1995 Canberra by-election

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| <- 1993 | 25 March 1995 | 1996 ->

|
|

Opinion polls
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Candidate  | Brendan Smyth | Sue Robinson  | James Warden
Party  | Liberal | Labor | Greens
Popular vote  | 39,021 | 25,689  | 10,835
Percentage  | 46.29% | 30.48%  | 12.85%
Swing  |  10.07  |  21.78  |  12.85
TPP | 56.58% | 43.42%  |
TPP swing  |  16.12  |  16.12  |

* * *

| MP before election

Ros Kelly
Labor

| Elected MP

Brendan Smyth
Liberal

|

The 1995 Canberra by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Canberra in Australian Capital Territory on 25 March 1995. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party's Ros Kelly on 30 January 1995. The writ for the by-election was issued on 17 February 1995.[1][2]

The by-election was won by Liberal Party candidate Brendan Smyth, making it the first (and currently the only) by-election in the ACT to have been won by the Liberal Party.

The by-election took place in the shadow of the "sports rorts" affair which resulted in Kelly's resignation as a minister.

Smyth would later contest the new seat of Namadgi at the 1996 election but was defeated. Subsequent to his career in Federal Parliament, Smyth became leader of the ACT Liberal Party from 2002 to 2006.

This was the last by election that the Liberal Party took a seat off of another party.

## Results

[edit]

1995 Canberra by-election[3][4] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Liberal | Brendan Smyth | 39,021  | 46.29  | +10.07
| Labor | Sue Robinson  | 25,689  | 30.48  | −21.78
| Greens | James Warden  | 10,835  | 12.85  | +12.85
| Against Further Immigration | Robyn Spencer  | 3,515  | 4.17  | +4.17
| Independent | Joanne Clarke  | 2,274  | 2.70  | +2.70
| Independent | Jerzy Gray-Grzeszkiewicz  | 1,956  | 2.32  | +2.32
| Republican | Joseph Cotta  | 1,003  | 1.19  | +1.19
Total formal votes  | 84,293  | 96.46  | −0.68
Informal votes  | 3,095  | 3.54  | +0.68
Turnout | 87,388  | 88.57  | −8.39
Two-party-preferred result
| Liberal | Brendan Smyth | 47,672  | 56.58  | +16.12
| Labor | Sue Robinson  | 36,577  | 43.42  | −16.12
| Liberal gain from Labor | Swing | +16.12 |

## Opinion polling

[edit]

### Voting intention

[edit]

Date  | Firm  | Interview
mode  | Sample
size  | Primary vote  | 2PP

|
|
|
|
|

LIB | ALP | GRN | AAFI | OTH | UND | LIB | ALP
25 March 1995 | 1995 by-election | —  | 84,293  | 46.29%  | 30.48%  | 12.85%  | 4.17%  | 6.21%  | —  | 56.58%  | 43.42%
27 February−2 March 1995  | Internal Labor polling[5] |  | 505  | 40.2%  | 30.7%  | 9.0%  | —  | 11%[a] | 5%  | —  | —
18 February 1995  | Liberal Party wins ACT election with 7 seats
28 January−7 February 1995  | Canberra Times/Datacol[6][7] | Telephone  | 916  | 29%  | 38%  | 3%  | —  | 4%[b] | 26%  | —  | —
13 March 1993 | 1993 election[8] | —  | 92,382  | 36.22%  | 52.26%  | 3.46%  | —  | 8.05%[c] | —  | 40.44%  | 59.56%

## See also

[edit]

* List of Australian federal by-elections

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Independents had 11%.[5]
2. ^ The Democrats had 3% and independents had 2%.[6]
3. ^ The Australian Democrats had 5.34%, the Abolish Self Government Coalition had 1.85% and the Natural Law Party had 0.86%.[8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Bachelard, Michael (19 January 1995). "Former Alliance MP eves federal seat". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
2. ^ Lynga, Gosta (22 March 1995). "ACT Greens in federal by-election". Green Left. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
3. ^ Canberra (ACT) By-Election (25 March 1995)
4. ^ 1993 ACT election results: Adam Carr electoral archive
5. ^ a b Henderson, Ian (22 March 1995). "Labor poll shows Liberal win". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
6. ^ a b "Labor ahead in Ros Kelly's former seat". The Canberra Times. 11 February 1995. p. 3.
7. ^ "ABOUT THE POLL". The Canberra Times. 11 February 1995. p. 3.
8. ^ a b "CANBERRA, ACT". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. 13 March 1993. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2024.

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