How to swing a by-election

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Darin Sullivan in Earth, Events, Featured, Fire

Liberal Minister Brad Hazzard intimidating NSW firefighters at Miranda by-election by taking photos and threatening to report to FRNSW Commissioner.

Liberal Minister Brad Hazzard intimidating NSW firefighters at Miranda by-election by taking photos and threatening to report us to the FRNSW Commissioner.

NSW Australia, 19th Oct 2013

Tonight I’m back at my fire station on duty, but I had a bit of a day.

Together with other NSW firefighters, we (Fire Brigade Employees’ Union) surprised the Liberal Government by attending every polling booth at the Miranda by-election to help stop the Liberals holding that seat. In doing so, we assisted in one of the biggest swings in a NSW election since WW2. Expected to win, the Libs lost, and the Govt is rattled by the loss, and the unique guerilla tactics we used without warning.

Our goal is to get the NSW Liberal Government to remove the fire budget cuts to RFS and FRNSW by including firefighters to be defined as ‘frontline’ services in the budget (yes, really, fire services are not defined as frontline in the budget). This policy is closing NSW permanent fire stations for the first time in history.

Liberal Party Result and Change in % Vote by Polling Place
	Change in First Preference %			Swing After Preferences
Polling Place ( Votes)	2011	2013	Change	2011	2013	Swing
Bonnet Bay Public (1226)	68.2	47.7	-20.5	79.1	55.8	-23.3
Como Public (845)	50.5	28.5	-22.1	63.1	34.2	-28.9
Como W Public (2019)	55.3	31.5	-23.9	67.8	39.7	-28.1
Frank Vickery Village (1136)	65.7	42.9	-22.8	74.1	49.7	-24.4
Grays Pt Public (1396)	58.9	35.5	-23.4	72.0	40.7	-31.3
Gymea Bay Public (3234)	67.0	41.1	-25.9	75.4	46.7	-28.7
Gymea Catholic Hall (2903)	57.6	36.2	-21.4	68.2	41.8	-26.4
Gymea Nth Public (1086)	62.7	41.5	-21.1	71.7	46.2	-25.5
Jannali E Public (1750)	50.5	30.6	-19.9	62.6	35.8	-26.8
Kareela Public (1755)	67.2	42.0	-25.3	75.6	45.9	-29.7
Kirrawee High (1480)	60.0	38.1	-21.9	69.6	43.7	-25.9
Kirrawee Public (1738)	59.9	31.1	-28.8	70.5	37.5	-32.9
Miranda Comm. Cntr (1357)	54.6	33.5	-21.1	64.0	39.8	-24.2
Miranda Public (494)	51.6	38.4	-13.2	63.5	44.3	-19.2
Oyster Bay Public (2574)	60.3	38.9	-21.5	71.1	42.9	-28.2
Port Hacking High (2032)	58.0	39.3	-18.7	68.3	44.6	-23.7
Sutherland Nth Public (1556)	58.5	35.4	-23.1	68.9	41.3	-27.6
Sylvania Hghts Public (3599)	66.5	46.0	-20.5	75.1	51.7	-23.4
Postal	60.3			69.0
Pre-poll (5539)	64.5	40.2	-24.3	72.6	45.2	-27.4

Commentary [via ABC news original here]

“The O’Farrell government has suffered a stunning defeat in Saturday’s Miranda by-election.

Labor’s Barry Collier returns to State Parliament on the back of a 27 per cent swing, the largest swing ever recorded at a New South Wales by-election.

Collier was previously a popular local member for Miranda, representing the seat in state Parliament from 1999 until choosing to retire at Labor’s defeat in 2011.

The victory is a reversal of fortune for Labor just six weeks after losing Sydney seats at the Federal election.

Miranda lies in the centre of Immigration Ministers Scott Morrison’s seat of Cook and would have been easily retained by the Liberal Party based on federal election results.

It is also a boost for Labor Leader John Robertson, whose judgment as leaders had been questioned in recent weeks after revealing he had been offered a bribe by murdered Sydney businessman Michael McGurk.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Sports and Recreation Minister Graham Annesley, who has left politics to become Chief Executive Officer of the Gold Coast Titans Rugby League Club.

As well as annoyance at Annersley’s resignation, the O’Farrell government had been under attack over funding for Sutherland Hospital and local development issues.

Labor was assisted on polling day by fireman in uniform calling on voters to put the Liberal party last over cuts in funding to fire and emergency services. It was a message that carried extra weight with Sydney ringed by fire in recent days.

The result was worse than the 25.7% swing at the Penrith by-election in June 2010, a result that predicted Labor’s demise at the 2011 state election. The Penrith result was also used as a justification for Labor to dump Kevin Rudd as prime Minister.”