2020 Australian Capital Territory general election

General election

2020 Australian Capital Territory general election

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| <- 2016 | 17 October 2020 | 2024 ->

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All 25 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
13 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout| 89.3% ( 1.0 pp)
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

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|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | Andrew Barr | Alistair Coe | Shane Rattenbury
Party  | Labor | Liberal | Greens
Leader since  | 11 December 2014  | 25 October 2016  | 20 October 2012
Leader's seat  | Kurrajong | Yerrabi | Kurrajong
Last election  | 12 seats, 38.4%  | 11 seats, 36.7%  | 2 seats, 10.3%
Seats won  | 10 | 9  | 6
Seat change  |  2  |  2  |  4
First preference vote  | 101,826 | 91,047  | 36,369
Percentage  | 37.8% | 33.8%  | 13.5%
Swing  |  0.6  |  2.9  |  3.2

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Map of results by electorate at the 2020 ACT election

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| Chief Minister before election

Andrew Barr
Labor–Greens Coalition

| Elected Chief Minister

Andrew Barr
Labor–Greens Coalition

|

The 2020 Australian Capital Territory general election was held between 28 September and 17 October 2020 to elect all 25 members of the unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly.

The incumbent Labor-Greens coalition government, led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, defeated the opposition Liberal Party.[1] On the night of the election Barr claimed victory and confirmed Labor would again seek to enter into an arrangement with the Greens to form government, whilst Liberal leader Alistair Coe conceded the election and acknowledged the party would retain opposition status in the Assembly.[1] The result meant that the Labor Party, which had been in office for 19 years at this election, won a sixth consecutive term of government in the Territory. Despite the victory, Labor's representation in the Assembly dropped to 10 seats, whilst the Liberals also suffered a decline in their vote and fell to 9 seats. The Greens retained the balance of power and picked up the seats lost by the two larger parties to claim 6 seats, its largest representation in the Assembly in the party's history.[2] Following the election, Labor and the Greens signed an agreement on 2 November to support a Labor-led Government with three ministers from the Greens.[3][4][5]

The election was conducted by the ACT Electoral Commission, using the proportional Hare-Clark system. At the preliminary close of rolls, there were 302,630 people enrolled to vote representing a 6% increase on the 2016 election. Legislative changes in the Australian Capital Territory allowed for people to enrol during polling, with a further 3,370 electors enrolling before polling finished on 17 October.[6]

## Results[edit]

Main article: Results of the 2020 Australian Capital Territory general election

See also: Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2020–2024

Legislative Assembly (STV) – Turnout 89.3% (CV)[7][8]

Party  | Votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change
| Labor | 101,826  | 37.8  | −0.6  | 10  |  2
| Liberal | 91,047  | 33.8  | −2.9  | 9  |  2
| Greens | 36,369  | 13.5  | +3.2  | 6  |  4
| Ungrouped independents  | 6,625  | 2.5  | −2.0  | 0  |
| Progressives | 5,443  | 2.0  | +2.0  | 0  |
| Belco | 5,264  | 2.0  | +2.0  | 0  |
| Animal Justice | 4,762  | 1.8  | +0.3  | 0  |
| Sustainable Australia | 4,593  | 1.7  | +0.1  | 0  |
| Democratic Labour | 3,864  | 1.4  | +1.4  | 0  |
| Shooters, Fishers, Farmers | 3,778  | 1.4  | +1.4  | 0  |
| Climate Change Justice | 1,849  | 0.7  | +0.7  | 0  |
| Pollard  | 1,729  | 0.6  | +0.6  | 0  |
| Liberal Democrats | 1,209  | 0.4  | −0.3  | 0  |
| Federation | 710  | 0.3  | +0.3  | 0  |
| Community Action | 183  | 0.1  | +0.1  | 0  |
Formal votes  | 269,251  | 98.6  | +1.1  |  |
Informal votes  | 3,892  | 1.4  | −1.1  |  |
Total  | 273,143  |  |  | 25 |
Registered voters / turnout  | 306,000  | 89.3  | +1.0  |  |

### Primary vote by electorate[edit]

| Brindabella  | Ginninderra  | Kurrajong  | Murrumbidgee  | Yerrabi

|
|
|
|
|

ACT Labor | 40.7% | 40.0% | 38.0% | 36.1% | 34.2%
Canberra Liberals | 38.4% | 26.7% | 27.6% | 35.6% | 40.6%
ACT Greens | 10.8% | 12.5% | 23.0% | 11.7% | 10.2%
Progressives | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.0% | 2.7% | 2.7%
Animal Justice | 2.2% | 1.7% | 1.6% | 2.0% | 1.3%
Other | 7.8% | 19.1% | 4.8% | 11.9% | 11.1%

