1994 Werriwa by-election

1994 Werriwa by-election

29 January 1994

First party Second party   Candidate Mark Latham Charlie Lynn Party Labor Liberal Popular vote 30,337 20,466 Percentage 50.13% 33.82% Swing 11.17 3.52 TPP 59.49% 40.51% TPP swing 6.28 6.28

MP before election John Kerin Labor Elected MP Mark Latham Labor

A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives division of Werriwa was held on 29 January 1994. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting Labor Party member and former minister John Kerin.

The by-election was won by Labor Party candidate Mark Latham, retaining the seat for his party.

The by-election was marked by a swing against the ALP of almost twelve per cent. Much of this swing benefited minor party candidates, in particular the anti-immigration party Australians Against Further Immigration, whose candidate Robyn Spencer polled 7.24 per cent.^[1] Single issue parties are rarely able to sustain such high votes at a general election.

Due to its status as a safe ALP seat, the Liberal Party originally decided not to field a candidate in this by-election but it was overruled by leader John Hewson and saw Charlie Lynn becoming the Liberal candidate by being handpicked by Hewson rather than going through the usual rank and file preselection process.