The 2007 Peel state by-election was held in the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

district of Peel on 3 February 2007. 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 resignation of

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 ...

MP Norm Marlborough. Labor candidate

Paul Papalia Paul Papalia CSC (born 12 July 1962) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since February 2007. Originally the member for Peel. He is now the member for Warnbro. A decora ...

was elected to fill the vacancy.

Background

Norm Marlborough was appointed to cabinet in 2006 as Minister for Small Business, Minister for the Peel and the South West, and Minister Assisting the Minister for Education and Training. This followed the replacement of

Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...

Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...

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 governm ...

and Labor leader. Carpenter relaxed the previously existing ban on ministerial contact with disgraced former Premier turned lobbyist Brian Burke. Marlborough, a friend of Burke's, would prove an embarrassment to the government when it was revealed by the

Corruption and Crime Commission The Corruption and Crime Commission is an independent anti-corruption agency established on 1 January 2004 to improve the integrity of the Western Australian public sector and investigate allegations of misconduct against public officers. It t ...

that he had deliberately passed on confidential cabinet information to Burke. Marlborough resigned from parliament on 10 November 2006, following his sacking from the ministry. On 21 November 2006, the

Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer in the Legislative Assembly. The office has existed since the creation of the Legislative Assembly in 1890 under the '' Constitution Act 1889''. The 31st and cur ...

issued a writ directing the Electoral Commissioner to proceed with an election in the district.

Timeline

Results

Despite the controversy surrounding Marlborough's resignation, the government went unpunished at the ballot box. Instead, the by-election produced an increased two-party preferred majority for Labor.

References

{{WA by-elections 37th parl 2007 elections in Australia Western Australian state by-elections 2000s in Western Australia