The 2023 Fadden by-election was held on 15 July 2023 to elect the next member of the Australian

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the electorate of Fadden in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held as the result of the resignation on 18 May 2023 of the sitting member,

Stuart Robert Stuart Rowland Robert (born 11 December 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business from 2021 to 2022, following his appointment as Minister for Government Service ...

, who had represented the Liberal National Party (LNP) and sat in parliament with the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

. The by-election was won by the LNP's candidate,

Cameron Caldwell Cameron MacKenzie Caldwell (born 1979) is an Australian politician who is a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Fadden. He was elected in the Fadden by-election in July 2023. He is a member of the Liberal Nation ...

, with a positive swing of nearly 3% on the

two-party preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Natio ...

vote. The Labor Party's candidate, Letitia Del Fabbro, conceded defeat approximately two hours after the polls closed.

Background

The Division of Fadden is situated in the northern part of the Gold Coast. The area has a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial areas and is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the Gold Coast theme parks ( Dreamworld, Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild). As of the 2021 census, the Division of Fadden has a population of approximately 163,000 people. The division has a higher-than-average proportion of young families and first-home buyers, as well as a large retiree population. The median weekly household income in the division is $1,719, which is slightly higher than the national average. The division has largely been a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

for the Liberal National Party and its predecessors since its creation, with only one period of Labor representation between

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. Stuart Robert had held the seat since

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. Robert previously held various ministerial positions, including Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Human Services. Robert had been involved in several scandals prior to his resignation from the seat, including allegedly intervening in contracts to sign up corporate clients to a lobbying firm he had links to, billing taxpayers $3,000 per month for his home internet and his role in the Morrison Government’s illegal Robodebt scheme.

2022 election results

Robert suffered a two-party-preferred 3.55% swing against him in the 2022 federal election, but the seat remains a safe Liberal National seat with a

two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Nati ...

of 60.63%. Despite having an increase in the two-party-preferred vote, Labor had a slight decrease of 0.16% in its primary vote. The Greens also contested the election and had a 1.73% increase in primary votes from the previous 2019 election. Other parties and candidates that contested Fadden at the 2022 election were One Nation,

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

, Liberal Democrats and an independent candidate Stewart Brooker and each of them achieved less than 10% of the primary vote. Three of the candidates from the 2022 election (Labor, One Nation, and Brooker) re-contested the by-election. The United Australia Party and Liberal Democrats were de-registered with the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...

after the 2022 election and did not run in the by-election.

Previous by-election

The 2023 Fadden by-election was the second

in the 47th Parliament, following a by-election for the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

seat of

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...

, which was held on 1 April 2023 following the resignation of

Alan Tudge Alan Tudge (born 24 February 1971) is an Australian former politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the House of Representatives between 2010 and 2023. He was a cabinet minister in the Morrison government from 2019 to 2022. Tudge grew up ...

. The upset loss of Aston was the first time in 103 years that a governing party won a federal seat from the opposition at a by-election (the last time before that being the

1920 Kalgoorlie by-election A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Kalgoorlie on 18 December 1920. It was triggered by the expulsion from the House of Labor Party MP Hugh Mahon. The subsequent by-election was won by Nationalist Party ...

, where the Nationalist Party won the seat from Labor).

Key dates

Key dates in relation to the by-election are: * 12 June 2023 – Issue of

writ In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are commo ...

* 19 June 2023 – Close of

electoral roll An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, voters list, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is ...

s * 22 June 2023 – Close of nominations * 15 July 2023 –

Polling day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections a ...

(8am to 6pm) * 20 September 2023 – Last day for the return of writs

Candidates

The table below shows candidates according to the

, listed in the order they appeared on the ballot. {, class="wikitable" , - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Candidate ! Background , - , width="3pt" , ,

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, Letitia Del Fabbro ,

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

nurse educator and candidate for Fadden at the 2022 federal election , - , width="3pt" , , Greens , Scott Turner , Scientist and candidate for

McPherson McPherson is a Scottish surname. It is an Anglicised form of the Gaelic ''Mac a' Phearsain'' and ''Mac a Phearsoin'', meaning "son of the parson". Notable people with the surname include: In sports *Adrian McPherson, American football player ...

at the 2022 federal election , - , width="3pt" , ,

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

, Chris Simpson , Engineer and candidate for the Senate at the 2022 federal election , - , width="3pt" , , One Nation , Sandy Roach , Businesswoman and candidate for Fadden at the 2022 federal election , - , width="3pt" , , Indigenous-Aboriginal , Marnie Laree Davis , Social worker , - , width="3pt" , ,

Legalise Cannabis The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. Thes ...

