1991 Geraldton state by-election

The 1991 Geraldton state by-election was a by-election for the seat of Geraldton in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia held on 20 July 1991. It was triggered by the resignation of Jeff Carr (the sitting Labor member) on 28 February 1991, due to his expulsion from cabinet. The election was won by the Liberal candidate, Bob Bloffwitch, who won 51.4 percent of the two-candidate-preferred (2CP) vote. The National Party also made the final 2CP count, despite having not stood a candidate in Geraldton since the 1974 state election, whereas Labor slumped to just 16.6 percent on first preferences, a swing of 31 points from the 1989 state election.

## Background

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Jeff Carr, a former schoolteacher, had held Geraldton for the Labor Party since the 1974 state election. However, he was nearly defeated at the 1986 election, falling from a comfortably safe majority of 63.1 percent of the two-party preferred vote to an extremely marginal 50.4 percent. He was reelected with an equally narrow 50.2 percent at the 1989 state election. Carr served as a minister under Brian Burke, Peter Dowding, and Carmen Lawrence.[1] On 2 February 1991 Lawrence, removed him from the ministry (along with two others, Pam Buchanan and Gavan Troy).[2] Carr resigned from parliament on 28 February, and the writ for the by-election was issued on 6 March, with the close of nominations on 22 March. Polling day was on 13 April, with the writ returned on 24 April.[3]

## Results

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Geraldton state by-election, 1991  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Bob Bloffwitch | 4,446  | 45.5  | +2.0
| National | Malcolm Short  | 2,054  | 21.0  | +21.0
| Labor | Dianne Spowart  | 1,620  | 16.6  | –31.0
| Independent | Faye Simpson  | 471  | 4.8  | +4.8
| Independent | Helena Shields  | 315  | 3.2  | +3.2
| Independent | Albert Lenane  | 286  | 2.9  | +2.9
| Independent | Kenneth Gallaher  | 165  | 1.7  | +1.7
| Grey Power | Jason Meotti  | 146  | 1.5  | –7.4
| Independent | Bruce Burges  | 144  | 1.5  | +1.5
| Independent | Arthur Davies  | 67  | 0.7  | +0.7
| Independent | William Thomson  | 57  | 0.6  | +0.6
Total formal votes  | 9,771  | 94.5  | +0.5
Informal votes  | 566  | 5.5  | –0.5
Turnout | 10,337  | 86.8  | –4.0
Two-candidate-preferred result
| Liberal | Bob Bloffwitch | 5,024  | 51.4  | +1.6
| National | Malcolm Short  | 4,747  | 48.6  | +48.6
| Liberal gain from Labor | Swing | N/A |

## Aftermath

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The Labor Party regained much of its previous support in Geraldton at the 1993 state election, recording a positive swing of 17.2 points in contrast to a statewide negative swing of 5.4 points.[3] This was not enough to regain the seat, however, and Bloffwitch held Geraldton until being defeated by Shane Hill at the 2001 state election.[4]

## See also

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* 1991 Floreat state by-election, held on the same day
* Electoral results for the district of Geraldton
* List of Western Australian state by-elections

## References

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1. ^ Jeffrey Phillip Carr – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
2. ^ The Lawrence Government: Other Perspectives, The Carmen Lawrence Collection, Curtin University Library. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
3. ^ a b Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, Western Australia: Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0-7309-8409-5.
4. ^ Robert Clyde Bloffwitch, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 January 2017.