Davenport state by-election, 2015

Electoral district of Davenport in the southern metropolitan area of Adelaide. Suburbs include Bedford Park, Bellevue Heights, Blackwood, Craigburn Farm, Coromandel Valley, Eden Hills, Flagstaff Hill, Glenalta, Hawthorndene and parts of Belair, Darlington, O'Halloran Hill, Upper Sturt.

A by-election for the seat of Davenport in the South Australian House of Assembly was held on 31 January 2015. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Party of Australia MP and former Liberal leader Iain Evans, who retained the seat at the 2014 election on a 58.1 (−2.8) percent two-party-preferred vote.[1][2][3]

The by-election was held on the same day as the 2015 Queensland state election.

Liberal Sam Duluk won the seat despite a five-point two-party swing, turning the historically safe seat of Davenport in to a two-party marginal seat for the first time.[4] ABC election analyst Antony Green described it as "another poor result for the South Australian Liberal Party",[5] following the 2014 Fisher by-election which saw Labor go from minority to majority government following a 7.3 percent two-party swing.[6] As with the Fisher by-election, much of the anti-Liberal swing was attributed to the unpopularity of then Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and the remark from then Defence Minister David Johnston several days before the Fisher by-election, where he stated he wouldn't trust South Australia's Australian Submarine Corporation to "build a canoe".[7][8][9] Additionally, just a couple of days before the Davenport by-election, Abbott's infamous knighting of Prince Philip occurred.[10][11][12]

Dates

Date Event[13]
3 January 2015 Writ of election issued by the Governor
13 January 2015 Close of electoral rolls
16 January 2015 Close of nominations
31 January 2015 Polling day, between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm

Candidates

5 candidates in ballot paper order[13]
  Liberal Party of Australia Sam Duluk Accountant. Liberal candidate for seat of Fisher at the previous election.[13]
  Family First Party Natasha Edmonds Family First candidate for Davenport at the previous election.[13]
  Independent Australian Democrats Jeanie Walker Involved in property investing and management and is an Aboriginal Family Violence Case Manager. Contested the 2014 Fisher by-election.[13]
  Australian Labor Party Mark Ward City of Mitcham councillor for last eight years, has served as Deputy Mayor. Urrbrae Agricultural High School teacher. Centennial Park Cemetery board member.[13]
  Australian Greens Jody Moate Retail sector worker. Volunteers with numerous community groups.[13]

Result

Davenport state by-election, 31 January 2015[14][15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Sam Duluk 9,740 46.9 −4.1
Labor Mark Ward 6,927 33.4 +4.8
Greens Jody Moate 2,584 12.5 −2.8
Family First Natasha Edmonds 816 3.9 −1.2
Independent Australian Democrats Jeanie Walker 685 3.3 +3.3
Total formal votes 20,752 97.1 −0.7
Informal votes 613 2.9 +0.7
Turnout 21,365 85.7 −7.7
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Sam Duluk 11,021 53.1 −5.0
Labor Mark Ward 9,731 46.9 +5.0
Liberal hold Swing −5.0

Liberal Sam Duluk won the seat despite a five percent two-party swing, turning the historically safe seat of Davenport into a two-party marginal seat for the first time.[4] South Australian Newspoll at the time of the Davenport by-election recorded a statewide seven percent two-party swing from Liberal to Labor. ABC election analyst Antony Green described the Davenport by-election as "another poor result for the South Australian Liberal Party"[5] following the 2014 Fisher by-election which saw Labor go from minority to majority government following a 7.3 percent two-party swing.[6] As with the Fisher by-election, much of the anti-Liberal swing was attributed to the unpopularity of then Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and the remark from then Defence Minister David Johnston several days before the Fisher by-election, where he stated he wouldn't trust South Australia's Australian Submarine Corporation to "build a canoe".[7][8][9] Additionally, just a couple of days before the Davenport by-election, Abbott's infamous knighting of Prince Philip occurred.[10][11][12]

See also

References

External links

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