, Suzette Luyken , Activist, former businesswoman and candidate for Gaven at the 2020 state election , - , width="3pt" , ,

Sustainable Australia The Sustainable Australia Party (SAP), officially registered as Sustainable Australia Party – Universal Basic Income, is an Australian political party that was formed in 2010. History The party has been registered federally since 2010. It wa ...

, Quentin Bye , Technician and candidate for

Myall Lakes Myall Lakes, a series of fresh water lakes protected under the Ramsar Convention, are located within the Mid-Coast Council local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The Myall Lakes are adjacent to the ea ...

at the

2019 New South Wales state election The 2019 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 23 March 2019 to elect the 57th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was ...

, - , width="3pt" , , , Kevin Young , Businessman and founder of the unregistered Owners and Renters Party of Australia , - , width="3pt" , , , Belinda Jones , Journalist and social media activist , - , width="3pt" , , , Stewart Brooker , Stay-at-home father, former IT specialist, and candidate for Fadden at the 2022 federal election , - , width="3pt" , ,

Citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

, Jan Pukallus ,

Perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

and Secretary of the Queensland Citizens Party , - , width="3pt" , , Liberal National ,

, Gold Coast City Councillor , - , width="3pt" , , {{nowrap,

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, James Tayler , Businessman and candidate for Moncrieff at the 2022 federal election

Labor

Given that the seat is considered safe for the LNP, there was speculation that Labor may have chosen not to endorse a candidate for the by-election. Local branches urged the party to contest anyway. On 29 May, Labor announced it would contest the by-election, despite stating that it would be unlikely for them to win. On 2 June, it was confirmed that Griffith University nurse educator Letitia Del Fabbro, who stood as Labor's candidate for the seat at the 2022 federal election, had been endorsed to stand as Labor's candidate for the by-election.

Liberal National

On 8 May it was reported that Gold Coast councillor

and Fadden Liberal National Party branch president Fran Ward had both sought preselection. On 28 May it was confirmed that five candidates were seeking Liberal National preselection. Alongside Caldwell and Ward, the shortlist included Craig Hobart, wealth manager Owen Caterer, and

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

recipient and disability advocate Dinesh Palipana. Other speculated candidates included former

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and current

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

host

Amanda Stoker Amanda Jane Stoker ( Fell; born 30 October 1982) is an Australian politician who served as a Australian Senate, Senator for Queensland from 2018 until 2022. She is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and sat with the Libe ...

, and

state MP for Bonney

Sam O'Connor Samuel Thomas O'Connor (born 5 August 1991) is an Australian politician and since November 2024, the current Queensland Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Youth. He has been the Liberal National Party member for Bonney in ...

. Caldwell won preselection on 3 June 2023.

Preselection results

{{Election box begin , title = {{Election box candidate AU party , party = lnp , candidate =

, votes = 54 , percentage = 35.76 , change = {{Election box candidate AU party , party = lnp , candidate = Dinesh Palipana , votes = 37 , percentage = 24.50 , change = {{Election box candidate AU party , party = lnp , candidate = Fran Ward , votes = 34 , percentage = 22.51 , change = {{Election box candidate AU party , party = lnp , candidate = Owen Caterer , votes = 17 , percentage = 11.25 , change = {{Election box candidate AU party , party = lnp , candidate = Craig Hobart , votes = 9 , percentage = 5.96 , change = {{Final ballot {{Election box candidate AU party , party = lnp , candidate =

, votes = 88 , percentage = 61.11 , change = {{Election box candidate AU party , party = lnp , candidate = Dinesh Palipana , votes = 56 , percentage = 38.89 , change = {{Election box formal , votes = 151 , percentage = 100.0 , change = {{election box end

Greens

On 18 June 2023, the Gold Coast branch of the Greens announced Scott Turner as their Fadden candidate.

