There are four by-elections coming up in the next six weeks in Australia’s two largest states.
I posted guides to two of these four by-elections last month, and the other two guides have now been posted. I’ve also added candidate lists for the first two.
By-elections will be held in the NSW seats of Blacktown, Cootamundra and Murray on October 14 after the resignations of their respective MPs. All three of these MPs were former ministers, and included one former party leader and one former deputy leader.
A by-election will also be held in the Victorian seat of Northcote on November 18 after the death of Labor MP Fiona Richardson in August.
Former NSW opposition leader John Robertson resigned from parliament in August 2017. Labor should easily retain this seat.
Former Nationals minister Katrina Hodgkinson resigned from parliament in September 2017. The Nationals will likely retain this seat, but they will be challenged by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party.
Former Nationals deputy leader Adrian Piccoli resigned from parliament in September 2017. The Nationals would normally be strong favourites to hold Murray, but will face a strong challenge from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party.
Labor’s Fiona Richardson held on to Northcote by a 6% margin against the Greens in 2014. The seat is one of the marginal Labor-Greens contests in the inner city, and the Greens have ambitions to gain the seat.
There will also be a by-election in the Tasmanian Legislative council seat of Pembroke on November 4, after the resignation of terminally ill former Attorney-General Vanessa Goodwin, which will have impacts on the balance of power in the upper house. The local mayor, Doug Chipman, has announced his candidacy along with Liberal and Labor candidates.
Here’s my guide for the Pembroke by-election in Tasmania mentioned by mstj above:
http://kevinbonham.blogspot.com.au/2017/10/legislative-council-2017-pembroke-by.html
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