Altona state by-election, 2010

A by-election was held for the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Altona on 13 February 2010, following the sudden resignation of state Transport Minister Lynne Kosky on 18 January, who cited a family member's health as the reason for her decision to leave politics.^[1] Altona is widely considered a safe Labor seat, Kosky won over 60% of the primary vote at the 2006 state election.

The Australian Labor Party's Jill Hennessy, a lawyer who sits on the board of Western Health, won the seat despite a 13 percent swing away from Labor. The Liberals and Greens went up by 11 percent and 2 percent respectively. Hennessy retained the seat in the 2010 election in November 2010.

Candidates

The following candidates have nominated; they are listed in ballot-paper order.^[2]

• Independent – Brijender Nain.
• Independent – Liz Mumby.
• Socialist Alliance – Margarita Windisch.
• Liberal Party of Australia – Mark Rose, a Wyndham councillor and candidate for Tarneit in the 2006 state election.
• Australian Greens – David Strangward, a management consultant.
• Independent – Andrew Rixon.
• Independent – Brian Shaw.
• Australian Labor Party – Jill Hennessy, a lawyer who sits on the board of Western Health, and was backed in her preselection bid by Steve Bracks, Joan Kirner, Lynne Kosky and Nicola Roxon. She defeated Hobsons Bay councillor Luba Grigorovitch for Labor endorsement.^[3]

Results

Initial counts revealed a swing of 12 percent away from Labor who dropped from 60 percent of primary vote to 48 percent. The Liberal party picked up most of this swing, along with the Greens, who gained 2 percent, up from 8.4 percent to around 10 percent. The swing away from Labor was much larger than expected, though they still managed to retain the seat, whilst the Greens continued to sustain modest increase.

Election results

References

External links

• 2010 Altona by-election: The Poll Bludger