2015_South-West_Coast_state_by-election
A by-election for the seat of South-West Coast in the Victorian Legislative Assembly was held on 31 October 2015. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Premier Denis Napthine on 3 September 2015. Former Transport Minister Terry Mulder resigned his seat representing the adjacent district of Polwarth on the same day as Napthine.[1] The by-election for Polwarth was held on the same day.
Quick Facts Electoral district of South-West Coast in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, First party ...
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Electoral district of South-West Coast in the Victorian Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The electoral district of South-West Coast in south-west rural Victoria is dominated by the town of Warrnambool, but also includes Portland, Port Fairy, Koroit, Heywood and Macarthur. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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More information 11 candidates in ballot paper order, Party ...
| 11 candidates in ballot paper order | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Background | |
| Independent | Rodney Van De Hoef | Warrnambool engineer.[2] | |
| Liberal | Roma Britnell | Dairy farmer. Vice President of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria.[3] | |
| Independent | Roy Reekie | Labor candidate for Warrnambool in 1999 and South-West Coast in 2002, 2006 and 2014. Narrowly lost 2002 on a 49.3 percent two-party vote.[4] | |
| Country | Jim Doukas | Shire of Moyne councillor.[5] | |
| National | Michael Neoh | Mayor of Warrnambool.[6] | |
| Independent | Pete Smith | Independent Liberal. Dairy industry executive, advisor to BlueScope Steel, AWB and Australia Post, army press officer, naval officer.[7] | |
| Greens | Thomas Campbell | Greens candidate for South-West Coast in 2014.[8] | |
| Independent | Swampy Marsh | Warrnambool dairy and chicken farmer.[9][10] Subject of the 2015 film Oddball.[11] | |
| Animal Justice | Jennifer Gamble | Warrnambool nurse. Animal Justice candidate for Western Victoria Region in 2014.[12] | |
| Christians | Lillian Len | ||
| Independent | Michael McCluskey | Former veterinarian. Independent candidate for South-West Coast in 2014.[13][14] | |
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The Labor government did not contest the by-elections in the safe Liberal seats of South-West Coast and Polwarth.[15]
How-to-vote cards are distributed to voters at polling stations to provide information with how the candidate suggests preferences be allocated. Candidates and parties suggesting preferences are shown in each column of the table below. Michael McCluskey ran an open card at this by-election.
More information Van De Hoef, Liberal ...
| Van De Hoef[16] | Liberal[17] | Reekie[17] | Country[18] | National[17] | Smith | Greens[17] | Marsh[17] | AJP[17] | Christians[17] | McCluskey[16] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van de Hoef | 1 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 4 | No card | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | |
| Liberal | 11 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 3 | ||
| Reekie | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 9 | ||
| Country | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 2 | ||
| National | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 4 | ||
| Smith | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | ||
| Greens | 6 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 11 | ||
| Marsh | 7 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Animal Justice | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 | ||
| Christians | 9 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 1 | ||
| McCluskey | 10 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 1 | |
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More information Date, Primary vote ...
| Date | Primary vote | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIB | Reekie | NAT | OTH | |
| 23 October 2015[19] | 37% | 24% | 18% | 21% |
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More information Party, Candidate ...
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Roma Britnell | 15,486 | 40.0 | −17.0 | |
| Independent | Roy Reekie | 6,512 | 16.8 | +16.8 | |
| National | Michael Neoh | 5,581 | 14.4 | +14.4 | |
| Country | Jim Doukas | 4,005 | 10.3 | +8.0 | |
| Greens | Thomas Campbell | 2,938 | 7.6 | −2.2 | |
| Independent | Swampy Marsh | 1,137 | 2.9 | +2.9 | |
| Independent Liberal | Pete Smith | 695 | 1.8 | +1.8 | |
| Independent | Rodney Van de Hoef | 677 | 1.7 | +1.7 | |
| Independent | Michael McCluskey | 616 | 1.6 | −0.0 | |
| Christians | Lillian Len | 579 | 1.5 | +1.5 | |
| Animal Justice | Jennifer Gamble | 490 | 1.3 | +1.3 | |
| Total formal votes | 38,716 | 93.8 | −2.2 | ||
| Informal votes | 2,578 | 6.2 | +2.2 | ||
| Turnout | 41,294 | 91.1 | −3.8 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Roma Britnell | 23,455 | 60.6 | −0.4 | |
| Independent | Roy Reekie | 15,261 | 39.4 | +39.4 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | −0.4 | |||
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Roma Britnell retained the seat on preferences for the Liberals. Roy Reekie was second in the primary count.[20][21]
- "Former Victorian premier Denis Napthine, senior MP Terry Mulder both retire from politics triggering by-elections". ABC News. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- Sinnott, Alex (2 October 2015). "Eleventh hour bid by poll aspirants". The Standard. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- Sinnott, Alex (3 September 2015). "Britnell tipped to enter the political fray". The Australian Dairyfamer. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- Judd, Bridget (7 September 2015). "Denis Napthine refuses to endorse Liberal candidate Donna Petrovich for his former seat". ABC News. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- Sinnot, Alex. "Neoh opens mayoral chair". Warrnambool Standard. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- "Ind Lib could split Vic by-election vote". Nine News. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- "Warrnambool Mayor Michael Neoh still keen on South-West Coast candidacy despite preselection hiccup". ABC News. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- Jefferson, Andrew (14 June 2015). "Warrnambool farmer Swampy Marsh refuses to stop selling unpasteurised milk at market". Herald Sun. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- "Egg-straordinary bid for South West Coast". The Standard. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- "Oddball election set for region". Mayne Gazette. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- Sinnott, Alex (11 November 2014). "Warrnambool Animal Justice Party candidate wants jumps racing banned". The Standard. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- Sinnott, Alex (25 September 2015). "'Independent Liberal' says the party's over". The Standard. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- Sinnott, Alex. "Michael McCluskey's burning political interest". The Standard. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- Sullivan, Kath (3 September 2015). "Labor won't contest by-elections in South-West Coast and Polwarth". The Weekly Times. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- "State District By-elections 2015 Registered How To Vote Cards by Independent - Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- "State District By-elections 2015 South-West Coast District Registered How To Vote Cards - Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- Australian Country Party. "HTVdoukasprepoll.pdf" (PDF). Australian Country Party. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- Sinnott, Alex (24 October 2015). "Close poll". The Standard. Retrieved 24 October 2015.