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2008 Port Macquarie state by-election

Field	Value
country	New South Wales
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
election_date	18 October 2008
candidate1	Peter Besseling
party1	Independent politician
popular_vote1	15,003
percentage1	35.94%
swing1	35.94
image1
candidate2	Leslie Williams
party2	National Party of Australia – NSW
popular_vote2	14,061
percentage2	33.69%
swing2	14.24
image2	[[File:Nationals Placeholder.png	140x140px]]
1blank	TPP
2blank	TPP swing
1data1	54.52%
2data1	54.52
1data2	45.48%
2data2	23.70
map_image	Port macquarie NSW State Electoral District.png
map_caption	Location in New South Wales
title	MP
before_election	Rob Oakeshott
before_party	Independent politician
after_election	Peter Besseling
after_party	Independent politician

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Port Macquarie on 18 October 2008. This was triggered by the resignation of independent MP Rob Oakeshott who was elected to the federal seat of Lyne at a by-election the previous month.

The writ for the Port Macquarie by-election was issued on 29 August, which was also when the rolls closed. Candidate nominations closed on 18 September. The by-election was contested on the same boundaries drawn for Port Macquarie at the 2007 state election. At that election, the independent MP won the seat over the Nationals by a two-party preferred margin of 78.2% to 21.8%.

Background

Created in a 1988 redistribution, Port Macquarie has always been based on Port Macquarie and Laurieton–Camden Haven. It was a safe National Party seat prior to the election of Oakeshott, who was MP for Port Macquarie since 1996, becoming an independent in 2002.

Candidates

The following candidates nominated for the election:

Independent - James Langley, contested federal Lyne for Labor in 2007. Quit the party over protest at the Iemma state Labor electricity privatisation.
Christian Democratic Party - Bob Waldron
Independent - Lisa Intemann (former Port Macquarie-Hastings councillor)
Greens - Susie Russell
National Party - Leslie Williams, Lake Cathie resident, contested Port Macquarie for the Nationals in 2007. Ms Williams is a nurse at Port Macquarie Base Hospital and current chairman of the party's Port Macquarie Electorate Council.
Independent - Tony Galati
Independent - Grant Rogers
Independent - Bob Sharpham
Independent - Peter Besseling
Independent - Jamie Harrison (former Port Macquarie-Hastings councillor)
Independent - Cameron Price

Campaign

Federal Hume MP Alby Schultz was seen campaigning a few times for Besseling, referring to him as "the pick of the candidates", with similar support from Senator Bill Heffernan, sparking anger and resentment within the coalition.

Results

Despite independent Rob Oakeshott moving into federal politics, another independent, Peter Besseling, retained the seat, winning on the primary and two party vote. Saturday 18 October}}

Rob Oakeshott () resigned to successfully contest the federal seat of Lyne.

References

(2008-08-14). "Date set for Port Macquarie by-election".
(2008-08-06). "By-elections pressure Coalition's unity".
[https://archive.today/20120719011244/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/12/2332131.htm Langley to contest Port Macquarie as independent: ABC News 12 August 2008]
(8 August 2008). "A Nationals' hopeful for Port Macquarie by-election".
Drummond, Andy. (2008-10-19). "Besseling wins poll thanks to Schultz".
"Port Macquarie 2008 by-election result - two party preferred".
"Port Macquarie 2008 by-election result - primary vote".
"Port Macquarie - 2008 New South Wales By-elections". ABC Elections.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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