The 2001 Aston by-election was held in the Australian electorate of

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

in Victoria on 14 July 2001. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was triggered by the death of the sitting member, the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

Peter Nugent Peter Edward Nugent (1 April 1938 – 24 April 2001) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1990 until his death in 2001, representing the Victorian seat of Aston. He ...

, on 24 April 2001. The writ for the by-election was issued on 1 June 2001.

Background

The by-election was an important test for the Liberal Party. The federal Liberal government had introduced a controversial Goods and Services Tax just over a year before, and unpopular sentiment surrounding the government and its GST were believed to have led to the defeat of the Coalition in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

state elections in landslides.Coorey, Phillip
No glorious July for PM this year
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 13 July 2007. The Liberals had also lost the seat of

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

in a recent by-election, and the ALP led by

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabinet ...

was ahead in opinion polls.

Results

Aftermath

Chris Pearce won the by-election, retaining Aston for the Liberal Party, but suffering a swing of 3.66%.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

appeared on the first episode of the ABC program '' Insiders'' the next day, where he suggested that Labor's electoral momentum had been held in check, and the government was back in the game: The Howard government reportedly spent $700,000 on political advertising in the lead-up to the by-election.

References

External links

Aston (VIC) By-Election (14 July 2001) Results
Australian Electoral Commission {{DEFAULTSORT:Aston By-Election, 2001 2001 elections in Australia Victorian federal by-elections July 2001 events in Australia 2000s in Victoria (state)

Background

Results

Aftermath

See also

References

External links