Batman by-election, 2018

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Batman by-election, 2018

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The Batman seat in the House of Representatives
Registered 111,857
Turnout 81.40% Decrease2.svg 8.28

 First partySecond party
  Ged Kearney at Delcon 2011 (cropped).jpg AlexBhathalBatmanProfile.jpg
Candidate Ged Kearney Alex Bhathal
Party Labor Greens
Percentage43.14%39.49%
SwingIncrease2.svg 7.87Increase2.svg 3.26
TPP 54.38%45.62%
TPP swingIncrease2.svg 3.35Decrease2.svg 3.35

Division of BATMAN 2016.png

The Division of Batman covers an area of 66 km2 in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. The main suburbs in the seat include Fairfield, Northcote, Preston and Reservoir.
MP before election

David Feeney
Labor

Elected MP

Ged Kearney
Labor

A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Batman took place on 17 March 2018.

Australian House of Representatives Lower house of Australia

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.

Division of Batman Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Batman is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It takes its name from John Batman, one of the founders of the city of Melbourne. The division was created in 1906, replacing the Division of Northern Melbourne.

Contents

The by-election was called as a result of the resignation on 1 February 2018 of David Feeney, the incumbent backbench Australian Labor Party MP. The ALP candidate, Ged Kearney, won the by-election. [1]

David Feeney Australian politician

David Ian Feeney is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for the division of Batman in the House of Representatives from 7 September 2013 to 1 February 2018. Before that, he was a member of the Australian Senate for Victoria from 2008 until his resignation to contest Batman. Feeney resigned as a member of Parliament on 1 February 2018 as he was unable to produce any documentary evidence disproving he was a dual citizen, which is a breach of section 44 of the Constitution of Australia.

In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament (MP) or a legislator who holds no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesman in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "rank and file". The term dates from 1855. The term derives from the fact that they sit physically behind the frontbench in the House of Commons. A backbencher may be a new parliamentary member yet to receive high office, a senior figure dropped from government, someone who for whatever reason is not chosen to sit either in the ministry or the opposition Shadow Ministry, or someone who prefers to be a background influence, not in the spotlight. By extension, those who are not reliable supporters of all of their party's goals and policies and have resigned or been forced to resign may be relegated to the back benches. For example, Clive Lewis becoming a backbencher after resigning from Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet over Brexit.

Australian Labor Party Political party in Australia

The Australian Labor Party is a major centre-left political party in Australia. The party has been in opposition at the federal level since the 2013 election. Bill Shorten has been the party's federal parliamentary leader since 13 October 2013. The party is a federal party with branches in each state and territory. Labor is in government in the states of Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and in both the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The party competes against the Liberal/National Coalition for political office at the federal and state levels. It is the oldest political party in Australia.

Background

On 6 December 2017, amidst the ongoing citizenship crisis engulfing several MPs, Labor MP David Feeney revealed that he was unable to produce documentation confirming he had renounced citizenship of either the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. [2] [3] Consequently, Feeney voluntarily referred himself to the High Court of Australia, considering his likely breach of Section 44 of the Australian Constitution. [3] By 19 January 2018, Feeney remained unable to produce any documentary evidence from British or Irish authorities that he took steps to renounce his citizenship and entitlements, and the High Court granted him an extension to 1 February to allow his legal team to continue their search for the relevant documents. [4] At a press conference on 1 February 2018, Feeney announced he would resign from the seat and from politics effective immediately, choosing not to stand as a candidate at the by-election. [5] The date for the by-election was set at 17 March 2018, the same day as the South Australian state election. [6]

2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis

In 2017, the eligibility of several members of the Parliament of Australia to be elected was questioned. Referred by some as a "constitutional crisis", fifteen sitting politicians were ruled ineligible by the High Court of Australia or resigned pre-emptively. The situation arose from section 44(i) of the Australian Constitution, which prohibits parliamentarians from having allegiance to a foreign power, especially citizenship. On that basis, the High Court previously held that dual citizens are ineligible for election unless they have taken "reasonable steps" to renounce the foreign citizenship before nomination.

United Kingdom Country in Europe

The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but more commonly known as the UK or Britain, is a sovereign country lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

Republic of Ireland Ireland, a country in north-western Europe, occupying 5/6 of the island of Ireland; succeeded the Irish Free State (1937)

Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern part of the island, and whose metropolitan area is home to around a third of the country's over 4.8 million inhabitants. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.

The seat was fought by the incumbent Labor Party and the Greens, who received a 9.6% swing towards them in the previous election. Despite finishing first in the primary vote, Greens' candidate Alex Bhathal was defeated by Feeney on the two-party preferred vote 51%-49% at the previous election. Feeney had held the seat for the Labor Party since 2013. It was the sixth time Bhathal had contested the seat, having previously run in 2001, 2004, 2010, 2013 and 2016. [7] The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed that 111,857 people were enrolled to vote in the by-election. [8] [9]

Australian Greens Australian political party

The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a green political party in Australia.

Australian Electoral Commission national election commission of Australia

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal elections, by-elections and referendums.

Key dates

Key dates in relation to the by-election are: [10]

Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives position of speaker in Australian parliament

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The presiding officer in the upper house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was created by section 35 of the Constitution of Australia. The authors of the Constitution intended that the House of Representatives should as nearly as possible be modelled on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Writ of election Official writ calling for an election

A writ of election is a writ issued ordering the holding of an election. In Commonwealth countries writs are the usual mechanism by which general elections are called and are issued by the head of state or their representative. In the United States, it is more commonly used to call a special election for a political office.

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.

