Clarence state by-election, 2011

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Clarence on 19 November 2011, following the resignation on 16 September of sitting member, The Nationals' Steve Cansdell, after he admitted to making a false statutory declaration regarding a speeding offence.^[1]

Eight candidates contested the by-election including the Nationals candidate for the Federal seat of Page at the 2007 Federal Election Chris Gulaptis and Labor candidate Peter Ellem. One of the main issues of the campaign has focused on controversial Coal Seam Gas Mining. Labor have accused the Coalition of putting the environment at risk by not ruling out future CSG, while resources minister Chris Hartcher claimed that "Every CSG licence that exists in NSW was granted by the Labor government of which John Robertson was a minister" ^[2]. Other issues in the campaign have been more locally based with candidates jousting over ways to create more jobs in Grafton ^[3] and reduce crime in Casino ^[4].

The National Party retained the seat despite suffering a 16 per cent two-party swing against them.^[5][6]

Results

Clarence state by-election, 2011[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Chris Gulaptis		56.7	-6.1
	Labor	Peter Ellem		28.0	+17.8
	Greens	Janet Cavanaugh		7.2	+0.3
	Outdoor Recreation	Clinton Mead		2.5	+2.5
	Independent	Wade Walker		2.2	+2.2
	Christian Democrats	Bethany Camac		1.9	+0.1
	Independent	Stewart Scott-Irving		0.8	+0.8
	Democrats	David Robinson		0.6	+0.6
Total formal votes
Informal votes
Turnout				81.8
Two-candidate preferred result
	National	Chris Gulaptis		65.0	-16.3
	Labor	Peter Ellem		35.0	+16.3
	National hold		Swing	-16.3

References

1. ^ Frazier, Justine: Clarence MP quits politics, ABC North Coast NSW, 16 September 2011.
2. ^ Stevens, Rodney: It Must Stop: Ellem, The Daily Examiner, 11 November 2011
3. ^ Deefholts, Terry: Nationals expect to lose votes, The Daily Examiner, 28 October 2011
4. ^ Benny-Morrison, Ava: Emotions high as Casino fights to take back town, The Northern Star, 10 November 2011
5. ^ 2011 Clarence by-election results: ABC
6. ^ Nationals retain Clarence in by-election: ABC 20 November 2011
7. ^ Green, Antony: 2011 Clarence by-election, ABC, 2011.