A by-election was held on 24 July 2021 for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Stretton following the death of Duncan Pegg.
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The district of Stretton in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 33,961 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 77.4%  10.4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of the Electoral district of Stretton since the 2017 state election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editDuncan Pegg was first elected at the 2015 election defeating incumbent Freya Ostapovitch on a swing of over 14%. Ostapovitch had won the previously safe seat for Labor during the Liberal National Party of Queensland landslide of the 2012 election. In subsequent elections, Pegg would increase the margin of Stretton back into safe territory for Labor and saw a nearly 5% swing to himself in the 2020 election. On 22 April 2021, Pegg announced that he would be resigning from his seat to focus on his health revealing that he had been diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and that it was a terminal illness.[1] Pegg's death was announced by his electorate office on 10 June 2021.[2]
| Election | 2009 | 2012 | 2015 | 2017 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 59.50% | 40.45% | 54.98% | 59.90% | 64.82% | |
| Liberal National | 40.50% | 59.55% | 45.02% | 40.10% | 35.18% | |
| Swing | +5.0 | +19.03 | +14.54 | +4.6 | +4.93 | |
| Government | ALP | LNP | ALP | ALP | ALP | |
Key dates
edit| Date[3] | Event |
|---|---|
| 29 June 2021 | Issue of the writ |
| 5 July 2021 | Close of electoral rolls |
| 7 July 2021 | Close of nominations |
| 12 July 2021 | Early voting begins |
| 24 July 2021 | Polling day |
Candidates
edit| Candidates (in ballot paper order)[4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Greens | Andrea Wildin | Health worker and advocate | |
| Labor | James Martin | Electorate officer for Stretton[5] | |
| Liberal National | Jim Bellos OAM APM | Queensland Police Service sergeant and liaison officer[6] | |
| Informed Medical Options | Jasmine Melhop | Alternative medicine practitioner[7] | |
| Animal Justice | Suzanne Clarke | Animal and environmental advocate | |
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | James Martin | 14,314 | 56.39 | −0.20 | |
| Liberal National | Jim Bellos | 8,322 | 32.78 | +2.58 | |
| Greens | Andrea Wildin | 1,654 | 6.52 | −2.20 | |
| Informed Medical Options | Jasmine Melhop | 616 | 2.43 | +2.43 | |
| Animal Justice | Suzanne Clarke | 478 | 1.88 | +1.88 | |
| Total formal votes | 25,384 | 96.61 | +0.03 | ||
| Informal votes | 891 | 3.39 | −0.03 | ||
| Turnout | 26,275 | 77.37 | −10.43 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | James Martin | 16,244 | 63.94 | −0.87 | |
| Liberal National | Jim Bellos | 9,160 | 36.06 | +0.87 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | −0.87 | |||
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Riga, Rachel (22 April 2021). "Queensland Labor MP Duncan Pegg to retire from politics to focus on cancer battle". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Brisbane, Queensland. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Queensland MP Duncan Pegg dies after cancer fight". ABC News. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ "2021 Stretton State By-election - Key Dates". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ "2021 Stretton State By-election - Candidate Information". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ Treacey, Alex (2 June 2021). "James Martin: Duncan Pegg staffer announced as Stretton candidate". Courier Mail. Brisbane, Queensland. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ Crockford, Toby (23 May 2021). "Queenslander of the Year, decorated cop to run for LNP in Stretton byelection". Brisbane Times. Brisbane, Queensland. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Jasmine (Jazzy) Melhop". IMOP. Informed Medical Options Party Australia. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ 2021 Stretton State By-election, ECQ.
