Misplaced Pages

2011 Clarence state by-election

19 November 2011

First party Second party   Candidate Chris Gulaptis Peter Ellem Party National Labor Popular vote 24,555 12,098 Percentage 56.7% 28.0% Swing 6.1 17.8 TPP 65.1% 34.9% TPP swing 16.3 16.3

The location of the seat of Clarence in New South Wales

MP before election Steve Cansdell National Elected MP Chris Gulaptis National

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Clarence on 19 November 2011, following the resignation from parliament on 16 September of Steve Cansdell (National). Despite a large two-party-preferred swing, Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis retained the seat.

Background

Steve Cansdell resigned from parliament after admitting to making a false statutory declaration regarding a speeding offence. Eight candidates contested the by-election including Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis who previously contested the federal seat of Page at the 2007 federal election, and Labor candidate Peter Ellem. One of the main issues of the campaign was coal seam gas (CSG) production. Labor accused the Coalition government of putting the environment at risk by not ruling out future CSG, while resources minister Chris Hartcher claimed that "Every CSG licence that exists in NSW was granted by the Labor government of which John Robertson was a minister". Other issues in the campaign were more local, with candidates jousting over ways to create more jobs in Grafton  and reduce crime in Casino.

Results

The Nationals suffered a 16-point two-party-preferred swing, but since Clarence was already a very safe National seat, Gulaptis retained the seat for the Nationals with a majority of 15 percentage points.

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Clarence
• List of New South Wales state by-elections

References

1. Frazier, Justine (16 September 2011). "Clarence MP quits politics". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
2. Rodney Stevens (11 November 2011). "It Must Stop: Ellem". The Daily Examiner.
3. Terry Deefholts (28 October 2011). "Nationals expect to lose votes". The Daily Examiner.
4. Ava Benny-Morrison (10 November 2011). "Emotions high as Casino fights to take back town". The Northern Star.
5. ^ "Check Count – Two Candidate Preferred" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
6. "Check Count Results" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
7. "Nationals retain Clarence in by-election". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 November 2011.

v t e Results of New South Wales State elections
Legislative Assembly	Colonial 1856 1858 1859 1860 1864–65 1869–70 1872 1874–75 1877 1880 1882 1885 1887 1889 1891 1894 1895 1898 State 1901 1904 1907 1910 1913 1917 1920 1922 1925 1927 1930 1932 1935 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1973 1976 1978 1981 1984 1988 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Legislative Council	Colonial 1843 1848 1851 State 1978 1981 1984 1988 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
By-elections	Legislative Assembly Legislative Council (historic)

• 2011 elections in Australia
• New South Wales state by-elections
• 2011 in New South Wales
• November 2011 in Australia