2011 Clarence state by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Clarence on 19 November 2011, following the resignation from parliament on 16 September of Nationals MP Steve Cansdell. Despite a large two-party-preferred swing, Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis retained the seat.

The location of the seat of Clarence in New South Wales

Background

Steve Cansdell resigned from parliament after admitting to making a false statutory declaration regarding a speeding offence.[1] Eight candidates contested the by-election including Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis who previously contested the federal seat of Page at the 2007 federal election, and Labor candidate Peter Ellem. One of the main issues of the campaign was coal seam gas (CSG) production. Labor accused the Coalition government of putting the environment at risk by not ruling out future CSG, while resources minister Chris Hartcher claimed that "Every CSG licence that exists in NSW was granted by the Labor government of which John Robertson was a minister".[2] Other issues in the campaign were more local, with candidates jousting over ways to create more jobs in Grafton [3] and reduce crime in Casino.[4]

Results
Clarence state by-election, 2011[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
National Chris Gulaptis 24,555 56.7 −6.1
Labor Peter Ellem 12,098 28.0 +17.8
Greens Janet Cavanaugh 3,099 7.2 +0.3
Outdoor Recreation Clinton Mead 1,066 2.5 +2.5
Independent Wade Walker 979 2.3 +2.3
Christian Democrats Bethany Camac 832 1.9 +0.1
Independent Kolo Toure 372 0.9 +0.9
Democrats David Robinson 272 0.6 +0.6
Total formal votes 43,273 97.4 −0.5
Informal votes 1,139 2.6 +0.5
Turnout 44,412 85.0
Two-party-preferred result
National Chris Gulaptis 25,512 65.1 −16.3
Labor Peter Ellem 13,657 34.9 +16.3
National hold Swing−16.3

The Nationals suffered a 16-point two-party-preferred swing, but since Clarence was already a very safe National seat, Gulaptis retained the seat for the Nationals with a majority of 15 percentage points.[5][7]

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See also

References
  1. Frazier, Justine (16 September 2011). "Clarence MP quits politics". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  2. Rodney Stevens (11 November 2011). "It Must Stop: Ellem". The Daily Examiner.
  3. Terry Deefholts (28 October 2011). "Nationals expect to lose votes". The Daily Examiner.
  4. Ava Benny-Morrison (10 November 2011). "Emotions high as Casino fights to take back town". The Northern Star.
  5. "Check Count – Two Candidate Preferred" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  6. "Check Count Results" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  7. "Nationals retain Clarence in by-election". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 November 2011.
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