Candidates

Liberal Party of Australia Australian political party

The Liberal Party of Australia is a major centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party (ALP). It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Australia Party (UAP).

Candidates in ballot paper order [12]
PartyCandidateBackground
  Rise Up Yvonne GentleGentle is the National Secretary of Rise Up Australia and was the party's federal candidate for Dunkley in 2013 and Flinders in 2016. [13]
  Labor Ged Kearney On 2 February 2018, Labor leader Bill Shorten formally announced that Ged Kearney, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), was Labor's candidate at the by-election. [14] Kearney had previously been pre-selected for the state seat of Brunswick at the 2018 state election, but resigned from the candidacy to contest Batman. [15]
  Greens Alex BhathalGreens leader Richard Di Natale confirmed to Guardian Australia that Alex Bhathal would run for the seat as the Greens' candidate. [16] Bhathal has been the Greens' candidate for the seat and lost 6 times and 5 times for nearby seats, and is a social worker who has sat on the Darebin Ethnic Communities Council. [17]
  Conservatives Kevin BaileyAustralian Conservatives director Lyle Shelton announced that Kevin Bailey, a businessman and former SAS soldier, was the party's candidate at the by-election. [18]
  People's Tegan BurnsBurns is not believed to have run for office before and was described by the party as "highly passionate about youth and the criminal justice system". [19]
  Liberty Alliance Debbie RobinsonRobinson is the president of the Australian Liberty Alliance and was the party's lead candidate for the Senate in Western Australia in 2016. [13]
  Independent Teresa van Lieshout Perennial candidate for eight state and federal elections, most recently the Canning by-election in 2015, Van Lieshout is a teacher and self-published author on social, theological and political issues. [13]
 Adrian WhiteheadWhitehead is an environmentalist and the founder of the unregistered Save the Planet Party. He previously contested Corangamite at the 2013 federal election. [13]
  #Sustainable Mark McDonaldMcDonald is an IT engineer and lives in Preston. [13]
  Animal Justice Miranda SmithSmith previously contested the seat of Melbourne at the 2016 federal election. [13]

Results

Batman by-election, 2018 [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Labor Ged Kearney 36,84043.14+7.87
Greens Alex Bhathal33,72539.49+3.26
Conservatives Kevin Bailey5,4716.41+6.41
Animal Justice Miranda Smith2,5282.96+1.29
Rise Up Australia Yvonne Gentle2,2172.60+2.60
Independent Teresa van Lieshout1,2451.46+1.46
Liberty Alliance Debbie Robinson1,1861.39+1.39
Sustainable Australia Mark McDonald9511.11+1.11
Adrian Whitehead7450.87+0.87
People's Party Tegan Burns4960.58+0.58
Total formal votes85,40493.79+1.57
Informal votes5,6506.21−1.57
Turnout 91,05481.40−8.28
Two-candidate-preferred result
Labor Ged Kearney 46,44654.38+3.35
Greens Alex Bhathal38,95845.62−3.35
Labor hold Swing +3.35

Polling

Batman by-election polling
DateFirmSample Primary vote TPP vote
ALPGRNOTHALPGRN
2018 by-election43.1%39.5%17.4%54.4%45.6%
18–20 Feb 2018Lonergan Research [20] 69340%39%16%53%47%
2016 election 35.3%36.2%28.5%51.0%49.0%

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Carey, Adam; Towell, Noel (17 March 2018). "Batman votes: Labor holds seat in crucial byelection". The Age.
  2. ↑ Murphy, Katharine; Karp, Paul; Hutchens, Gareth (5 December 2017). "David Feeney says he may hold dual citizenship as more MPs' futures in balance". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 "David Feeney first Labor MP referred to High Court over dual citizenship". ABC News Radio. 6 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Labor MP David Feeney tells high court he cannot find citizenship papers". The Guardian. 19 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Yaxley, Louise (1 February 2018). "David Feeney resigns from Parliament over dual citizenship, prompting Batman by-election". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "St Patrick's Day byelection for Batman". The Age. 7 February 2018.
  7. ↑ Wahlquist, Calla (17 March 2018). "Batman byelection: Labor's Ged Kearney defeats Greens' Alex Bhathal". the Guardian.
  8. ↑ "A total of 111 857 people are enrolled to vote in the #Batman by-election to be held on Saturday, 17 March 2018". Australian Electoral Commission. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Batman By-election". AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "2018 Batman by-election". Australian Electoral Commission.
  11. ↑ Towell, Noel (16 February 2018). "Fresh blow to Labor as Liberals stay out of Batman". The Age.
  12. ↑ "Ten candidates to contest the 2018 Batman by-election". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Batman by-election 2018". ABC Elections. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "Shorten shifts on Adani as Labor announces Ged Kearney to run for Batman". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 2 February 2018.
  15. ↑ "Ged Kearney last-minute replacement as Brunswick MP Jane Garrett seeks safe seat". The Age. Fairfax Media. 27 September 2017.
  16. ↑ "Ged Kearney to run for Labor in Batman as Shorten threatens Adani's licence". Guardian Australia. 2 February 2018. Alex Bhathal, who Greens leader Richard Di Natale confirmed on Friday would recontest the seat, was 1.03%, or just 1,853 votes, shy of Labor in 2016.
  17. ↑ "Alex Bhathal". Australian Greens. 1 February 2018.
  18. ↑ "Former SAS soldier Kevin Bailey to contest Batman by-election for Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives". Herald Sun. 20 February 2018.
  19. ↑ "Australian People's Party; Batman by-election 2018". australianpeoplesparty.com. 7 March 2017. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018.
  20. ↑ "Wilted Greens? Labor edges ahead in Batman voter poll". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
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