New South Wales general election, 2003

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Legislative Assembly election, 2003 [1]
Party	Vote %		Seats
Labor	43.6	↑1.4	55	0
Liberal	25.2	↑0.4	20	0
National	9.8	↑0.9	12	↓1
Independents			6	↑1
Labor win

Elections to to the 53rd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, March 22, 2003. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The social-democratic Australian Labor Party led by Bob Carr won a third four-year term against the Liberal-National Coalition led by John Brogden.

Contents 1 Electoral System 2 Results 2.1 Overview 2.2 Changing hands 2.3 Greens 3 References

[edit] Electoral System

Main article: Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories#New South Wales

The New South Wales Legislative Assembly consists of 93 members, elected in proportional representation single-member electorates by optional preferential Instant-runoff voting.

The New South Wales Legislative Council consists of 42 members, elected at large by optional preferential single transferable voting, with 21 elected at each election to serve two Legislative Assembly terms.

Terms are fixed at four years, with elections being held in late March.

[edit] Results

[edit] Overview

In the New South Wales Legislative Assembly:

• the Australian Labor Party won 55 seats
• the Liberal Party of Australia won 20 seats
• the National Party of Australia won 12 seats
• independent candidates won 6 seats

Elections were held for half the seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council:

• the Australian Labor Party won 10 seats for a total of 18
• the Liberal Party of Australia won 5 seats for a total of 9
• the National Party of Australia won 2 seats for a total of 4
• the Australian Greens won 2 seats for a total of 3
• minor-party candidates won 2 seats for a total of 8

[edit] Changing hands

• Camden. Liberal seat won by Labor with a swing of 8.9%
• Clarence. Labor seat won by a National with a swing of 1.9%
• Monaro. National seat won by Labor with a swing of 2.8%
• South Coast. Labor seat won by a Liberal with a swing of 2.7%
• Tamworth. National seat won by an independent with a swing of 9.3%

[edit] Greens

The Australian Greens were widely expected to do well in the election, but results for the party were mixed. The party doubled its share of the lower house vote to 8% and added one more, Sylvia Hale, to its Legislative Council caucus. Hopes of a seat in the Legislative Assembly were dashed however.

The Greens were in a strong position in the inner Sydney districts of Port Jackson and Marrickville, both normally held by Labor. In both seats, Green candidates came second on first preference votes, beating the Liberal candidates. However, the Greens' politics, often at odds with those of the Liberals, meant that they did not receive strong preference flows from other candidates. Port Jackson Greens candidate Jamie Parker recorded a 17.5% swing against Labor's Sandra Nori.

Marrickville Labor MP and then Deputy Premier Andrew Refshauge was safe, however, polling less than 2 percentage points shy of a majority on first preferences.

[edit] References

• The lone Liberal who pierced Labor's ranks
• Nori survives Greens challenge
• Battling Cansdell gives Nationals a glimmer of light in the north
• Psephos: Election of 27 March 2003, Legislative Assembly (Statewide summary)