Australian Capital Territory general election, 2012

Australian Capital Territory general election, 2012

20 October 2012

All 17 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 9 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Katy Gallagher Zed Seselja Meredith Hunter Party Labor Liberal Greens Leader since 16 May 2011 13 December 2007 October 2008 Leader's seat Molonglo Brindabella Ginninderra (lost seat) Last election 7 seats 6 seats 4 seats Seats won 8 seats 8 seats 1 seat Seat change 1 2 3 Percentage 38.9% 38.9% 10.7% Swing 1.5 7.3 4.9

Chief Minister before election Katy Gallagher Labor Elected Chief Minister Katy Gallagher Labor

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly occurred on Saturday, 20 October 2012. The 11-year incumbent Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, won a fourth term over the main opposition Liberal Party, led by opposition leader Zed Seselja.^[1][2][3]

Candidates are elected to fill all 17 Legislative Assembly seats in the unicameral parliament which consists of three multi-member electorates, Brindabella (five seats), Ginninderra (five seats) and Molonglo (seven seats), using a proportional representation single transferable vote method known as the Hare-Clark system.

Key dates

• Last day to lodge applications for party register: 30 June 2012
• Party registration closed: 13 September 2012
• Pre-election period commenced and nominations opened: 14 September 2012
• Rolls closed: 21 September 2012
• Nominations closed: 26 September 2012
• Nominations declared and ballot paper order determined: 27 September 2012
• Pre-poll voting commenced: 2 October 2012
• Polling day, between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm: 20 October 2012^[4]

Background

The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher attempted to win re-election for a historic fourth term after 11 years in government in the 17-member unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly. Labor led by Jon Stanhope came to power as a minority government at the 2001 election with the support of the Greens and Democrats who held the balance of power. The 2004 election resulted in a historic majority government for Labor, and represented the first time the ACT had elected a majority government. Labor again formed a minority government after the 2008 election resulted in a Green balance of power – Labor 7 seats (37.4%), Liberal 6 seats (31.6%), Greens 4 seats (15.6%).^[5][6][7] Stanhope resigned as Chief Minister and Labor leader on 12 May 2011, and was replaced by his deputy, Katy Gallagher.

The 1989 election saw the start of self-governance in the ACT. Elections see all members of the unicameral Assembly face re-election, with members being elected by the Hare-Clark system of proportional representation. The Assembly is divided into three electorates: five-member Brindabella (including Tuggeranong and parts of the Woden Valley) and Ginninderra (including Belconnen and suburbs) and seven-member Molonglo (including North Canberra, South Canberra, Gungahlin, Weston Creek, and the remainder of the Woden Valley). Election dates are set in statute with four-year fixed terms.

Candidates

Election posters in Wanniassa

Nine political parties were registered with the ACT Electoral Office as eligible for the October 2012 election.^[8][9]

• Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch)
• Australian Motorist Party
• Bullet Train for Canberra
• Liberal Democratic Party
• Marion Lê Social Justice Party
• Liberal Party of Australia (A.C.T. Division) (Canberra Liberals)
• Pangallo Independents Party
• The ACT Greens
• The Community Alliance Party (ACT)

Three further organisations—Pirate Party Australia, Australian Democrats and No Carbon Tax Climate Sceptics—were not registered as political parties in the ACT, however had stated they intended to nominate candidates to be listed on ballot papers as independents.^[10][11]

Retiring members

Labor

• John Hargreaves (Brindabella)^[12]

Brindabella

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Australian Greens were defending one seat.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Bullet Train candidates	Motorist candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Joy Burch* Bec Cody Mick Gentleman* Mike Kinniburgh Karl Maftoum	Val Jeffery Nicole Lawder Zed Seselja* Brendan Smyth* Andrew Wall*	Amanda Bresnan Johnathan Davis Ben Murphy	Mark Erwood Adam Henschke	Burl Doble Kieran Jones-Ellis	Mark Gibbons (-) Michael Lindfield (Ind) Calvin Pearce (Ind)

Ginninderra

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Australian Greens were defending one seat.

Labor Candidates	Liberal Candidates	Greens Candidates	Motorist Candidates	LDP Candidates	MLSJ Candidates	Bullet Train Candidates	Ungrouped Candidates
Yvette Berry* Chris Bourke* Jayson Hinder Glen McCrea Mary Porter*	Alistair Coe* Vicki Dunne* Merinda Nash Jacob Vadakkedathu Matt Watts	James Higgins Meredith Hunter Hannah Parris	Chic Henry Darryl Walford	Mustafa Jawadi Matt Thompson	Majlinda Bitani Nehmat Nana Jbeili Karamia Lê Marion Lê Kate Reynolds	Chris Bucknell Tony Halton	Darren Churchill (-) Emmanuel Ezekiel-Hart (Ind) Norm Gingell (Ind) Glen Takkenberg (-)

Molonglo

Seven seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending three seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Australian Greens were defending two seats.

