2020 Australian Capital Territory election
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All 25 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A general election for the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly will be held on Saturday, 17 October 2020.
The 19-year incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, is attempting to win a 6th term over the main opposition Liberal Party, currently led by opposition leader Alistair Coe.
The unicameral parliament uses the proportional Hare-Clark system to elect 25 members in five constituencies electing five members each.
Background
Labor led by Jon Stanhope came to power as a minority government at the 2001 election with the support of the Greens and Democrats who held the balance of power. The 2004 election resulted in a historic majority government for Labor, the first time the ACT elected a parliamentary majority. Labor again formed a minority government after the 2008 election resulted in a Green balance of power – Labor seven seats, Liberal six seats, Greens four seats. Stanhope resigned as Chief Minister and Labor leader on 12 May 2011, and was replaced by his deputy, Katy Gallagher. The Greens retained their balance of power in the 2012 election despite losing the majority of their representation, with sole representative Shane Rattenbury entering the cabinet to form a coalition government. Andrew Barr, Gallagher's deputy, later replaced her on 11 December 2014 after Gallagher resigned to enter the Senate in the vacancy left by Kate Lundy.
Election dates are set in statute with four-year fixed terms, to be held on the third Saturday of October every four years.
