Greg Wilton | AustralianPolitics.com

Labor Wins Isaacs By-Election With 7.75% Primary Swing

August 12, 2000

The ALP candidate, Ann Corcoran, has won today’s by-election for the House of Representatives electorate of Isaacs, securing a 7.75% swing on the primary vote.

Ann Corcoran, ALP Member for Isaacs Corcoran has won 66% of the two-party-preferred vote, compared to 56.40% achieved by the ALP in 1998, a swing of 9.6%.

A 10% swing is a sizable swing, more than double the average swing against governments in by-elections. However, given that the Liberal Party did not field a candidate, caution should be adopted in interpreting the result.

Isaacs By-Election To Be Held On August 12

June 29, 2000

The voters of the Melbourne electorate of Isaacs will go to the polls on Saturday 12 August to elect a replacement for the former Labor member, Greg Wilton.

Andrew The date was announced by the House of Representatives Speaker, Neil Andrew, before Question Time commenced today.

The ALP holds the seat with a margin of over 6%. Recent speculation suggests that the Liberal Party will not field a candidate in the election.

The Speaker of the House is given responsibility under Section 33 of the Constitution to issue writs to fill vacancies in the lower house.

This will be the first by-election held during this Parliament.

The timetable for the by-election is:

Fri 30 June – Issue of Writ
Fri 11 July – Close of Rolls
Thu 13 July – Close of Nominations
Sat 12 August – Polling Day
Sun 08 October – Return of Writ on or before this date

House of Representatives By-Elections Since 1901

Greg Wilton, Member for Isaacs, Found Dead

June 14, 2000

The Federal Labor member for Isaacs, Greg Wilton, was found dead in his car today in Tea Tree Road, Labertouche, southeast of Melbourne.

Greg Wilton Wilton had represented the suburban electorate in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs since 1996.

In a statement released today, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said:

“I was very saddened to learn today of the death of Greg Wilton, the Federal Labor member for Isaacs.

“Greg was a young man of ability, with much to live for and much to contribute. It is a matter of immense distress to all Greg Wilton’s friends and colleagues in the Labor Party that this tragedy has occurred; that this life should have ended in such sadness.

Pre-Selection Contests Occupying Attention Of Major Parties

June 12, 2000

With the next Federal election due in 18 months time, the major parties are engaged in the process of pre-selecting candidates.

Recent developments include:

Throsby

Former ACTU President, Jennie George, has finally been guaranteed a seat in Parliament with the decision by the NSW ALP State Conference over the weekend to give her endorsement for Throsby.

A By-Election In Isaacs?

May 28, 2000

The possibility of a resignation by Greg Wilton, ALP Member for the House of Representatives seat of Isaacs in Victoria, raises some interesting questions about the implications of a by-election during the remainder of this year.

Isaacs is an outer metropolitan electorate, won by Wilton in 1996 and retained in 1998. It includes the suburbs of Aspendale, Braeside, Carrum, Carrum Downs, Chelsea, Chelsea Heights, Cheltenham, Cranbourne, Edithvale, Lyndhurst, Mentone, Mordialloc, Parkdale, Patterson Lakes, Seaford and Skye.

In 1998 Wilton won the seat with 48.43% of the primary vote, 10% ahead of the Liberal vote. After distribution of preferences, the ALP member had 56.40%, a 4.84% swing over the 1996 result.