### Distribution of seats[edit]

| Electorate | Seats held

|

Brindabella |  |  |  |  |
Ginninderra |  |  |  |  |
Kurrajong |  |  |  |  |
Murrumbidgee |  |  |  |  |
Yerrabi |  |  |  |  |
|  | Labor

|

| Liberal
| Green

Labor won 43% of the three-party vote, the Liberals won 39% and the Greens won 18%.[9]

## Background[edit]

The incumbent Labor Party led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr was attempting to win re-election for a sixth term in the 25-member unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly. Labor formed a minority coalition government with the Greens after the 2016 election, with the Greens holding the balance of power; Labor 12 seats, Liberal 11 seats, Greens 2 seats. Greens member Shane Rattenbury remained in the cabinet for a second term. Leader of the Opposition and Liberals leader Jeremy Hanson was replaced by Alistair Coe following the election.

All members of the unicameral Assembly faced re-election, with members being elected by the Hare-Clark system of proportional representation. The Assembly was divided into five electorates with five members each:

* Brindabella – contains the district of Tuggeranong (except part of the suburb of Kambah east of Drakeford Drive), as well as the southern village of Tharwa and farms.
* Ginninderra – contains the district of Belconnen (except the suburbs of Giralang and Kaleen).
* Kurrajong – contains the districts of Canberra Central (excluding Deakin and Yarralumla), Jerrabomberra, Kowen and Majura.
* Murrumbidgee – contains the districts of the Woden Valley, Weston Creek, Molonglo Valley, the South Canberra suburbs of Deakin and Yarralumla and the western part of the Tuggeranong suburb of Kambah.
* Yerrabi – contains the districts of Gungahlin, Hall and the Belconnen suburbs of Giralang and Kaleen.

## Key dates[edit]

* Last day to lodge applications for party register: 30 June 2020
* Party registration closed: 10 September 2020
* Pre-election period commenced and nominations opened: 11 September 2020
* Rolls close: 18 September 2020 (8pm)
* Nominations close: 23 September 2020 (12pm)
* Nominations declared and ballot paper order determined: 24 September 2020
* Pre-poll voting commences: 28 September 2020
* Polling day: 17 October 2020
* Last day for receipt of postal votes: 23 October 2020[10]

## Redistribution[edit]

A redistribution of electoral boundaries for the ACT took place in 2019 for the 2020 election. The redistribution committee was appointed on 26 October 2018, and its final report was tabled on 13 August 2019.[11]

Changes were as follows:[11]

* Brindabella: gains Kambah West from Murrumbidgee.
* Ginninderra: gains Belconnen District 2, Evatt, Lawson and McKellar from Yerrabi.
* Kurrajong: loses Deakin and Yarralumla to Murrumbidgee.
* Murrumbidgee: gains Deakin and Yarralumla from Kurrajong; loses Kambah West to Brindabella.
* Yerrabi: loses Belconnen District 2, Evatt, Lawson and McKellar to Ginninderra.

## Retiring members[edit]

### Liberal[edit]

* Vicki Dunne (Ginninderra)[12]

### Greens[edit]

* Caroline Le Couteur (Murrumbidgee)[13]

## Candidates[edit]

137 candidates were formally declared for 2020 ACT Election on 24 September, with the total number of candidates down four from 2016's total. Of the 137 candidates, 129 were registered to political parties and eight were independents.[14]

As part of the formal declaration, the candidates' names and any political party affiliation were announced, followed by a 'double randomisation' draw for each electorate to determine the order in which each party will appear on the ballot paper. A further draw then took place determining the starting order for the Robson rotations in each column. Under the Robson rotation system, 60 different versions of the ballot papers were printed for each electorate.[14]

Sitting members are in bold. Successful candidates are identified with an asterisk.

### Brindabella[edit]

Five seats are up for election. The Labor Party is defending two seats. The Liberal Party is defending three seats.

Labor candidates  | Liberal candidates  | Greens candidates  | AJP candidates  | LDP candidates

|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |

Joy Burch*
Cathy Day
Brendan Forde
Mick Gentleman*
Taimus Werner-Gibbings

James Daniels
Jane Hiatt
Nicole Lawder*
Mark Parton*
Andrew Wall

Johnathan Davis*
Sue Ellerman
Laura Nuttall

Jannah Fahiz
Robyn Soxsmith

Jacob Gowor
Matthew Knight

Sustainable candidates  | SFF candidates  | Federation candidates  |
|  |

Andrew Clapham
Bruce Willett

Greg Baynham
Adrian Olley

Jason Potter
Scott Sandford

### Ginninderra[edit]

Five seats are up for election. The Labor Party is defending three seats. The Liberal Party is defending two seats.

