Werriwa by-election, 2005

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A by-election was held in the Werriwa electorate in south-western Sydney on March 19, 2005, after the resignation of Labor MP Mark Latham, who had represented the electorate since 1994. Latham, who at the time was also serving as federal Opposition Leader, had become increasingly disenchanted with political life and was struggling with recurring pancreatitis, had announced his resignation on January 18.

The governing Liberal Party of Australia chose not to contest the by-election, as Werriwa has long been considered a safe Labor seat. Nevertheless, the by-election received substantial public attention, due to both the surprise nature of Latham's resignation and a brutal Labor preselection battle between two potential candidates. This resulted in the drafting of a compromise candidate, industrial mediator Chris Hayes. With the by-election only being contested by minor parties, Hayes was ultimately successful, taking 55.4% of the primary vote, an increase on the vote polled by Latham at the 2004 federal election.

Contents 1 Background 2 Preselection 3 Campaign 4 Results 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Background

Mark Latham had been first elected at a 1994 by-election following the retirement of former Treasurer John Kerin, and had been easily re-elected four times, in 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2004. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Latham had served as Shadow Minister for Education from 1997 to 1998, but had resigned from the Shadow Cabinet in 1998 after a policy dispute with then-leader Kim Beazley, and had been a dissident backbencher for five years thereafter. He rose to sudden prominence again in 2003 after the forced resignation of Beazley's successor and Latham's friend and ally, Simon Crean, as leader. It was widely assumed that Beazley would retake his former position as Labor leader, but Latham nominated for the position, and in a surprise result, was successful by 47 votes to 45.^{[6] [7]}

Latham served as Opposition Leader for a stormy thirteen months, initially revitalising the party and opening an election-winning lead in the polls before the October 2004 election, but slipping behind during the election campaign after a series of gaffes and a successful government scare campaign on interest rates. This resulted in a net loss of seats, and the party's worst result in some years. A devastated Latham largely disappeared from public life in the wake of the election defeat, and was widely criticised for failing to reappear or make any public comment in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami. It was revealed that he was suffering from pancreatitis, a condition which had dogged him through his time as leader, but after repeatedly failing to reappear in public and after nearly a month of questions as to his whereabouts, he announced his resignation from politics on January 18, thus creating the need for a by-election in his seat of Werriwa. ^{[8] [9]}

[edit] Preselection

The local branches in and around Werriwa had been the scene of major branch-stacking battles throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, due largely to preselection battles over the state seat of Liverpool, and as such, Labor's Werriwa Federal Electorate Council, which would normally select the candidate, had been "put on ice" since 2003. As a result, the party's left and right factions agreed to hold a ballot among the state's 34-member administrative committee to select the candidate. ^[10]

Two main candidates were touted for the Labor nomination: Brenton Banfield, the then-mayor of Campbelltown, and Steven Chaytor, a City of Campbelltown councillor and aide to former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. ^[11] Paul Lynch, the state MP for Liverpool and former federal minister Michael Lee were both briefly touted as potential candidates, but were soon ruled out. ^[12]

Banfield emerged as an early favourite in the preselection, having been a popular mayor with a high profile in the area, and having been reportedly asked to nominate by the party's head office. ^[13] The campaign got increasingly nasty, with supporters of Banfield and Chaytor clashing, which reached a peak when supporters of Chaytor launched a public attack on Banfield for having defended sex offenders through his work as a solicitor, though Banfield had been professionally obligated to do so. ^[14] This reportedly raised concerns among party insiders that Banfield could become a liability after doing polling on the issue, and began looking for a consensus candidate instead. ^[15]

This emerged in the form of Chris Hayes, an industrial mediator and former assistant secretary of the Australian Workers Union with no prior political background. ^[16] He nominated at the end of January, receiving strong support from the party's head office, and Banfield and Chaytor came under pressure to withdraw before the close of nominations on February 1; Banfield doing so on January 31, and Chaytor following the next day. ^{[17] [18]} Hayes was thus the sole nominee at the close of nominations, and was confirmed as the party's candidate on February 2. ^[19]

