1996 Southern Highlands state by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Southern Highlands on 25 May 1996. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, former Premier of New South Wales John Fahey (Liberal), who vacated the seat to contest the federal electorate of Macarthur at the 1996 Australian federal election.[1]

On the same day, by-elections were held in the seats of Clarence, Orange, Pittwater and Strathfield.

Four of the five recontested seats were retained by the Liberal-National Coalition, with the exception of Clarence. In Southern Highlands, there was three-cornered-contest between coalition partners, the Liberal and National parties. Despite the Nationals candidate polling the highest number of first preference votes, the Liberal Party retained the seat with a swing of 8.00% against them on a two-candidate-preferred basis.

Results

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1996 Southern Highlands by-election
Saturday 25 May [2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Katrina Hodgkinson 11,530 32.60 +32.60
Liberal Peta Seaton 10,565 29.87 -24.69
Labor Philip Yeo 8,862 25.06 -7.48
Democrats Greg Butler 2,155 6.09 +1.54
Independent Malcolm Duncan 1,493 4.22 +4.22
Call to Australia Charles Chappell 763 2.16 +0.53
Total formal votes 35,368 98.03 +1.81
Informal votes 712 1.97 −1.81
Turnout 36,080 89.43 −5.85
Two-candidate-preferred result
Liberal Peta Seaton 19,933 52.37 -8.00
National Katrina Hodgkinson 15,400 47.63 +47.63
Liberal hold Swing -8.00

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Hon John Fahey MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  2. ^ Green, Antony. "1996 Southern Highlands by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 September 2019.