Woodridge state by-election, 2000

A by-election was held in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Woodridge on 5 February 2000. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting Labor member Bill D'Arcy. It was held concurrently with the Bundamba state by-election.

The seat was retained by Labor Party with the election of candidate Mike Kaiser.

Background

Bill D'Arcy was first elected to state parliament as the Labor member for Albert at the 1972 state election. He lost his seat at the 1974 state election, a landslide defeat for Labor, but returned to parliament as the Labor member for the new seat of Woodridge at the 1977 state election and held the seat continuously thereafter.

D'Arcy resigned from parliament on 9 January 2000. It emerged shortly afterwards that D'Arcy was facing charges of child sex offences from his days as a school teacher.[1] D'Arcy was later convicted and spent seven years in jail as a result.[2]

Candidates

To defend the seat, Labor preselected Mike Kaiser, then state secretary of the Queensland branch of the Labor Party.[3] Kaiser's chief opponent was Logan City councillor Russell Lutton, standing as an independent but formerly a member of the Labor Party.[1]

Results

Kaiser won the normally safe seat for the Labor Party, with Lutton polling a strong second.

Woodridge state by-election, 2000[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labor Mike Kaiser 7,635 50.79 −0.87
Independent Russell Lutton 5,012 33.34 +33.34
Liberal Irene Allan 1,340 8.91 −5.08
Nigel Freemarijuana 386 2.57 +2.57
Democrats Robert Hernandez 337 2.24 −3.71
Independent Gary Wilkins 275 1.83 +1.83
Independent John McKenna 47 0.31 +0.31
Total formal votes 15,032 97.56
Informal votes 376 2.44
Turnout 15,408 85.21
Two-candidate-preferred result
Labor Mike Kaiser 7,955 56.49 −7.0
Independent Russell Lutton 6,126 43.51 +43.51
Labor hold Swing N/A

Aftermath

Labor's retention of Woodridge and Bundamba ensured the government of Peter Beattie retained its one-seat majority in parliament.

Mike Kaiser's stint in parliament would be a short one. He confessed to the Shepherdson Inquiry—set up to investigate electoral fraud—that he signed a false enrolment form in 1986.[5] He consequently resigned from the Labor Party in January 2001 to sit as an independent and did not contest the 2001 state election.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Graham Young (31 January 2000). "Labor stumbles in by-elections". Online Opinion.
  2. ↑ Nadine McGrath (16 December 2007). "Child rapist D'Arcy free after seven years in jail". Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ↑ "Biography: Mike Kaiser". Queensland Parliament House.
  4. ↑ "Bundamba and Woodridge statistical returns" (PDF). Electoral Commission of Queensland.
  5. ↑ "Qld reflects on Kaiser's downfall". The 7.30 Report. 11 January 2001.
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