A by-election for the seat of Davenport in the South Australian House of Assembly was held on 31 January 2015. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Party of Australia MP and former Liberal leader Iain Evans, who retained the seat at the 2014 election on a 58.1 (−2.8) percent two-party-preferred vote.[1][2][3] Liberal Sam Duluk went on to win the seat despite a five-point two-party swing, turning the historically safe seat of Davenport in to a marginal for the first time.[4]
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 Electoral district of Davenport in the southern metropolitan area of Adelaide. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The by-election was held on the same day as the 2015 Queensland state election.
Dates
edit| Date | Event[5] |
|---|---|
| 3 January 2015 | Writ of election issued by the Governor |
| 13 January 2015 | Close of electoral rolls |
| 16 January 2015 | Close of nominations |
| 31 January 2015 | Polling day, between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm |
Candidates
edit| 5 candidates in ballot paper order[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Party of Australia | Sam Duluk | Accountant. Liberal candidate for seat of Fisher at the previous election.[5] | |
| Family First Party | Natasha Edmonds | Family First candidate for Davenport at the previous election.[5] | |
| Independent Australian Democrats | Jeanie Walker | Involved in property investing and management and is an Aboriginal Family Violence Case Manager. Contested the 2014 Fisher by-election.[5] | |
| Australian Labor Party | Mark Ward | City of Mitcham councillor for last eight years, has served as Deputy Mayor. Urrbrae Agricultural High School teacher. Centennial Park Cemetery board member.[5] | |
| Greens | Jody Moate | Retail sector worker. Volunteers with numerous community groups.[5] | |
Result
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Sam Duluk | 9,740 | 46.9 | −4.1 | |
| Labor | Mark Ward | 6,927 | 33.4 | +4.8 | |
| Greens | Jody Moate | 2,584 | 12.5 | −2.8 | |
| Family First | Natasha Edmonds | 816 | 3.9 | −1.2 | |
| Independent Democrat | Jeanie Walker | 685 | 3.3 | +3.3 | |
| Total formal votes | 20,752 | 97.1 | −0.7 | ||
| Informal votes | 613 | 2.9 | +0.7 | ||
| Turnout | 21,365 | 85.7 | −7.7 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Sam Duluk | 11,021 | 53.1 | −5.0 | |
| Labor | Mark Ward | 9,731 | 46.9 | +5.0 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | −5.0 | |||
Liberal Sam Duluk won the seat with a -4.1 point swing, with the Liberal party failing to win outright and relying on preferences.[4] South Australian Newspoll at the time of the Davenport by-election recorded a statewide seven percent two-party swing from Liberal to Labor[citation needed]. ABC election analyst Antony Green described the Davenport by-election as "another poor result for the South Australian Liberal Party"[9] following the 2014 Fisher by-election which saw Labor go from minority to majority government following a 7.3 percent two-party swing.[10] As with the Fisher by-election, much of the anti-Liberal swing was attributed to the unpopularity of then Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and a remark from then Defence Minister David Johnston several days before the Fisher by-election that he wouldn't trust South Australia's Australian Submarine Corporation to "build a canoe".[11][12][13] Additionally, just a couple of days before the Davenport by-election, Abbott's infamous knighting of Prince Philip occurred.[14][15][16]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "South Australia set for two by-elections, in Fisher and Davenport state electorates". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
- ^ Speaker Michael Atkinson defends decision to separate two SA by-elections: ABC 21 October 2014
- ^ Davenport by-election date in South Australia set for January 31: ABC 13 November 2014
- ^ a b Liberals withstand swing to win by-election in South Australian seat of Davenport: ABC 31 January 2015
- ^ a b c d e f g 2015 Davenport by-election: Antony Green ABC
- ^ Distribution of preferences, 2015 Davenport by-election: ECSA
- ^ 2015 Davenport by-election result: Antony Green ABC
- ^ "2015 Davenport by-election result: ECSA". Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ 2015 Davenport by-election commentary: Antony Green ABC
- ^ Fisher by-election win for Labor gives Weatherill Government majority in SA: ABC 13 December 2014
- ^ Defence Minister says he 'wouldn't trust' Australian Submarine Corporation to build a canoe: ABC 25 November 2014
- ^ Is Tony Abbott the hazard for Liberals in Fisher by-election?: The Advertiser 30 November 2014
- ^ Abbott government forced into sub-mission after shock loss in South Australia: Sydney Morning Herald 9 December 2014
- ^ Davenport by-election: Tony Abbott's decision to knight Prince Philip could affect voters: ABC 29 January 2015
- ^ Large swing to Labor at SA by-election another warning to PM Abbott: Nine News 2 February 2015
- ^ Tony Abbott reels from Queensland election debacle: Financial Review 2 February 2015