Labor candidates  | Liberal candidates  | Greens candidates  | Belco Party candidates  | AJP candidates  | LDP candidates

|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |  |

Yvette Berry*
Tara Cheyne*
Sue Ducker
Greg Lloyd
Gordon Ramsay

Peter Cain*
Robert Gunning
Elizabeth Kikkert*
Kacey Lam
Ignatius Rozario

Jo Clay*
Tim Liersch
Katt Millner

Vijay Dubey
Chic Henry
Angela Lount
Bill Stefaniak
Alan Tutt

Carolyne Drew
Lara Drew

Dominic De Luca
Guy Jakeman

Sustainable candidates  | SFF candidates  | DLP candidates  | CCJ candidates  | Ungrouped candidates  |
|  |  |  |

Paul Gabriel
Mark O'Connor

Matthew Ogilvie
Oliver Smith

Helen McClure
Ian McClure

Oksana Demetrios
Sok Kheng Ngep
Jonathan Stavridis

Mignonne Cullen (Ind)

### Kurrajong[edit]

Five seats are up for election. The Labor Party is defending two seats. The Liberal Party is defending two seats. The Greens are defending one seat.

Labor candidates  | Liberal candidates  | Greens candidates  | Progressives candidates  | AJP candidates

|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |

Judy Anderson
Andrew Barr*
Jacob Ingram
Maddy Northam
Rachel Stephen-Smith*

Candice Burch
Rattesh Gumber
Robert Johnson
Elizabeth Lee*
Patrick Pentony

Adriana Boisen
Michael Brewer
Shane Rattenbury*
Rebecca Vassarotti*

Tim Bohm
Peta Anne Bryant
Therese Faulkner

Serrin Rutledge-Prior
Julie Smith

Sustainable candidates  | CCJ candidates  | Community candidates  | Ungrouped candidates  |
|  |  |

Joy Angel
John Haydon

Sophia Forner
Petar Johnson
Alix O'Hara

Alvin Hopper
Robyn Williams

Marilena Damiano (Ind)
Bruce Paine (Ind)

### Murrumbidgee[edit]

Five seats are up for election. The Labor Party is defending two seats. The Liberal Party is defending two seats. The Greens are defending one seat.

Labor candidates  | Liberal candidates  | Greens candidates  | Progressives candidates  | CCJ candidates

|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |

Bec Cody
Tim Dobson
Brendan Long
Marisa Paterson*
Chris Steel*

Ed Cocks
Jeremy Hanson*
Giulia Jones*
Amardeep Singh
Sarah Suine

Terry Baker
Emma Davidson*
Tjanara Goreng Goreng

Robert Knight
Stephen Lin

Rohan Byrnes
Andrew Demetrios
Richard Forner
Jackson Hillman
Peter Veenstra

AJP candidates  | Sustainable candidates  | SFF candidates  | Ungrouped candidates  |
|  |  |

Yana del Valle
Edmund Handby

Geoff Buckmaster
Jill Mail

Mark Gilmayer
Gordon Yeatman

Fiona Carrick (Ind)
Lee Perren-Leveridge (Ind)
Brendan Whyte (Ind)

### Yerrabi[edit]

Five seats are up for election. The Labor Party is defending three seats. The Liberal Party is defending two seats.

Labor candidates  | Liberal candidates  | Greens candidates  | Progressives candidates  | AJP candidates

|
|
|
|

|  |  |  |

Tom Fischer
Deepak-Raj Gupta
Suzanne Orr*
Michael Pettersson*
Georgia Phillips

Leanne Castley*
Alistair Coe*
James Milligan
Krishna Nadimpalli
Jacob Vadakkedathu

Andrew Braddock*
Mainul Haque

Mike Stelzig
Bethany Williams

Bernie Brennan
Francine Horne

Sustainable candidates  | DLP candidates  | Pollard candidates  | Ungrouped candidates
|  |  |

John Kearsley
Scott Young

Olivia Helmore
Bernie Strang

David Pollard
Stephanie Pollard

Mohammad Munir Hussain (AFP)
Helen Cross (Ind)
Fuxin Li (Ind)

## Opinion polling[edit]

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

|

Graphical summary of opinion polling for voting intention.