[edit] Campaign

Although early polling in January had suggested that there was a reasonable possibility of a Liberal win should the party contest the seat, the party refused to speculate if they would nominate a candidate until mid-February, and finally ruled it out on February 18. ^[20] There had been some speculation that former rugby player Paul Langmack would nominate as a star candidate for the Liberals, but he had announced that he would not run on February 7. ^[21] The decision by the Liberal Party not to run changed the dynamics of the race significantly, as with the only threat now from minor parties and independents, Labor became the solid favourite to retain the seat. ^{[22] [23] [24]}

In total, 16 candidates nominated for the by-election - the most in a federal by-election since 1992. ^[25] They included candidates from the Australian Greens, Family First Party, Christian Democratic Party, One Nation Party and Australians Against Further Immigration. Nine independents were among them, including independent Liberal James Young, self-confessed former Labor branchstacker Sam Bargshoon, and radio presenter Mal Lees, who ran on a joke platform of free beer. Police whistleblower Deborah Locke, an endorsed People Power Party candidate, was forced to run as an independent due to her party's failure to re-register in time. ^{[26] [27]} Most of the independent and minor candidates joined in an "anyone but Labor" campaign, with Young and Locke considered the most likely challengers during the campaign. ^{[28] [29] [30]}

A variety of issues were raised in the campaign; the poor state of public transport in the region, hospital waiting lists, the state of the region's high schools, interest rates, a lack of infrastructure in newer suburbs, and anger over the then-recent 2005 Macquarie Fields riots. ^{[31] [32]} Much of the campaign was focused on personality and name recognition; Greens candidate Ben Raue commented "There really haven't been any debates about policies - it's been more about getting your face out to the people." ^[33] The by-election was also marked by a high rate of apathy and disinterest, resulting in the informal vote going up from 8% at the general election to 13% at the by-election. ^{[34] [35] [36]}

[edit] Results

The by-election, as largely expected in the absence of a Liberal candidate, resulted in an easy victory for Labor candidate Chris Hayes. Hayes polled 55.5% of the primary vote, with his nearest challenger being independent Liberal Young on 7.8%, ahead of Green Raue on 5.5%. Locke, despite some predictions of an upset victory, polled only 3.1%. ^[37] Hayes was able to claim victory on the day of the by-election, and was subsequently sworn in as a member of the Australian House of Representatives. Steven Chaytor, who had stepped aside for Hayes in preselection, later served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2007.

Werriwa by-election, 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Chris Hayes	37,286	55.54	+2.90
	Independent	James Young	3,237	7.80	+7.80
	Greens	Ben Raue	3,726	5.55	+2.42
	Australians Against Further Immigration	Janey Woodger	3,243	4.83	+4.83
	Family First	Mick Sykes	2,890	4.31	+4.31
	Independent	Joe Bryant	2,696	3.78	+3.78
	Christian Democrats	Greg Tan	2,536	3.78	+3.78
	One Nation	Charles Doggett	2,400	3.48	+1.22
		Deborah Locke	2,101	3.13	+3.13
	Independent	Mal Lees	1,393	2.08	+2.08
		Ned Mannoun	1,076	1.60	+1.60
	Independent	Sam Bargshoon	753	1.12	-3.75
	Progressive Labour	Mary Patricia McGookin	629	0.94	+0.94
		Mike Head	458	0.68	+0.04
	Independent	Marc Aussie-Stone	388	0.58	+0.58
	Independent	Robert Vogler	316	0.47	+0.47
Total formal votes			67,129	86.85	-5.17
Informal votes			10,162	13.15	+5.17
Turnout			77,291	85.19	-8.73
Two Candidate Preferred Result
	Labor	Chris Hayes	47,023	70.05	+10.74
	Independent	James Young	20,106	29.95	-10.74
	Labor hold		Swing	+10.74

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• By-election results from the Australian Electoral Commission