Casual vacancies in the ninth Legislative Assembly (2016-2020)

Updated 22 Jul 2019

There have been two casual vacancies since the 2016 Legislative Assembly election.

Ms Meegan Fitzharris

Ms Meegan Fitzharris resigned from the ACT Legislative Assembly on Monday, 8 July 2019.

A notice was published in the Canberra Times on Friday, 12 July 2019 calling for nominations from eligible candidates.

Any person who was an unsuccessful candidate for the electorate of Yerrabi in the 2016 ACT Legislative Assembly election can apply to contest this vacancy. Applications close at 12 noon on Monday, 22 July 2019.

The names of the candidates who applied to contest the vacancy were publicly declared at 12:30 pm on Monday 22 July 2019 at the ACT Legislative Assembly building. A recount of the votes received by Ms Fitzharris at the 2016 election was be conducted immediately after the declaration of candidates to determine who would replace Ms Fitzharris in the Assembly.

The following candidates applied to contest the vacancy in the electorate of Yerrabi following the resignation of Ms Meegan Fitzharris:

Candidate name Party name
David PollardUngrouped
Deepak-Raj Gupta ACT Labor
Justin StatesCanberra Liberals
Paul GabrielSustainable Australia
Tim BohmLike Canberra (deregistered)
Veronica WensingACT Greens

Mr Deepak Raj Gupta received a majority of preferences after Ms Fitzharris' votes were distributed by computer count and will be formally declared elected at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, 23 July 2019 at the ACT Legislative Assembly building.

Scrutiny sheet Table 1

Scrutiny sheet Table 2

Notice of vacancy - Ms Meegan Fitzharris (pdf - 128kb)

Candidate information manual - Meegan Fitzharris casual vacancy (pdf - 308 kb)

Mr Steve Doszpot

Mr Steve Doszpot passed away on Saturday, 25 November 2017.

A notice was published in the Canberra Times on Friday, 1 December 2017 calling for nominations from eligible candidates.

Any person who was an unsuccessful candidate for the electorate of Kurrajong in the 2016 ACT Legislative Assembly election could apply to contest this vacancy. Applications closed at 12 noon on Monday, 11 December 2017.

The names of the candidates who applied to contest the vacancy were publicly declared at 12:30 pm on Monday 11 December 2017 at the ACT Legislative Assembly building. A recount of the votes received by Mr Doszpot at the 2016 election was conducted immediately after the declaration of candidates to determine who would replace Mr Doszpot in the Assembly.

The following candidates applied to contest the vacancy in the electorate of Kurrajong following the passing of Mr Steve Doszpot:

Candidate name Party name
Candice Burch Canberra Liberals
Brooke Curtin Canberra Liberals
Peter McKay Canberra Liberals
John Haydon Sustainable Australia
Leah Dwyer ACT Labor
Joshua Ceramidas ACT Labor
Lucinda Spier Canberra Community Voters
Rebecca Vassarotti The ACT Greens
Jill Thomsen The ACT Greens
Marea Fatseas Independent
Graeme Strachan Independent
Peter Robinson Independent

Ms Burch received a majority of preferences after Mr Doszpot's votes were distributed by computer count and was formally declared elected at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, 13 December 2017  at the ACT Legislative Assembly building.

Scrutiny sheet Table 1

Scrutiny sheet Table 2

Notice of vacancy - Mr Steve Doszpot (pdf - 136 kb)

Candidate information manual - Steve Doszpot casual vacancy (pdf - 173 kb)