One Nation

One Nation ran Sandy Roach, their candidate from 2022.

Others

The

Australian Citizens Party The Australian Citizens Party (ACP), formerly the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia (CEC), is a minor political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement, founded and originally led American political activist a ...

preselected Jan Pukallus as their candidate at the by-election. Stewart Brooker, who ran for Fadden as an independent at the 2022 federal election, will run again. A second independent, Belinda Jones, has also announced that she will run. On 13 June

Legalise Cannabis Australia Legalise Cannabis Australia (LCA), also known as the Legalise Cannabis Party (LCP) and formerly the Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party, is a Single-issue politics, single-issue Australian political party. It has a number of policies tha ...

announced Suzette Luyken as the party's candidate.

Campaign

The Liberal Party campaigned on the rising cost of living, opposing the

Indigenous Voice to Parliament The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the First Nations Voice or simply the Voice, was a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal a ...

and the unpopularity of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

. Labor campaigned hard on the

Robodebt scheme The Robodebt scheme was an unlawful method of automated debt assessment and recovery implemented in Australia under the Liberal-National Coalition governments of Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, and Scott Morrison, and employed by the Australian ...

.{{Cite news , last=Karp , first=Paul , date=2023-07-11 , title=Labor targets Stuart Robert and his handling of robodebt in negative ads before Fadden byelection , language=en-GB , work=The Guardian , url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/12/labor-targets-stuart-robert-and-his-handling-of-robodebt-in-negative-ads-before-fadden-byelection , access-date=2023-08-10 , issn=0261-3077

Results

{{Election box begin , title=2023 Fadden by-election{{hsp{{cite web , title=Fadden, QLD , url=https://results.aec.gov.au/29422/Website/HouseDivisionPage-29422-159.htm, publisher=Australian Electoral Commission, access-date=1 August 2023 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate =

, party = Liberal National , votes = 43,554 , percentage = 49.08 , change = +4.46 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Letitia Del Fabbro , party = Labor , votes = 19,580 , percentage = 22.06 , change = –0.29 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Sandy Roach , party = One Nation , votes = 7,896 , percentage = 8.90 , change = +0.22 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Suzette Luyken , party = Legalise Cannabis , votes = 6,424 , percentage = 7.24 , change = +7.24 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Scott Turner , party = Greens , votes = 5,477 , percentage = 6.17 , change = –4.56 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Belinda Jones , party = Independent , votes = 931 , percentage = 1.05 , change = +1.05 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Marnie Laree Davis , party = Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia , votes = 895 , percentage = 1.01 , change = +1.01 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Stewart Brooker , party = Independent , votes = 805 , percentage = 0.91 , change = –3.26 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Quentin Bye , party = Sustainable Australia , votes = 779 , percentage = 0.88 , change = +0.88 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Kevin Young , party = Independent , votes = 641 , percentage = 0.72 , change = +0.72 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = James Tayler , party = Australian Federation , votes = 607 , percentage = 0.68 , change = +0.68 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Chris Simpson , party = Australian Democrats , votes = 589 , percentage = 0.66 , change = +0.66 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Jan Pukallus , party = Australian Citizens , votes = 570 , percentage = 0.64 , change = +0.64 {{Election box formal , votes = 88,748 , percentage = 93.20 , change = −2.49 {{Election box informal , votes = 6,473 , percentage = 6.80 , change = +2.49 {{Election box turnout , votes = 95,221 , percentage = 72.54 , change = −14.00 {{Election box 2pp {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate =

, party = Liberal National , votes = 56,224 , percentage = 63.35 , change = +2.72 {{Election box candidate AU party , candidate = Letitia Del Fabbro , party = Labor , votes = 32,524 , percentage = 36.65 , change = –2.72 {{Election box hold AU party, , winner = Liberal National , swing = +2.72 {{Election box end

References

{{Reflist

External links

{{Wikinews, Fadden Votes 2023
Fadden by-election – ABC Elections

Fadden by-election, 2023 – The Tally Room
{{Aus by-elections 47th parl {{DEFAULTSORT:Fadden by-election, 2023 2023 elections in Australia 2020s in Queensland July 2023 in Australia Queensland federal by-elections