A by-election is incoming for the NSW north coast state seat of Port Macquarie.
This seat had previously been a safe Nationals seat, although it had fallen into independent hands in the 2000s. This changed in 2000, when sitting MP Leslie Williams quit the party over a dispute between the Coalition parties over koala laws, and joined the Liberal Party.
Williams was re-elected as a Liberal in 2023, despite a strong challenge from the local mayor as the Nationals candidate.
With Williams now departing, this seat will be a test of which Coalition party is better suited to this sort of seat.
There is a string of seats on the north coast of NSW with a long history as agricultural seats held by the Nationals and the Country Party before them, but now have large populations of retirees who have moved there from big cities like Sydney. The Liberal Party has made inroads into the Tweed and Mid-Coast councils, large regional councils which make up core parts of Nationals-held state seats. The seats of Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Tweed are also mostly made up of urban areas, with little rural parts beyond those cities.
I can’t see either Coalition party wanting to sit out this race. The Nationals won’t want the precedent of an MP’s defection putting them out of the race to hold a seat, but the Liberal Party has a good case that they are better suited to those seats.
We don’t have a date for the by-election but I expect it will take place in the first half of 2025.
Read my guide to the Port Macquarie by-election.
Currently in England but time to tell my family that there’s a by-election.
Labor won’t even contest this. Easily a Liberal vs Nationals contest.
Could former Mayor Peta Pinson give this seat another crack?
There’s an editing gremlin – a reference to Epping. Other than that, thank you.
I wonder why Ben Raue bans comments on this website that doesn’t fit into his political views. 1 side of the political spectrum cannot comment nor give an opinion. Is this Australian Democracy
Thanks Jenny, will fix in a minute. I used Epping as a template and missed the last bit in the rush.
Micheal, plenty of comments are posted from all over the political spectrum. You’ve literally never tried to comment before so how would you know?
Labor didn’t contest the last four by-elections this term so I don’t expect Labor to contest here either.