A by-election was held in the New South Wales state electoral district of Murray on 14 October 2017. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Adrian Piccoli (National), former deputy leader of the National Party.[1] The National Party barely retained the seat and, after distribution of preferences, Austin Evans was elected. Helen Dalton, candidate for the Shooters, Fishers & Farmers Party seen a swing of more than 13% on her personal vote building on the 2015 result.
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The by-election was held on the same day as by-elections in Blacktown and Cootamundra. The conduct of all three by-elections was administered by the NSW Electoral Commission.
Candidates
editThe candidates in ballot paper order are as follows:[2]
| Candidate nominations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Notes (not on ballot paper) | |
| Independent | Brian Mills | ||
| Independent | Peter Robinson | ||
| Nationals | Austin Evans | Former Mayor of the abolished Murrumbidgee Shire, former Administrator of Murrumbidgee Council and current councillor on Murrumbidgee Council. Evans is Senior Operations Engineer at Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative Limited.[3] | |
| Shooters, Fishers and Farmers | Helen Dalton | Independent candidate and runner-up for Murray in the 2015 election. | |
| Country Labor | Michael Kidd | Councillor on Leeton Shire. Kidd works as a radiographer for Leeton Health Service and cites cuts by the Murrumbidgee Local Health District as his main campaign issue.[4] | |
| Greens | Ray Goodlass | ||
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Austin Evans | 18,548 | 40.7 | −14.8 | |
| Shooters, Fishers, Farmers | Helen Dalton | 14,332 | 31.5 | +31.5 | |
| Labor | Michael Kidd | 9,324 | 20.5 | +4.3 | |
| Independent | Brian Mills | 1,363 | 3.0 | −0.8 | |
| Independent | Peter Robinson | 1,072 | 2.4 | +2.4 | |
| Greens | Ray Goodlass | 912 | 2.0 | −0.2 | |
| Total formal votes | 45,551 | 96.9 | +0.6 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,466 | 3.1 | −0.6 | ||
| Turnout | 47,017 | 84.0 | −3.5 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| National | Austin Evans | 21,237 | 53.3 | −19.3 | |
| Shooters, Fishers, Farmers | Helen Dalton | 18,570 | 46.7 | +46.7 | |
| National hold | Swing | –19.3 | |||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Green, Antony. "Murray by-election". ABC News. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ "List of Nominated Candidates". Electoral Commission NSW. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- ^ Frost, Jeremy (17 September 2017). "Austin Evans will lead the Nationals party at the seat of Murray by-election". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Jacques, Oliver (15 September 2017). "Leeton Radiographer Michael Kidd is Labor candidate for Murray". The Irrigator. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ "First Preference Votes Report Parliamentary Election: Murray". NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
- ^ "State Electoral District of Murray: Distribution of Preferences". NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 19 October 2017.