2016 Canterbury state by-election

A by-election for the seat of Canterbury in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was held on 12 November 2016. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labor MP and former interim Labor leader Linda Burney on 6 May to contest the division of Barton at the 2016 federal election.

2016 Canterbury state by-election

12 November 2016

First party Second party Third party   Candidate Sophie Cotsis Branka Kouroushis Kristian Bodell Party Labor Christian Democrats Greens Popular vote 27,993 8,397 6,393 Percentage 65.5% 19.6% 14.9% Swing 15.2pp 9.4pp 5.3pp TPP 77.8% 22.2% TPP swing 12.1pp 22.2pp

MP before election Linda Burney Labor Elected MP Sophie Cotsis Labor

By-elections for the seats of Orange and Wollongong were held on the same day.

Background

In its second incarnation from 1927, the electoral district of Canterbury has been held by the Labor Party, excepting between 1932 and 1935 when Edward Hocking held the seat for the United Australia Party following the Lang dismissal crisis.

Linda Burney was elected to represent Canterbury at the 2003 state election, becoming the first Aboriginal person to serve in the New South Wales Parliament. Burney was most recently re-elected to the seat at the 2015 state election with a margin of 15.7, making Canterbury a safe seat for the Labor Party. On 29 February 2016, Burney indicated that she would be seeking preselection for the federal seat of Barton in the upcoming federal election, and would resign from the assembly if successful.^[1] In March, the NSW branch of the Labor Party referred the preselection decisions for the federal seats of Barton and Hunter, and Canterbury, to the party's national executive.^[2] Sophie Cotsis, a member of the Legislative Council since 2010, was preselected.

Dates

Date	Event
23 September 2016	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and close of electoral rolls.[3]
27 October 2016	Close of nominations for candidates
12 November 2016	Polling day, between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm
25 November 2016	Return of writ

Candidates

The three candidates in ballot paper order are as follows:^[4]

Candidate nominations
Party		Candidate	Notes (not on ballot paper)
	Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group)	Branka Kouroushis	Migrated from Montenegro in 1992. Currently studying counselling and community service work.[5]
	The Greens	Kristian Bodell	Solicitor specialising in personal injury law.[5]
	Labor	Sophie Cotsis	Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2010 to 2016.[5]

Results

2016 Canterbury by-election
Saturday 12 November ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Sophie Cotsis	27,993	65.5	+15.2
	Christian Democrats	Branka Kouroushis	8,397	19.6	+9.4
	Greens	Kristian Bodell	6,393	14.9	+5.3
Total formal votes			42,783	95.4	+0.2
Informal votes			2,075	4.6	−0.2
Turnout			44,858	78.5	−15.9
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Sophie Cotsis	31,866	77.8	+12.1
	Christian Democrats	Branka Kouroushis	9,092	22.2	+22.2
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Canterbury
• List of New South Wales state by-elections