2018 Fremantle by-election

2018 Fremantle by-election
The Division of Fremantle (WA) in the House of Representatives
Registered	103,149
Turnout	66.09% 22.72
MP before election; Josh Wilson; Labor	Elected MP ; Josh Wilson; Labor

A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Fremantle took place on Saturday 28 July 2018, following the resignation of incumbent Labor MP Josh Wilson.^[1]

In early counting, within 90 minutes of the close of polls, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's psephologist Antony Green's electoral computer had predicted Labor to retain the electorate with an increased margin.^[2] This election is notable for being the first time that a Liberal Democrats candidate was included in the two-candidate-preferred counting in an Australian federal election.

The by-election occurred on the same day as four other by-elections for the House of Representatives, colloquially known as Super Saturday.

Background

Due to the High Court ruling against Senator Katy Gallagher on 9 May 2018 as part of the ongoing parliamentary eligibility crisis, Wilson and three other MPs in the same situation announced their parliamentary resignations later that day,^[1] while the Perth incumbent resigned for family reasons.^[3] The Speaker announced on 24 May 2018 that he had scheduled the by-elections to occur on 28 July 2018. Popularly labelled "Super Saturday", the occurrence of five simultaneous federal by-elections is unprecedented in Australian political history.^[4] The others are:

Key dates

Key dates in relation to the by-election are:^[5]

Thursday, 10 May 2018 – Speaker acceptance of resignation
Friday, 15 June 2018 – Issue of writ
Friday, 22 June 2018 – Close of electoral rolls (8pm)
Thursday, 5 July 2018 – Close of nominations (12 noon)
Friday, 6 July 2018 – Declaration of nominations (12 noon)
Tuesday, 10 July 2018 – Start of early voting
Saturday, 28 July 2018 – Polling day (8am to 6pm)
Friday, 10 August 2018 – Last day for receipt of postal votes
Sunday, 23 September 2018 – Last day for return of writs

Candidates

Candidates (7) in ballot paper order^[6]
Party		Candidate	Background
	Christians	Mark Staer	Contested Cannington at the 2008 state election and Gosnells at the 2013 state election.^[7]
	Greens	Dorinda Cox	Small business owner, former police officer, anti-domestic violence campaigner.^[8]
	Animal Justice	Katrina Love	Party's national vice president and state convenor.^[6]
	Labor	Josh Wilson	Previous MP for Fremantle elected at the 2016 federal election.^[9]
	Liberal Democrats	John Gray	Former Navy officer, Notre Dame University law student, Starlight Children's Foundation entertainer.^[10]
	People	James Harfouche	Curtin University commerce student.^[6]
	Independent	Jason Spanbroek	Running on an anti-Labor platform.^[11]

The Liberals declined to contest the Fremantle and Perth federal by-elections, but concentrated their resources on the Darling Range state by-election.^[12]

Polling

**Fremantle by-election polling**
Date	Firm	Commissioned by	Sample	Primary vote					TCP vote
				ALP	GRN	LDP	OTH	UND	ALP	GRN
23 July 2018	ReachTEL	Legalise Vaping Australia^[13]	692	49.3%	16.0%	17.4%	11.2%	6.1%	69%	31%
2016 election				41.0%	17.7%	−	41.3%	−	57.5%	−

Results

Fremantle by-election: 28 July 2018^[14]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Josh Wilson	33,277	52.62	+11.63
	Greens	Dorinda Cox	10,456	16.53	−1.21
	Liberal Democrats	John Gray	8,916	14.10	+14.10
	Christians	Mark Staer	3,350	5.30	+5.30
	Animal Justice	Katrina Love	3,297	5.21	+5.21
	Independent	Jason Spanbroek	3,239	5.12	+5.12
	People's Party	James Harfouche	708	1.12	+1.12
Total formal votes			63,243	92.76	−3.24
Informal votes			4,933	7.24	+3.24
Turnout			68,176	66.09	−22.72
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Josh Wilson	46,375	73.33	+15.81
	Liberal Democrats	John Gray	16,868	26.67	+26.67
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

References

External links

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