The 2006 Victoria Park state by-election was a

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 ...

held on 11 March 2006 for the

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 ...

n Legislative Assembly seat of

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

in the inner southeastern suburbs of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Background

The by-election 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 la ...

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

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 ...

on 16 January 2006. Gallop had represented the area since a

on 7 June 1986, and had served as a minister, shadow minister,

Opposition Leader 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 ...

(1996–2001) and, finally, as

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

since 2001. Gallop announced his resignation as Premier and from State Parliament effective immediately in order to aid his recovery from depression, and that "in the interests of my health and my family, I've decided to rethink my career." The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly advised Parliament on 7 March 2006 that he had received a letter from Gallop on 25 January announcing his resignation as the member for Victoria Park, and announced that under section 67(2) of the Electoral Act 1907, he had on 2 February 2006 directed the Acting Electoral Commissioner to proceed with an election in the district. The battle for Labor party preselection was hard fought, with 31-year-old DPP lawyer Ben Wyatt defeating former national president of the

Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union United Voice was a large Australian trade union, with over 130,000 members. United Voice members worked in a wide range of occupations including hospitality, childcare, teachers' aides, aged care, property services (cleaning, security, maintenan ...

, Helen Creed, at a vote on 1 February 2006 of the 14-member Administrative Committee. The by-election, called for 11 March 2006, attracted a total of eleven candidates, one of the largest in Western Australian electoral history. The seat of Victoria Park, which elects a single member to 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 ...

using a preferential method, was established in 1929 by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

under the ''Redistribution of Seats Act (No 1 of 1929)'', which was given assent by the Governor on 15 April 1929. The seat is considered a safe Labor Party seat, and has been held by the party between 1930 and 1945, and since the 1953 state election.

Timeline

Candidates

The by-election attracted eleven candidates, significantly more than the previous Victoria Park election, which attracted only five candidates. Both major parties fielded a candidate, with the Greens, One Nation, Daylight Saving Party, Family First, the

Christian Democrats __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 ...

and the unregistered Socialist Alliance also represented, as well as three independents. One Nation candidate Sue Bateman made national headlines when it emerged that she was running for the seat of Victoria Park. The former One Nation president was accused of being a prolific online racist, using the forum Stormfront. She was also dismissive of Gallop's battle with depression, saying that average Joe did not have the luxury of becoming depressed.

Results

As largely predicted, Ben Wyatt retained the seat for the Labor party, with a swing against him of 4.86%. Wyatt claimed victory within two hours and became one of three Aboriginal parliamentarians in Western Australia. Voter turnout was low, given that Victoria Park is a safe Labor seat, with only 64% of voters casting their vote: the lowest for a by-election in the state since 1936.

References

{{WA by-elections 37th parl 2006 elections in Australia Western Australian state by-elections 2000s in Perth, Western Australia