Australian Capital Territory general election, 2020

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Australian Capital Territory general election, 2020

Flag of the Australian Capital Territory.svg


  2016 17 October 20202024 

All 25 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
13 seats needed for a majority

  Andrew Barr 2016.JPG Alistair Coe at 2CC in 2016.jpg Shane Rattenbury MLA ACT Greens.jpg
Leader Andrew Barr Alistair Coe Shane Rattenbury
Party Labor Liberal Greens
Leader since11 December 201425 October 201620 October 2012
Leader's seat Kurrajong Yerrabi Kurrajong
Last election12 seats, 38.4%11 seats, 36.4%2 seats, 10.3%
Seats neededIncrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 2Increase2.svg 11

Incumbent Chief Minister

Andrew Barr
Labor


A general election for the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly will be held on Saturday, 17 October 2020.

The unicameral parliament uses the proportional Hare-Clark system to elect 25 members in five constituencies electing five members each.

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. The Greens retained their balance of power in the 2012 election despite losing the majority of their representation, with sole representative Shane Rattenbury entering the cabinet to form a coalition government. Andrew Barr, Gallagher's deputy, later replaced her on 11 December 2014 after Gallagher resigned to enter the Senate in the vacancy left by Kate Lundy.

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 2016 election was the first to be contested with an enlarged Legislative Assembly of 25 members. Labor, led by Barr, won twelve seats, the Liberals led by Jeremy Hanson eleven, while the Greens again held the balance of power with two seats. Barr was re-elected as Chief Minister, with Hanson replaced by Alistair Coe as Leader of the Opposition.

Jeremy Hanson Australian army officer and politician

Jeremy David Hanson, CSC, MLA is a former Australian Army officer and is an Australian politician with the Liberal Party, elected to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in the Molonglo electorate at the 2008 election. He was the Opposition Leader in the ACT, as well as Shadow Minister for Health, Police, Corrections and Indigenous Affairs, between February 2013 and October 2016.

Alistair Coe Australian politician

Alistair Bruce Coe is an Australian politician who has been leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) since October 2016. He has been a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly since the 2008 election, representing the Ginninderra electorate and the Yerrabi electorate.

Date

Election dates are set in statute with four-year fixed terms, to be held on the third Saturday of October every four years. [1]

Polling

See also

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References

  1. "'So when is the next election?'". Aph.gov.au. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2017-09-28.