1995 Canberra by-election

1995 Canberra by-election
← 1993 25 March 1995 1996 →
Opinion polls
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Brendan Smyth Sue Robinson James Warden
Party Liberal Labor Greens
Popular vote 39,021 25,689 10,835
Percentage 46.29% 30.48% 12.85%
Swing Increase 10.07 Decrease 21.78 Increase 12.85
TPP 56.58% 43.42%
TPP swing Increase 16.12 Decrease 16.12
MP before election

Ros Kelly
Labor

Elected MP

Brendan Smyth
Liberal

The 1995 Canberra by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Canberra in Australian Capital Territory on 25 March 1995. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party's Ros Kelly on 30 January 1995. The writ for the by-election was issued on 17 February 1995.[1][2]

The by-election was won by Liberal Party candidate Brendan Smyth, making it the first (and currently the only) by-election in the ACT to have been won by the Liberal Party.

The by-election took place in the shadow of the "sports rorts" affair which resulted in Kelly's resignation as a minister.

Smyth would later contest the new seat of Namadgi at the 1996 election but was defeated. Subsequent to his career in Federal Parliament, Smyth became leader of the ACT Liberal Party from 2002 to 2006.

This was the last by election that the Liberal Party took a seat off of another party.

Results

1995 Canberra by-election[3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Brendan Smyth 39,021 46.29 +10.07
Labor Sue Robinson 25,689 30.48 −21.78
Greens James Warden 10,835 12.85 +12.85
Against Further Immigration Robyn Spencer 3,515 4.17 +4.17
Independent Joanne Clarke 2,274 2.70 +2.70
Independent Jerzy Gray-Grzeszkiewicz 1,956 2.32 +2.32
Republican Joseph Cotta 1,003 1.19 +1.19
Total formal votes 84,293 96.46 −0.68
Informal votes 3,095 3.54 +0.68
Turnout 87,388 88.57 −8.39
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Brendan Smyth 47,672 56.58 +16.12
Labor Sue Robinson 36,577 43.42 −16.12
Liberal gain from Labor Swing +16.12

Opinion polling

Voting intention

Date Firm Interview
mode 		Sample
size 		Primary vote 2PP
LIB ALP GRN AAFI OTH UND LIB ALP
25 March 1995 1995 by-election — 84,293 46.29% 30.48% 12.85% 4.17% 6.21% — 56.58% 43.42%
27 February−2 March 1995 Internal Labor polling[5] 505 40.2% 30.7% 9.0% — 11%[a] 5% — —
18 February 1995 Liberal Party wins ACT election with 7 seats
28 January−7 February 1995 Canberra Times/Datacol[6][7] Telephone 916 29% 38% 3% — 4%[b] 26% — —
13 March 1993 1993 election[8] — 92,382 36.22% 52.26% 3.46% — 8.05%[c] — 40.44% 59.56%

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Independents had 11%.[5]
  2. ^ The Democrats had 3% and independents had 2%.[6]
  3. ^ The Australian Democrats had 5.34%, the Abolish Self Government Coalition had 1.85% and the Natural Law Party had 0.86%.[8]

References

  1. ^ Bachelard, Michael (19 January 1995). "Former Alliance MP eves federal seat". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  2. ^ Lynga, Gosta (22 March 1995). "ACT Greens in federal by-election". Green Left. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  3. ^ Canberra (ACT) By-Election (25 March 1995)
  4. ^ 1993 ACT election results: Adam Carr electoral archive
  5. ^ a b Henderson, Ian (22 March 1995). "Labor poll shows Liberal win". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Labor ahead in Ros Kelly's former seat". The Canberra Times. 11 February 1995. p. 3.
  7. ^ "ABOUT THE POLL". The Canberra Times. 11 February 1995. p. 3.
  8. ^ a b "CANBERRA, ACT". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. 13 March 1993. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2024.