Katy Gallagher Elected ACT Chief Minister

May 16, 2011

Katy Gallagher was today appointed Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, following the retirement of Jon Stanhope.

Katy Gallagher, Chief Minister of the ACTGallagher was elected unopposed by the ALP caucus on May 13. She was endorsed by a vote of the ACT Legislative Assembly today, winning 11 votes to 6 for the Liberal leader Zed Seselja. Her deputy is Andrew Barr.

Gallagher, 40, brings to four the number of female heads of government in Australia. She joins Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings, all of them from the Labor Party.

The five male leaders are: Premier Barry O’Farrell (NSW), Premier Ted Baillieu (Vic), Premier Mike Rann (SA), Premier Colin Barnett (WA) and Chief Minister Paul Henderson (NT).

The longest serving head of government is South Australian Labor Premier Mike Rann who has been in office since March 2002. The longest serving Opposition Leader is Tasmanian Liberal Will Hodgman who has held the position since March 2006.

Filed Under: A.C.T., States Tagged With: ,

Australia Becoming Greener: Brown

Oct 20, 2008

Following their strong showing in the weekend’s ACT election, the Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown, says the electorate is turning greener.

Senator Brown issued this statement: [Read more...]

Filed Under: A.C.T., Elections, Greens, N.S.W. Tagged With:

ACT Government Teeters; ALP Massacred In NSW By-Elections

Oct 19, 2008

The ACT Labor government of Jon Stanhope has lost its majority in today’s elections.

The ALP seems likely to be reduced from 10 to 7 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Liberal Party appears to have also won 7 seats, whilst the Greens have picked up 2 seats to take their total to 3.

Negotiations between the major parties and the Greens will now determine the outcome of the election.

The ALP polled 37.6% of the primary vote, a 9.3% swing. The Liberal Party primary vote declined by 3.7% to 31.1%. The Greens vote increased by 6.6% to 15.9%.

The ALP has also suffered massive swings in NSW state by-elections. In Ryde, previously held by former Deputy Premier John Watkins, there has been a swing of over 20% against the ALP and the seat has been won by the Liberal Party with 53% of the primary vote.

The ALP appears set to retain two of its safest seats, Cabramatta and Lakemba, although there has been a swing of around 22% in Cabramatta and a double digit swing in Lakemba.

In Port Macquarie, an independent candidate seems set to win against a determined effort by the Nationals to regain the seat once held by the current independent member for the Federal electorate of Lyne, Rob Oakeshott.

Filed Under: A.C.T., A.L.P., Greens, Liberal Party, N.S.W., The Nationals Tagged With: , , , ,