1988 Adelaide by-election
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A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Adelaide on 6 February 1988. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP Chris Hurford to become Australia's Consul-General in New York City.
The election was won by Liberal candidate Mike Pratt with an 8.4 percent two-party swing on a 1.9 percent margin, defeating Labor candidate Don Farrell.
The 1988 Port Adelaide by-election occurred seven weeks later.
Candidates
- Independent – Bronwyn Mewett.
- Independent – Peter Consandine, republican campaigner who later founded the Republican Party of Australia.
- Independent – Michael Brander.
- Independent – John Litten.
- Australian Democrats – Ian McLeish.
- Unite Australia Party – Dorothy McGregor-Dey, who contested Mayo for the party in 1987.
- National Party of Australia – Bryan Stokes, the party's 1987 candidate.
- Australian Labor Party – Don Farrell, assistant secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA). Farrell was later influential in the South Australian Labor Party, and serves in the Senate (2016–present), having served previously from 2008 to 2014.
- Liberal Party of Australia – Mike Pratt, a local farmer.
Campaign
The proposed introduction of time-based billing for local telephone calls was reportedly a major issue in the campaign. The intended change by government-owned telecommunications monopoly Telecom Australia was announced early in the campaign and was subsequently endorsed by Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who then faced "a backlash from its own left wing, unions and the public".[1] The Liberal Party campaigned heavily on the issue and Liberal candidate Mike Pratt "had a largel model of a telephone receiver placed on the roof of his campaign van to help push home the party message".[2]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Mike Pratt | 26,777 | 44.4 | +8.9 | |
| Labor | Don Farrell | 22,897 | 38.0 | -10.9 | |
| Democrats | Ian McLeish | 7,097 | 11.8 | +2.7 | |
| Independent | Bronwyn Mewett | 1,408 | 2.3 | +2.3 | |
| National | Bryan Stokes | 1,000 | 1.7 | -3.4 | |
| Independent | Michael Brander | 409 | 0.9 | +0.9 | |
| Independent | John Litten | 367 | 0.6 | +0.6 | |
| Unite Australia | Dorothy McGregor-Dey | 218 | 0.4 | +0.4 | |
| Republican | Peter Consandine | 104 | 0.2 | +0.2 | |
| Total formal votes | 60,277 | 96.1 | |||
| Informal votes | 2,432 | 3.9 | |||
| Turnout | 62,709 | 88.0 | |||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Mike Pratt | 31,195 | 51.9 | +8.4 | |
| Labor | Don Farrell | 28,967 | 48.2 | -8.4 | |
| Liberal gain from Labor | Swing | +8.4 | |||
See also
References
- v
- t
- e
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