2005 Marrickville state by-election

A by-election was held in the State Electoral District of Marrickville in New South Wales, Australia on 17 September 2005. The by-election was prompted by the resignation of the sitting member Deputy Premier Andrew Refshauge (Labor) on 10 August 2005, in the wake of the resignation of Premier Bob Carr. The by-election was timed to coincide with two other state by-elections in Macquarie Fields and Maroubra.

The main contenders were the ALP's Carmel Tebbutt, who had been a member of the Legislative Council since 1998 and was the wife of Anthony Albanese, the member for the local federal electorate of Grayndler, and Greens candidate Sam Byrne, who at that time was the deputy mayor of Marrickville. The Liberal Party did not stand a candidate.

Nominations for the by-election closed on 2 September 2005.

Results

Carmel Tebbutt was elected with 49.79% of the primary vote and 55.07% of the two-candidate preferred vote after preferences were distributed. However, this was a 5.63% swing to the Greens, and Sam Byrne's 38.96% primary vote was the highest for a Greens candidate in New South Wales electoral history.

2005 Marrickville by-election
Saturday 17 September 

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Carmel Tebbutt	17,428	49.79	+1.39
	Greens	Sam Byrne	13,638	38.96	+10.49
	Christian Democrats	Saidi Goldstein	1,066	3.05	+3.05
	Democrats	Michelle Bleicher	977	2.79	+0.28
	Socialist Alliance	Pip Hinman	526	1.50	-1.22
	Save Our Suburbs	Lorraine Thompson	484	1.38	+0.01
	Independent	Chris McLachlan	397	1.13	+1.13
	Independent	Malcolm Woodward	344	0.98	+0.98
		Alasdair MacDonald	144	0.41	+0.41
Total formal votes			35,004	97.32
Informal votes			1,012	2.68
Turnout			36,016	78.25
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Carmel Tebbutt	18,059	55.07	-5.63
	Greens	Sam Byrne	14,731	44.93	+5.63
	Labor hold		Swing	-5.63

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Marrickville
• List of New South Wales state by-elections