Aston by-election, 2001
Encyclopedia
The 2001 Aston by-election was held in the Australia
n electorate of Aston
in Victoria
on 14 July 2001. The by-election
was triggered by the death of the sitting member, the Liberal Party of Australia
's Peter Nugent
, on 24 April 2001. The writ for the by-election was issued on 1 June 2001.
just over a year before, and unpopular sentiment surrounding the government and its GST were believed to have seen out Liberal state governments in Western Australia
and Queensland in landslide defeats. The Liberals had also lost the seat of Ryan
in a recent by-election, and the ALP led by Kim Beazley
was ahead in opinion polls.
John Howard
appeared on the first episode of the ABC program Insiders the next day, where he suggested that Labor's electoral momentum had been held in check, and the government was back in the game:
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n electorate of Aston
Division of Aston
The Division of Aston is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1984 and is named for Tilly Aston, a blind writer and teacher who helped found the Library of the Victorian Association of Braille Writers in 1894. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne,...
in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
on 14 July 2001. The by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
was triggered by the death of the sitting member, the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
's Peter Nugent
Peter Nugent
Peter Edward Nugent , Australian politician, was the Liberal Party member of parliament for the Division of Aston in the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2001....
, on 24 April 2001. The writ for the by-election was issued on 1 June 2001.
Background
The by-election was an important one for the Liberal Party. The federal Liberal government had introduced a controversial Goods and Services TaxGoods and Services Tax (Australia)
The GST is a broad sales tax of 10% on most goods and services transactions in Australia. It is a value added tax, not a sales tax, in that it is refunded to all parties in the chain of production other than the final consumer....
just over a year before, and unpopular sentiment surrounding the government and its GST were believed to have seen out Liberal state governments in Western Australia
Western Australian state election, 2001
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 10 February 2001 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...
and Queensland in landslide defeats. The Liberals had also lost the seat of Ryan
Division of Ryan
The Division of Ryan is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1949 and is named for T.J. Ryan, a former Premier of Queensland from 1915 to 1919...
in a recent by-election, and the ALP led by Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
was ahead in opinion polls.
Results
Aftermath
Chris Pearce won the by-election, retaining Aston for the Liberal Party, but with a small swing of 3.66 against them. Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
appeared on the first episode of the ABC program Insiders the next day, where he suggested that Labor's electoral momentum had been held in check, and the government was back in the game:
External links
- Aston (VIC) By-Election (14 July 2001) Results, Australian Electoral CommissionAustralian Electoral CommissionThe Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...