A by-election was staged in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

district of

Pittwater Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, located about north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the ...

on 26 November 2005. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting member and former

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

leader John Brogden. The by-election resulted in the Liberal Party losing the seat to

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

candidate

Alex McTaggart Alexander John McTaggart (born 24 January 1949) is an Australian politician who was an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Pittwater between 2005 and 2007. At the time of his election, McTaggart was also the Mayor ...

Background

John Brogden was elected leader of the state

in March 2002, and thus 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 ...

. He led the party to its third consecutive defeat at the 2003 state election but remained leader of the party thereafter. In August 2005, it was reported that at an evening function on 29 July, a drunken Brogden had sexually harassed at least one female reporter and uttered a racist slur against

Helena Carr Helena Carr (born Anne Helena John; September 1946) is a Malaysian-born Australian businesswoman and the wife of former Premier of New South Wales, and former Senator and former Foreign Minister, Bob Carr. Early life She was born Anne Helena J ...

, the

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n-born wife of outgoing

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later e ...

. Brogden owned up to his behaviour on the morning of the 29 August, although it was not until the afternoon of the same day that he announced his resignation as leader of the party. When he stepped down as leader, Brogden announced that he would remain a member of parliament, describing his future role as that of a "middle-bencher". The following day however, the episode took a whole new turn when Brogden was rushed to hospital after a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

attempt. A month later, on 28 September 2005, Brogden announced his resignation from parliament, citing the need for further treatment. Pittwater is historically a comfortably safe Liberal seat.

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

has only come close to winning it once, in the " Wranslide" of

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

. Indeed, Labor did not even put up a candidate for the by-election. However, a strong challenge was presented in the form of

Pittwater Council Pittwater Council was a local government area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It covered a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about north of the Sydney central business district. The area is nam ...

Mayor

, running as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

. At the by-election, McTaggart defeated Liberal candidate Paul Nicolaou in what was widely considered a shock result. Nicolaou lost over 22 percent of the Liberals' primary vote from 2003, and only won 44.6 percent of the two-party vote to McTaggart's 55.3 percent.

Results

John Brogden () resigned.

Aftermath

was defeated at the 2007 state election when the seat returned to the

fold but Paul Nicholau was not renominated for the seat. The successful Liberal candidate was instead

Rob Stokes Robert Gordon Stokes (born 17 January 1975) is an Australian politician. Stokes is the New South Wales Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Cities, and the Minister for Active Transport in the Perrottet ministry since 21 December 2 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittwater 2005 2005 elections in Australia New South Wales state by-elections 2005 in New South Wales