Adele Simone Carles (born 19 February 1968) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

from 2009 to 2013, representing the electorate of

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

. She was initially elected as a Greens WA member at the

2009 Fremantle state by-election The 2009 Fremantle state by-election was held in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly district of Electoral district of Fremantle, Fremantle on 16 May 2009. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting member Jim McGinty. The Australia ...

, becoming the first Greens candidate to be elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat. However, she resigned from the Greens on 6 May 2010 to sit as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. In November 2010, Carles agreed to guarantee

confidence and supply In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...

votes for the incumbent

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is an Australian former politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

. She ran for re-election as an independent at the 2013 state election, but was defeated, finishing fourth behind the Labor, Liberal and Greens candidates with 5.49% of the vote.

2008 state election

Carles, a solicitor before entering politics, was defeated in the 2008 state election. She polled 27.6% of the vote against Labor Attorney-General

Jim McGinty James Andrew McGinty (born 22 September 1949) is an Australian former politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Lea ...

(38.7%), marginally less than Liberal candidate Brian Christie (30.2%).

2009 Fremantle by-election

In 2009, Carles was preselected by Greens WA to run again at the

following the retirement of McGinty. With the Liberals not contesting the election, Carles was rated a chance of becoming the first Greens candidate to be elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat. Carles won the seat with 44.06% of the primary vote, ahead of Labor candidate and former Fremantle Mayor,

Peter Tagliaferri Peter Tagliaferri (born 2 November 1960) is an Australian politician. He is a former mayor of the City of Fremantle, a position he held for eight and a half years. Background Tagliaferri's grandfather migrated to Australia in 1932 and, after wo ...

, as well as receiving enough preferences from other candidates to gain an absolute majority of ballots cast.2009 Fremantle By-election - Results
Western Australian Electoral Commission This was the highest primary vote result for the Greens in a state or federal election in Australia, and the first time the Greens had outpolled all other parties on their primary vote. Their previous record vote was 38.96% in the

2005 Marrickville state by-election A by-election was held in the State Electoral District of Marrickville in New South Wales, Australia on 17 September 2005. The by-election was prompted by the resignation of the sitting member Deputy Premier Andrew Refshauge () on 10 August 200 ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(also not contested by the Liberals).

Buswell affair

In April 2010, Carles publicly acknowledged that she and Liberal Treasurer,

Troy Buswell Troy Raymond Buswell (born 19 March 1966) was an Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2014, representing the seat of Vasse. He was Treasurer of Western Australia in the Bar ...

, had been engaged in a "mutual, albeit stupid" affair that lasted several months. Carles had previously denied the affair despite persistent rumours, claiming to be a victim of a Labor smear campaign. On 6 May 2010, she resigned from the Greens to sit as an independent. In December 2012, Buswell launched a $3 million defamation case against Carles in relation to allegations and counter-claims both made about Buswell's alleged lewd and drunken behaviour at the home of property developer

Nigel Satterley Nigel Satterley is the founder of Satterley Property Group, a privately owned real estate and land development company based in Perth, which develops residential estates in Western Australia and Victoria. History Satterley attended Governo ...

in December 2011. At the 9 March 2013 state election Carles was defeated by Labor's

Simone McGurk Simone Frances McGurk (born 5 December 1963) is an Australian politician. She is the member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the seat of Fremantle, and Minister for Creative Industries, Heritage, Industrial Relations, Aged Car ...

. She finished second from last with only five percent of the primary vote. She ran for mayor of Fremantle in 2021 but lost to Hannah Fitzhardinge.

References

;General * ;Inline

External links

Adele Carles – Former official blog
(archived fro
original site

Greens WA profile

Parliament of WA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carles, Adele 1968 births Living people Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Western Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly