ↑ "ACT achieves 'first ever female majority' in parliament as ninth Assembly sworn in". Canberra Times. 31 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Results - ACT Election 2016". ABC Elections. 15 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Election Results 2016". ACT Elections. 15 October 2016. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "2016 Election timetable". Elections ACT. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "Official political party register". Elections ACT. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "It's time to decide: tram or no tram". The Canberra Times. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
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