Labor Candidates	Liberal Candidates	Greens Candidates	LDP Candidates	Motorist Candidates	Bullet Train Candidates	Ungrouped Candidates
Andrew Barr* Simon Corbell* Angie Drake Meegan Fitzharris Katy Gallagher* Mark Kulasingham David Mathews	Steve Doszpot* Murray Gordon Jeremy Hanson* Giulia Jones* Elizabeth Lee James Milligan Tom Sefton	Alan Kerlin Caroline Le Couteur Shane Rattenbury* Adriana Siddle	Ian Gardner Trisha Jha	David Cumbers Mark Curran	Tim Bohm Shelley Dickerson	Stuart Biggs (-) Philip Pocock (Ind)

Unregistered parties and groups

• Pirate Party Australia endorsed Mark Gibbons in Brindabella, Glen Takkenberg in Ginninderra, and Stuart Biggs in Molonglo.

Polling

• On 18 October 2012, 1,200 voters (400 voters per seat, 5% MoE) were polled by Patterson Research Group and published in The Canberra Times. Labor was on 44.5 percent (+7.1 points), the Liberals were on 35.5 percent (+3.9 points), the Greens were on 14.5 (−1.0 point) while others were on 5.5 percent (−9.9 points). This would have produced a result somewhere from minority government to majority government for the incumbent Labor government. It was the only poll conducted during the election campaign.^[13][14]

Results

Australian Capital Territory general election, 20 October 2012[2] Legislative Assembly << 2008 — 2016 >>
Enrolled voters		256,702
Votes cast		229,125		Turnout	89.3%
Informal votes		7,953		Informal	3.5%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal	86,032	38.9	+7.3	8	+2
	Labor	85,991	38.9	+1.5	8	+1
	Greens	23,773	10.7	−4.9	1	-3
	Australian Motorist Party	9,179	4.2	−0.8	0	0
	Bullet Train for Canberra	8,864	4.0	+4.0	0	0
	Independent	4,053	1.8	−8.3	0	0
	Liberal Democratic Party	2,340	1.1	+0.7	0	0
	Marion Lê Social Justice	940	0.4	+0.4	0	0
Total		221,172			17

Primary vote by electorate

	Brindabella	Ginninderra	Molonglo
Australian Labor Party	35.7%	39.9%	40.4%
Liberal Party of Australia	46.4%	33.7%	37.4%
ACT Greens	7.9%	10.1%	13.2%
Motorist Party	3.9%	7.3%	2.1%
Bullet Train	3.8%	3.6%	4.5%
Other	2.3%	5.4%	2.4%

Final distribution of seats

Electorate Seats held Brindabella           Ginninderra           Molonglo

Labor   Liberal   Green

After the distribution of preferences neither of the two major parties had won sufficient number of seats to form government in their own right and would need to form a minority government with an alliance with the sole Greens representative Shane Rattenbury. After a week of negotiations Shane Rattenburry formally supported the Labor party to form a minority government.^[15]

While both Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and Opposition Leader Zed Seselja retained their positions following the outcome of this election, neither lasted in their positions to lead their respective parties at the next election in 2016 as both remarkably resigned from their positions of their own volitions and from the territory Parliament to move to the Federal Parliament as the two Senators representing the ACT.

Newspaper endorsements

Newspaper	Endorsement
The Canberra Times		Labor[16]

External links

• 2012 ACT election morning after results review: Antony Green ABC
• ACT 2012 election homepage: Antony Green ABC

See also

• Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2008–2012
• Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 2012–2016

References

1. 2012 ACT election: Antony Green ABC
2. "2012 Election results". Elections ACT. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
3. Labor returned to power in ACT: ABC 2 November 2012
4. "Election timetable". ACT Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012.
5. "ACT 2008 - ABC elections". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 October 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
6. Williams, George
7. "Labor to form minority government in ACT". The Age. Fairfax Media. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
8. "Nine parties registered for the 2012 ACT election". ACT Electoral Commission. 7 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
9. "Candidate list". 2012 Election. ACT Electoral Commission. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
10. "Pirate Party to run Independent Candidates in Upcoming ACT Election". Pirate Party Australia. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
11. David McLennan, John Thistleton (8 August 2012). "Bullet Train party vies for votes". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
12. Noel Towell (24 August 2012). "Hargreaves farewells Assembly after colourful career". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
13. Canberra Times Poll has ACT Labor on Track for Victory - Antony Green ABC 18 October 2012
14. Patterson: Labor 44.5, Liberal 35.5, Greens 14.5 in ACT - Poll Bludger 18 October 2012
15. "Labor returned to power in ACT". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
16. "Tarnished Labor still more reliable". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.