The 2002 Cunningham by-election was held in the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n electorate of Cunningham

Division of Cunningham

The Division of Cunningham is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham, a 19th century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland. It is located on the coast of New South Wales between southern Sydney and Wollongong, and...

 in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 on 19 October 2002. The by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

's Stephen Martin on 16 August 2002. The writ for the by-election was issued on 16 September 2002.

The by-election was notable as it was won by Michael Organ

Michael Organ

Michael Keith Organ is an Australian politician. He was an Australian Greens member of the Australian House of Representatives between 2002 and 2004, representing the Division of Cunningham, New South Wales...

, the candidate for the Australian Greens

Australian Greens

The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...

, making Cunningham the first seat in the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 to be won by a minor party since Jack Lang

Jack Lang (Australian politician)

John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...

 won Reid

Division of Reid

The Division of Reid is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the western suburbs of Sydney, and includes the suburbs of Abbotsford, Auburn , Berala , Breakfast Point, Burwood , Cabarita, Canada Bay, Chiswick, Concord, Concord West, Croydon , Drummoyne,...

 for his Lang Labor

Lang Labor

Lang Labor was the name commonly used to describe three successive break-away sections of the Australian Labor Party, all led by the New South Wales Labor leader Jack Lang premier of NSW .-Initial opposition to Lang's leadership:...

 party in 1946, and the first seat in the House won by the Greens.

Background

Cunningham had been held by Labor since its creation 52 years previously, but a recent local government election for Lord Mayor

Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...

 of Wollongong

City of Wollongong

The City of Wollongong is a Local Government Area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Freeway and the South Coast railway line....

 had seen the Labor candidate lose to an independent, Alex Darling, causing concern in the ALP about their ability to hold the seat given the expectation of a significant protest vote against them. The ALP candidate preselected to replace Martin was Sharon Bird

Sharon Bird

Sharon Leah Bird is an Australian politician.She was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Cunningham, New South Wales, at the October 2004 election...

.

The Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 chose not to run a candidate in the by-election, although David Moulds, who ran as an independent, admitted that he held membership of the Liberal Party.

Results

Aftermath

Although Labor received the highest primary vote, the Australian Greens

Australian Greens

The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...

 candidate, Michael Organ

Michael Organ

Michael Keith Organ is an Australian politician. He was an Australian Greens member of the Australian House of Representatives between 2002 and 2004, representing the Division of Cunningham, New South Wales...

, won the by-election on a two-party preferred basis after preferences were distributed. Internal Labor factors which were attributed to the surprise loss of the seat included Martin's premature departure, a messy preselection process for Bird, discontent from the NSW branch of the ALP towards federal leader Simon Crean

Simon Crean

Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...

, and dissatisfaction from Labor's traditional industrial support base. Other factors which contributed to the Greens win included the Liberal Party's decision not to field a candidate, and many of the minor candidates directing their preferences to the Greens (including a trade union-backed independent).

Bird and Organ both contested Cunningham in the 2004 federal election, with Bird winning the seat in the rematch.

External links

• Cunningham (NSW) By-Election (19 October 2002) Results, Australian Electoral Commission
  Australian Electoral Commission
  The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...