The 2009 Fremantle 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, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

district of Fremantle on 16 May 2009. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting member

Jim McGinty James Andrew McGinty (born 22 September 1949) is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and L ...

. The Labor Party was defending a seat that they had held continuously since 1924. The by-election was held in conjunction with the state referendum on daylight saving hours. The Greens candidate, Adele Carles, won the by-election, and in doing so became the first Greens candidate to be elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat.

Background

First elected to parliament at the

1990 Fremantle state by-election The 1990 Fremantle state by-election was a by-election held on 26 May 1990 for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Fremantle. The election occurred on the same day as the 1990 Maylands state by-election. The by-election was trigge ...

, McGinty became a minister in the Labor government of

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

in 1991. He held several portfolios until Labor's defeat at the 1993 state election. In Opposition, McGinty succeeded Ian Taylor as Labor leader in 1994, only to be replaced by Geoff Gallop prior to the 1996 state election. After Labor returned to power at the 2001 state election, McGinty again became a minister. Most significantly he served for seven and half years as Attorney-General in the Labor governments of Geoff Gallop and

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 ...

. Following Labor's defeat at the 2008 state election, speculation among media and political commentators was that McGinty, by then almost 60 years of age, would resign his seat before the end of the term. He confirmed that speculation on 3 April 2009.

Candidates

Nominations closed on 17 April 2009. Later that day, the Western Australian Electoral Commission revealed the names of the candidates who nominated. They are as follows, in ballot paper order: * ''

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 * Independ ...

'' - Nik Varga, a real estate agent. * ''

Citizens Electoral Council The Australian Citizens Party (ACP), formerly the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia (CEC), is a minor political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement which was led by American political activist and conspir ...

'' - Rob Totten. * ''

'' - Jan Ter Horst. * ''

'' - Carmelo Zagami. Zagami previously stood as the Liberal Party candidate for the federal division of Fremantle at the 2004 federal election. * ''

'' - Steve Boni. Boni previously stood as the Labor candidate for the district of

Roe Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked in ...

at the 2001 state election. * '' Family First'' - Andriette du Plessis. Du Plessis previously stood as the Family First candidate for the federal division of Fremantle at the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

. * '' Labor Party'' - Peter Tagliaferri, Mayor of Fremantle. Tagiliaferri previously stood for this seat as an independent candidate at the

. * ''

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

'' - Julie Hollett. * ''

'' - Rosemary Anne Lorrimar, a nurse who previously ran for the

in Willagee in 2001 state election. She also stood in several elections for the DLP in the 1970s. * ''

Greens WA Greens Western Australia, commonly known as the Greens WA, is a List of member parties of the Australian Greens, member party of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens (WA) was formed following the merger of the Western Australia ...

'' - Adele Carles. Carles was also the Greens candidate for Fremantle at the 2008 state election and came close to defeating McGinty. * Sam Wainwright, standing for the '' Socialist Alliance'', which is not registered as an official party. The

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 li ...

did not field a candidate.

Results

The Greens' win in Fremantle was the first time a Greens candidate was elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat. It was also the first time they had outpolled the Labor Party on the primary vote in any Labor-held seat. Carles became the first Green to sit in the

, and with five members in the Parliament as a whole, the Greens achieved official parliamentary party status in Western Australia, giving them access to additional allowances, monies and staff. Carles later quit the party to sit as an independent after the publication of an affair with Liberal treasurer

Troy Buswell Troy Raymond Buswell (born 19 March 1966) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2014, representing the seat of Vasse. He was Treasurer of Western Australia in th ...

References

External links

* {{WA by-elections 38th parl 2009 elections in Australia Western Australian state by-elections 2000s in Western Australia Fremantle