Date  | Firm  | Primary vote

|
|

ALP  | LIB  | GRN  | OTH
29 September 2020  | SurveyMonkey/ClubsACT[15][16] | 36.1%  | 38.6%  | 9.6%  | 15.7%
9 August 2020  | uComms/The Australia Institute[17][18][19] | 37.6%  | 38.2%  | 14.6%  | 9.3%
2016 election |  | 38.4%  | 36.7%  | 10.3%  | 14.6%

## Controversies[edit]

ACT Liberals candidate for Kurrajong, Robert Johnson, was alleged to have been the director of the ACT branch of the Association for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, an organisation belonging to the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, which is an umbrella organisation connected to the Chinese Communist Party, according to a 9 October 2020 article from the Canberra Times, which claims that his appointment to the position was reported on the parent organisation's official website.[20][21] An earlier Canberra Times article from 2 October 2020 also reported that Robert Johnson had featured in a China Central Television documentary which claimed that he served in the Australian Army in Afghanistan.[22] In 2014, he was a standing committee member of the Jiangsu Overseas Exchange Association, within the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provincial Government.[23] ACT Liberals leader Alistair Coe denies allegations that Robert Johnson, who is also known as Jiang Jialiang (江嘉梁), has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.[24][25]

## See also[edit]

* Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2016–2020

## Notes[edit]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Evans, Jake (17 October 2020). "Labor to win re-election in ACT with support of Greens, ABC election analyst Antony Green says". ABC News.
2. ^ "2020 ACT election results revealed: Labor loses last two seats to Liberals, Greens". The Canberra Times. 23 October 2020.
3. ^ Barr, Andrew; Rattenbury, Shane; Berry, Yvette (November 2020). "Parliamentary and Governing Agreement for the 10th Legislative Assembly" (PDF). CMTEDD. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
4. ^ Bladen, Lucy (2 November 2020). "Labor and Greens reveal parliamentary and governing agreement". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
5. ^ "ACT Labor-Greens governing agreement prioritises public housing, action on climate change, transport". ABC News. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
6. ^ "Near-complete enrolment: More than 300,000 Canberrans ready to 'vote safe, vote early'". ACT Electoral Commission. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
7. ^ "2020 ACT Legislative Assembly Election". Elections ACT. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
8. ^ Green, Antony. "ACT Election 2020 Results". ABC Elections. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
9. ^ "Triumph of the Greens | Tim Colebatch". 24 October 2020.
10. ^ "2020 Legislative Assembly election". www.elections.act.gov.au. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
11. ^ a b "Electoral Boundaries Redistribution 2019: Redistribution Report" (PDF). ACT Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
12. ^ White, Daniella (24 July 2019). "All Dunne: Vicki to call time on politics". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
13. ^ Burdon, Daniel (5 August 2019). "Greens MLA to retire at next election". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
14. ^ a b "137 candidates formally declared for 2020 ACT Election". Canberra Weekly. Newstate Media. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
15. ^ "Election 2020 / Libs ahead and Barr's on the nose everywhere". Canberra CityNews. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
16. ^ "ClubsACTion Magazine SEPT/OCT 2020 by ClubsACT - issuu". issuu. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
17. ^ "Majority of Canberrans Want Truth in Political Advertising Laws". The Australia Institute. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
18. ^ "ACT Election 2020: Labor vote down, but still on track to win, polling suggests". The Canberra Times. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
19. ^ "Poll shows Labor on track for minority government". The RiotACT. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
20. ^ Dan Jervis-Bardy, Daniella White. 9 October 2020. ACT election 2020: Liberal candidate served as director of CCP-linked group: report. The Canberra Times. Archive
21. ^ Dominic Giannini. 12 October 2020. Coe won’t say whether he knew about candidate’s alleged Communist Party links. The RiotACT.
22. ^ Dan Jervis-Bardy, Daniella White. 2 October 2020. ACT Liberal candidate Robert Johnson in false Chinese media articles. The Canberra Times.
23. ^ List of Vice-Chairmen, Secretary-General, Standing Directors and Directors of the Fifth Council of Jiangsu Overseas Exchange Association. jiangsu.gov.cn
24. ^ Dan Jervis-Bardy. 6 October 2020. ACT election 2020: Coe stands by candidate over false Chinese media articles claims. The Canberra Times.
25. ^ Dan Jervis-Bardy, Daniella White. 9 October 2020. ACT election 2020: Coe stands by candidate amid reported links to CCP. The Canberra Times.

* List of Candidates. ACT Electoral Commission

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