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2008 Murdoch state by-election

By-election in Australia

By-election in Australia

The 2008 Murdoch state by-election was a by-election held on 23 February 2008 for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Murdoch in the southern suburbs of Perth.

The by-election was triggered by the death of Liberal member Trevor Sprigg on 17 January 2008. Sprigg had held the seat since the 2005 state election. A former football star with East Fremantle Football Club, he was a popular local member, and served in Parliament as the Opposition Whip in the Legislative Assembly. On 17 January 2008, while returning from the Gold Coast to attend a Liberal leadership vote, Sprigg died of a heart attack aged 61. The leadership vote produced a victory for Troy Buswell, and members were to learn of Sprigg's death only after the vote had been taken.

On 24 January 2008, the Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly issued a writ directing the Electoral Commissioner to proceed with an election in the district.{{Gazette WA

The seat of Murdoch, first established in 1976,{{Gazette WA

Timeline

DateEvent
17 January 2008Trevor Sprigg died, vacating the seat of Murdoch.
24 January 2008Writs were issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to proceed with a by-election.
1 February 2008url=http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/elections/state_elections/election_results/2008_Murdoch_By-Election/key_dates_and_deadlines.phptitle=Murdoch By Election - Key dates and deadlinesauthor=Western Australian Electoral Commissionaccessdate=2008-02-24archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080903022650/http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/elections/state_elections/election_results/2008_Murdoch_By-Election/key_dates_and_deadlines.phparchive-date=2008-09-03url-status=dead}}
23 February 2008Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
23 April 2008The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

Candidates

The by-election attracted four candidates. Christian Porter, a 37-year-old law lecturer at the University of Western Australia, grandson of former Queensland Liberal MLA Charles Porter who held the seat of Toowong from 1966 until 1980 and son of former Western Australian state director Chilla Porter, won the Liberal preselection ballot against former minister and member for neighbouring Riverton, Graham Kierath. He was tipped, if successful, to become the shadow attorney-general, a role which had been vacant following the departure of Sue Walker (Nedlands) from the Liberal party.

Other candidates ran for the Greens, One Nation and Christian Democratic Party:

  • Hsien Harper (Greens), an organiser for the Australian Services Union who previously ran for Willagee in 2005;
  • Neil Gilmour (One Nation), the party's state president who ran for Division of Curtin in 2001 and the South Metropolitan Legislative Council region in 2005;
  • Ka-ren Chew (CDP), a local solicitor who ran for Division of Tangney, which includes Murdoch and Riverton, in the 2007 federal election.

Results

As largely predicted, Christian Porter retained the seat for the Liberal Party. As the Labor Party did not run, a swing could not be determined, although the 10-15% increase in the Liberal vote due to Labor voters (35.51% at the 2005 election) choosing the Liberals ahead of the Greens was hailed by Porter in his victory speech at 7:40pm AWDT on election night.

References

References

  1. (25 January 2008). "Murdoch by-election date disrespectful: Liberals". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].
  2. (18 January 2008). "East Fremantle mourns loss of MP Sprigg". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  3. (17 January 2008). "Omodei backs down as Libs choose Buswell". [[The West Australian]].
  4. Hatch, Daniel. (31 January 2008). "Liberals shun Kierath to run Porter in Murdoch". [[The West Australian]].
  5. (1 February 2008). "Four candidates will contest Murdoch". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  6. (24 February 2008). "Liberals retain Murdoch in by-election". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  7. Western Australian Electoral Commission. "Murdoch By Election - Key dates and deadlines".
  8. Bowe, William. (29 January 2008). "Murdoch by-election preview". Poll Bludger.
  9. (19 February 2008). "Four candidates for Murdoch". Melville Times.
  10. Tullberg, Julie. (23 February 2008). "Liberals secure WA by-election win". [[Herald Sun]].
  11. [http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/elections/state_elections/election_results/2008_Murdoch_By-Election/District_of_Murdoch/District_results.php Murdoch Election results]
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