2015 Polwarth state by-election

A by-election for the seat of Polwarth in the Victorian Legislative Assembly was held on 31 October 2015. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Terry Mulder on 3 September 2015. Former Premier of Victoria, Denis Napthine, resigned his seat representing the adjacent district of South-West Coast on the same day as Mulder.[1] The by-election for South-West Coast was held on the same day.

2015 Polwarth state by-election
31 October 2015
Electoral district of Polwarth in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
  First party Second party Third party
 
LNP
GRN
NAT
Candidate Richard Riordan Joe Miles David O'Brien
Party Liberal Greens National
Popular vote 17,798 5,715 4,292
Percentage 49.6% 15.9% 12.0%
Swing Decrease5.7pp Increase4.9pp Increase12.0pp
The electoral district of Polwarth in south-west rural Victoria, west of Geelong, covers the Colac Otway and Corangamite local government areas (LGA), parts of the Moyne, Golden Plains and Surf Coast LGAs, and slivers of the Ararat and Greater Geelong LGAs, running along the Great Ocean Road.
MP before election

Terry Mulder
Liberal

 Elected MP

Richard Riordan
Liberal

Candidates
8 candidates in ballot paper order
Party Candidate Background
  Greens Joe Miles Welfare officer & disability support,[2] anti-fracking organiser in Victoria's South West & Barwon region.[3]
  Democratic Labour Carmel Kavanagh Leads a charity providing refugee advocacy, housing and resettlement assistance.[4]
  Country Melinda Cass Farmer from Cressy.[5]
  National David O'Brien Former member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Western Victoria Region.[6]
  Independent Brendan Eckel A Ballarat-based psychiatric nurse.[4]
  Sex Party Meredith Doig Company director and management consultant. Member of the university council for Federation University Australia.[7] President of the Rationalist Society of Australia.[8]
  Liberal Richard Riordan Colac businessman, owner of Riordan Colac Hire, board member of the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, former chairman of Colac Area Health board.[9]
  Christians Geoff Rogers Candidate for federal seat of Lalor at the 2013 federal election.[10]

The Labor government did not contest the by-elections in the safe Liberal seats of Polwarth and South-West Coast.[11]

How-to-vote cards

Candidate volunteers attempt to distribute how-to-vote cards to voters at polling booths which show the candidate's suggested preference allocation. Candidates and parties which suggested preferences are shown in each column of the table below. The Australian Sex Party ran an open card at this by-election.

Greens[12] DLP[12] Country[13] National[12] Eckel Sex Liberal Christians[12]
Greens 1 8 8 8
No card
 6 7
DLP 7 1 3 4 5 2
Country 6 4 1 7 3 5
National 4 5 7 1 2 3
Eckel 5 3 2 6 7 6
Sex 2 7 4 5 1 8 8
Liberal 3 6 6 2 1 4
Christians 8 2 5 3 4 1

Result
Polwarth state by-election, 2015[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Richard Riordan 17,798 49.6 −5.7
Greens Joe Miles 5,715 15.9 +4.9
National David O'Brien 4,292 12.0 +12.0
Democratic Labour Carmel Kavanagh 2,911 8.1 +8.1
Sex Party Meredith Doig 2,140 6.0 +6.0
Country Melinda Cass 2,043 5.7 +0.1
Christians Geoff Rogers 575 1.6 +1.6
Independent Brendan Eckel 373 1.0 +1.0
Total formal votes 35,847 94.8 −1.3
Informal votes 1,950 5.2 +1.3
Turnout 37,797 86.2 −8.7
After distribution of preferences
Liberal Richard Riordan 18,015 50.3 n/a
Greens Joe Miles 5,855 16.3 n/a
National David O'Brien 4,414 12.3 n/a
Democratic Labour Carmel Kavanagh 3,126 8.7 n/a
Sex Party Meredith Doig 2,251 6.3 n/a
Country Melinda Cass 2,168 6.1 n/a
Liberal hold Swingn/a

The VEC distributed preliminary preferences until a candidate exceeded 50 per cent of the vote, in this case Liberal candidate Richard Riordan.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Former Victorian premier Denis Napthine, senior MP Terry Mulder both retire from politics triggering by-elections". ABC News. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. "Greens put in the Miles for by-election". The Standard. 10 September 2015.
  3. Ryan, Jemma (9 July 2014). "Geelong community groups send clear message against fracking". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  4. 2015 Polwarth by-election: ABC
  5. Sinnott, Alex (25 September 2015). "'Independent Liberal' says the party's over". The Standard. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  6. Judd, Bridget (7 September 2015). "Victorian National Party to contest by-elections for seats of South-West Coast, Polwarth". ABC News. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  7. "Dr Meredith Doig". Federation University Australia. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  8. "Meredith Doig". Rationalist Society of Australia. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  9. "Polwarth aspirants race to replace Mulder". The Standard. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  10. "Geoff Rogers Lalor". Australian Christians. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  11. Sullivan, Kath (3 September 2015). "Labor won't contest by-elections in South-West Coast and Polwarth". The Weekly Times. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  12. "State District By-elections 2015 Polwarth District Registered How To Vote Cards - Victorian Electoral Commission". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. Australian Country Party. "HTVcassprepoll.pdf" (PDF). Australian Country Party. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  14. State District By-elections 2015: Polwarth District, VEC.
  15. 2015 Polwarth by-election commentary, ABC.
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