# 2024 Hornsby state by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Hornsby on 19 October 2024, following the resignation of Liberal Party MP Matt Kean.

## Background

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Liberal MP Matt Kean, who served as the state party's deputy leader and as the state's Treasurer under Premier Dominic Perrottet. He held many other ministerial roles under both Perrottet and his predecessor, Gladys Berejiklian. Kean is a member of the party's Moderate faction, and during Perrottet's tenure as Premier was regarded as the faction's de facto leader in New South Wales.
Hornsby is a blue-ribbon seat in northern Sydney, and is one of two of the original post-1927 electoral districts to have only ever been held by the Liberal Party, its predecessors or an independent, the other being Vaucluse.

## Key dates

* Issue of writ – 27 September 2024
* Close of rolls – 27 September 2024
* Close of nominations – 3 October 2024
* Declaration of nominations – 4 October 2024
* Commencement of early voting – 12 October 2024
* Applications for postal voting closes – 14 October 2024
* Polling day – 19 October 2024
* Last day for the return of the writ – 8 November 2024

## Previous result

2023 New South Wales state election: Hornsby :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Matt Kean | 23,451 | 43.3 | −11.6 |
| | Labor | Melissa Hoile | 13,418 | 24.8 | +4.0 |
| | Greens | Tania Salitra | 7,738 | 14.3 | +3.3 |
| | One Nation | Steve Busch | 4,298 | 7.9 | +4.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jeffrey Grimshaw | 2,125 | 3.9 | +3.9 |
| | Independent | Benjamin Caswell | 1,557 | 2.9 | +2.9 |
| | Sustainable Australia | Justin Thomas | 918 | 1.7 | +1.7 |
| | Independent | Adrian Dignam | 661 | 1.2 | +1.2 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 54,166 | 97.6 | +0.1 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,308 | 2.4 | −0.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,474 | 92.0 | +0.2 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Liberal | Matt Kean | 26,506 | 58.0 | −8.8 |
| | Labor | Melissa Hoile | 19,163 | 42.0 | +8.8 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | −8.8 | |

## Candidates

| Party | Candidate | Background |
| Independent | Brendan Clarke | Three-time contestant for the electorate of Berowra for the Science Party and the Fusion Party. |
| Greens | Tania Salitra | Greens candidate for mayor of Hornsby Shire Council at the 2024 local elections and commercial photographer |
| Independent | Justin Thomas | Candidate for Hornsby at the 2023 state election and former corporate accountant |
| Animal Justice | Sheila Millgate | Psychologist |
| Independent | Benjamin Caswell | Former education and childcare industry worker |
| Libertarian | Marc Hendrickx | Geologist, author, volunteer firefighter and activist |
| Liberal | James Wallace | Former president of NSW Young Liberals |
| One Nation | Steve Busch | Bus driver and former pilot, candidate for One Nation at the 2023 state election. |
| Independent | Roger Woodward | Accountant and volunteer firefighter |

### Liberal

On 3 August 2024, the Liberal Party preselected James Wallace. Wallace's preselection was unsuccessfully contested by former Deputy Mayor of Hornsby Michael Hutchence and barrister Ishita Sethi.

#### Preselection results

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | James Wallace | 123 | 65.77 |
| | Liberal | Michael Hutchence | 36 | 19.25 |
| | Liberal | Ishita Sethi | 28 | 14.97 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 187 | 100.00 |

### Labor

The governing Labor Party has stated they will not contest this by-election with Premier Chris Minns stating "a swing against us would be a massive distraction".

### Others

On 16 August 2024, One Nation announced their candidate as Steve Busch, who previously stood at the 2023 state election.
The Libertarian Party announced Marc Hendrickx as their candidate on 19 September 2024. The Sustainable Australia Party has preselected Justin Thomas.

## Results

2024 Hornsby by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | James Wallace | 24,578 | 49.93 | +6.64 |
| | Greens | Tania Salitra | 12,713 | 25.83 | +11.54 |
| | One Nation | Steve Busch | 2,740 | 5.57 | −2.36 |
| | Independent | Brendon Clarke | 2,205 | 4.48 | +4.48 |
| | Independent | Benjamin Caswell | 1,680 | 3.41 | +0.54 |
| | Animal Justice | Sheila Milgate | 1,616 | 3.28 | +3.28 |
| | Libertarian | Marc Hendrickx | 1,508 | 3.06 | −0.86 |
| | Sustainable Australia | Justin Thomas | 1,337 | 2.72 | +1.03 |
| | Independent | Roger Woodward | 847 | 1.72 | +1.72 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 49,224 | 96.75 | −0.89 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,655 | 3.25 | +0.89 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,879 | 83.06 | −8.95 |
| Two-candidate-preferred result ||||||
| | Liberal | James Wallace | 26,781 | 64.34 | +6.30 |
| | Greens | Tania Salitra | 14,840 | 35.66 | +35.66 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | N/A | |