2024 Northern Tablelands state by-election

A by-election was held in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Northern Tablelands on 22 June 2024, following the resignation of National Party MP Adam Marshall.[1][2]

2024 Northern Tablelands state by-election

← 202322 June 20242027 →

Electoral district of Northern Tablelands in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Votes counted
77.0%
as of 25 June 2024, 1:30 PM AEST
 
SFF
CandidateBrendan MoylanBen SmithDorothy Robinson
PartyNationalSFFGreens

Incumbent MP

Adam Marshall
Nationals



Background

edit

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of sitting Nationals MP Adam Marshall, who had held the seat since the 2013.

Northern Tablelands is a very conservative seat and is a heartland for the National Party. While Labor traditionally does poorly in rural New South Wales (particularly rural northeastern New South Wales), Northern Tablelands is particularly bad territory for Labor. Northern Tablelands mostly overlaps with the federal seat of New England, which is also a very safe Nationals seat.

Labor usually runs dead in the seat, and therefore is not contesting the by-election.

Marshall won 83.8% of the two-party-preferred vote at the 2023 state election, which is equal to a 33.8% margin on the Mackerras pendulum, emphasising that Northern Tablelands can be classified as a very safe seat, and the safest seat for any party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Additionally, excluding by-election results or redistributions, Northern Tablelands is the seventh-safest seat for any party in any Australian state parliament, and the safest outside Western Australia.

Previous results

edit
2023 New South Wales state election: Northern Tablelands[3][4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalAdam Marshall35,57571.6−1.8
LaborYvonne Langenberg5,04510.2−0.8
GreensElizabeth O'Hara2,3694.8−0.8
Shooters, Fishers, FarmersMichael Hay2,2394.5−5.1
Legalise CannabisPeter O'Loghlin1,1482.3+2.3
IndependentBilly Wood9802.0+2.0
Liberal DemocratsMargaret Hammond7831.6+1.6
Sustainable AustraliaAlan Crowe5951.2+1.2
IndependentNatasha Ledger4961.0+1.0
Public EducationGary Hampton4250.9+0.9
Total formal votes49,65598.0−0.1
Informal votes1,0392.0+0.1
Turnout50,69487.6−3.1
Two-party-preferred result
NationalAdam Marshall37,65483.8+0.7
LaborYvonne Langenberg7,25516.2−0.7
National holdSwing+0.7

Candidates

edit

Candidates are listed in ballot order:[5]

PartyCandidateBackground
 Shooters, Fishers and FarmersBen Smith[6]
 GreensDorothy RobinsonArmidale Regional Councillor
 IndependentNatasha Ledger2023 candidate
 IndependentDuncan FischerBusinessman[7]
 NationalBrendan MoylanSolicitor[8][9]

Key dates

edit

Key dates in relation to the by-election are:[10]

  • 31 May 2024 – Issue of writ, Close of rolls
  • 6 June 2024 – Close of nominations
  • 7 June 2024 – Declaration of nominations
  • 15 June 2024 – Commencement of early voting
  • 17 June 2024 – Applications for postal voting closes
  • 22 June 2024 – Polling day
  • 12 July 2024 – Return of writ

Results

edit
2024 Northern Tablelands state by-election[11][12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
NationalBrendan Moylan30,00868.1−3.6
Shooters, Fishers, FarmersBen Smith4,95911.3+6.7
GreensDorothy Robinson4,0049.1+4.3
IndependentDuncan Fischer3,1937.2+7.2
IndependentNatasha Ledger1,9064.3+3.3
Total formal votes44,07097.3−0.7
Informal votes1,2412.7+0.7
Turnout45,31177.0
Two-candidate-preferred result
NationalBrendan Moylan32,36084.9−4.3
GreensDorothy Robinson5,74315.1+4.3
National holdSwing−4.3

Results are not final. Last updated on 25 June 2024 at 1:30pm AEST.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "NSW's safest seat to go to byelection as MP quits". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Northern Tablelands State By-Election". Electoral Commission of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  3. ^ LA First Preference: Northern Tablelands, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  4. ^ LA Two Candidate Preferred: Northern Tablelands, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  5. ^ "2024 Northern Tablelands State by-election". elections.nsw.gov.au. New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  6. ^ "2024 Northern Tablelands By-election: Candidate Application". Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Duncan Fischer for Northern Tablelands". Duncan Fischer. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  8. ^ "NSW Nationals preselect Brendan Moylan for Northern Tablelands by-election". New South Wales National Party. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Who is Brendan Moylan? - Northern Tablelands - National Party Of Nsw - LykElect.com". lykelect.com. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  10. ^ "2024 Northern Tablelands State by-election".
  11. ^ "First Preference Votes Report Parliamentary Election: Northern Tablelands". NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Two Candidate Preferred Report Parliamentary Election: Northern Tablelands". NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 June 2024.