A 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 held in the State Electoral District of Marrickville

Electoral district of Marrickville

Marrickville is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a 13.47 km² urban electorate in Sydney's inner west, centred on the suburb of Marrickville from which it takes its name...

 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...

, 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...

 on 17 September 2005.

The by-election was prompted by the resignation of the sitting member Deputy Premier Andrew Refshauge

Andrew Refshauge

Andrew John Refshauge was an Australian politician and Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005.Refshauge was born in Melbourne, the son of Major-General Sir William Refshauge AC CBE ED , who later became Honorary Physician to Queen Elizabeth II 1955–64 and Director-General of 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...

) on 10 August 2005, in the wake of the resignation of Premier

Premiers of New South Wales

The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...

 Bob Carr

Bob Carr

Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...

.

The main contenders were the ALP's Carmel Tebbutt

Carmel Tebbutt

Carmel Mary Tebbutt is an Australian politician. She is the Australian Labor Party Member for Marrickville in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 2008 to 2011. She was also Minister for Health in the Keneally Government...

, who had been a member of the Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

 since 1998 and is the wife of Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Norman Albanese , Australian politician, who serves as Leader of the House of Representatives and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in the Gillard Ministry...

, the member for the local federal electorate of Grayndler

Division of Grayndler

The Division of Grayndler is an Australian Electoral Division in inner Metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales. It is one of Australia's smallest electorates, located in the inner-southern Sydney metropolitan area, including parts of the inner-west...

, and Greens

Greens New South Wales

The Greens New South Wales is the state Greens party in New South Wales. It is a member party of the Australian Greens. The Greens NSW have one member in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly , five members in the New South Wales Legislative Council...

 candidate Sam Byrne, who at that time was the deputy mayor of Marrickville

Marrickville Council

Marrickville Council is a Local Government Area situated in the Inner West region of Sydney, Australia.The area is bounded by Leichhardt to the north, the City of Sydney to the east and north-east, the City of Botany Bay to the south-east, Rockdale to the south, Canterbury to the west, and...

. The Liberal Party

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...

 did not stand a candidate.

Nominations for the by-election closed on September 2, 2005.

Results

Carmel Tebbutt was elected with 49.79% of the primary vote and 55.07% of the two-candidate preferred vote after preferences were distributed. However, this was a 5.63% swing to the Greens, and Sam Byrne's 38.96% primary vote was the highest for a Greens candidate in New South Wales electoral history.