# 2018 Perth by-election

A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Perth, took place on Saturday 28 July, 2018 following the resignation of incumbent Labor MP, Tim Hammond.
During the early counting, within 90 minutes of the close of polls, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's psephologist Antony Green's electoral computer had predicted Labor to retain the electorate with an increased margin.
The by-election occurred on the same day as four other by-elections for the House of Representatives, colloquially known as Super Saturday.

## Background

Hammond announced on 2 May 2018 of his imminent intention to resign from parliament due to family reasons. Due to the High Court ruling against Senator Katy Gallagher on 9 May 2018 as part of the ongoing parliamentary eligibility crisis, four other MPs in the same situation announced their parliamentary resignations later that day. The Speaker announced on 24 May 2018 that he had scheduled the by-elections to occur on 28 July 2018. Popularly labelled "Super Saturday", the occurrence of five simultaneous federal by-elections is unprecedented in Australian political history. The others are:
* 2018 Braddon by-election
* 2018 Fremantle by-election
* 2018 Longman by-election
* 2018 Mayo by-election

## Key dates

Key dates in relation to the by-election are:
* Thursday, 10 May 2018 – Speaker acceptance of resignation
* Friday, 15 June 2018 – Issue of writ
* Friday, 22 June 2018 – Close of electoral rolls (8pm)
* Thursday, 5 July 2018 – Close of nominations (12 noon)
* Friday, 6 July 2018 – Declaration of nominations (12 noon)
* Tuesday, 10 July 2018 – Start of early voting
* Saturday, 28 July 2018 – Polling day (8am to 6pm)
* Friday, 10 August 2018 – Last day for receipt of postal votes
* Sunday, 23 September 2018 – Last day for return of writs

## Candidates

Candidates (15) in ballot paper order :
| Party | Candidate | Background |
| Independent | Julie Matheson | Founder of the federally unregistered Western Australia Party. |
| Animal Justice | Nicole Arielli | Party treasurer. |
| Independent | Jim Grayden | Property manager, former teacher. Son of former Swan MP Bill Grayden. Running as an Independent Liberal |
| Liberal Democrats | Wesley Du Preez | Edith Cowan University graduate in Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations. |
| #Sustainable | Colin Scott | Small business operator and community volunteer. |
| Mental Health | Ben Mullings | Psychologist. |
| Labor | Patrick Gorman | Western Australian Labor state secretary. Aligned with Labor Left. |
| People | Gabriel Harfouche | Party founder. Ran as a Palmer United candidate in Perth at the 2013 federal election. |
| Independent | Paul Collins | Former Stirling councillor. Contested the North Metropolitan Region at the 2013 state election as the sixth Liberal candidate. |
| Greens | Caroline Perks | Public servant for climate change policy. |
| Science | Aaron Hammond | Multi-disciplinary engineer. |
| Christians | Ellen Joubert | Coach and mentor for women and children. |
| Liberty Alliance | Tony Robinson | Party co-founder. Contested the 2017 Bennelong by-election. |
| Independent | Ian Britza | Two-term Liberal MP for Morley elected at 2008 state election, contested 2017 New England federal by-election as a Country candidate. |
| CEC | Barry Mason | Driver for a traffic management company. |
The Liberals declined to contest the Perth and Fremantle federal by-elections, but concentrated their resources on the Darling Range state by-election.

## Results

Perth by-election: 28 July 2018 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Patrick Gorman | 22,812 | 39.33 | +1.96 |
| | Greens | Caroline Perks | 10,908 | 18.81 | +1.74 |
| | Independent | Paul Collins | 5,516 | 9.51 | +9.51 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Wesley Du Preez | 3,880 | 6.69 | +4.98 |
| | Independent | Julie Matheson | 3,123 | 5.38 | +5.38 |
| | Independent Liberal | Jim Grayden | 2,565 | 4.42 | +4.42 |
| | Animal Justice | Nicole Arielli | 1,815 | 3.13 | +3.13 |
| | Independent | Ian Britza | 1,705 | 2.94 | +2.94 |
| | Christians | Ellen Joubert | 1,474 | 2.54 | +2.54 |
| | Science | Aaron Hammond | 1,002 | 1.73 | +1.73 |
| | Mental Health | Ben Mullings | 930 | 1.60 | +1.60 |
| | Sustainable Australia | Colin Scott | 774 | 1.33 | +1.33 |
| | Liberty Alliance | Tony Robinson | 682 | 1.18 | +1.18 |
| | Citizens Electoral Council | Barry Mason | 596 | 1.03 | +1.03 |
| | People's Party | Gabriel Harfouche | 222 | 0.38 | +0.38 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 58,004 | 89.94 | −6.29 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 6,486 | 10.06 | +6.29 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 64,490 | 64.07 | −23.97 |
| Two-candidate-preferred result ||||||
| | Labor | Patrick Gorman | 36,601 | 63.10 | +9.77 |
| | Greens | Caroline Perks | 21,403 | 36.90 | +36.90 |
| | Labor hold | Labor hold | Swing | N/A | |