A by-election for the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

division of

Werriwa The Division of Werriwa is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The name Werriwa derives from a local Aboriginal name for Lake George, which was located in the division when it was established in 1900. The division ...

was held on 28 January 1994. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting Labor Party member and former minister

John Kerin John Charles Kerin (born 21 November 1937) is an Australian economist and former Labor Party politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1993. He held a number of senior ministerial roles in ...

. The by-election was won by Labor Party candidate

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...

, retaining the seat for his party. The by-election was marked by a swing against the ALP of almost twelve per cent. Much of this swing benefited minor party candidates, in particular the anti-immigration party

Australians Against Further Immigration Australians Against Further Immigration (AAFI) was an Australian far-right political party which described itself as " eco-nationalist", was opposed to mass immigration and aimed for zero net migration. The party was founded in 1989 and register ...

, whose candidate Robyn Spencer polled 7.24 per cent.Lyle Allan (1994), 'Immigration and the Werriwa By-Election,' in ''People and Place'', Vol.2, No.1, pp.53-56 Single issue parties are rarely able to sustain such high votes at a general election. Due to its status as a safe ALP seat, the Liberal Party originally decided not to field a candidate in this by-election but it was overruled by leader

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson was ...

and saw

Charlie Lynn Charlie John Stuart Lynn (born 14 January 1945, in Orbost, Victoria) is an Australian former politician who served as a Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division), Liberal Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council betw ...

becoming the Liberal candidate by being handpicked by Hewson rather than going through the usual rank and file preselection process.

Results

Aftermath

Two years later, Latham was re-elected as the member for Werriwa at the 1996 federal election, despite the Labor Party losing several seats—and as a consequence, losing office—including the neighbouring divisions of Lindsay,

Hughes Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (surname) * Hughes (given name) Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes, Oates Land * Hughes Basin, Oates Land * Hughes Bay, Graham Land * Hughes Bluff, Victoria La ...

and Macarthur. In December 2003, Latham became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and led his party to defeat at the 2004 federal election. Although re-elected as leader in the aftermath of that election, in January 2005 he stepped down as Labor leader and the member for Werriwa citing health concerns, triggering the

2005 Werriwa by-election The 2005 Werriwa by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Werriwa in south-western Sydney on 19 March 2005, after the resignation of Labor MP Mark Latham, who had represented the electorate since 1994. Latham had been federal Oppos ...

. Latham's defeated opponent, Charlie Lynn of the Liberal Party, was selected to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

in 1995 filling a vacancy caused by the resignation of

Ted Pickering Edward Phillip Pickering (born 1 November 1939) is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1976 to 1995. Pickering was born in Newcastle, and studied for a Bachelor of Science m ...

References

{{Aus by-elections 37th parl Werriwa by-election New South Wales federal by-elections Werriwa by-election

Results

Aftermath

See also

References