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The July 2018 Australian federal by-elections, known colloquially as Super Saturday, were five by-elections held on 28 July 2018, to fill vacancies in the Australian House of Representatives caused by the resignations in May 2018 of five MPs.[1] Three MPs of the Australian Labor Party and the Centre Alliance's sole MP resigned due to dual citizenship concerns after the High Court ruled on 8 May 2018 that Senator Katy Gallagher was ineligible to have been elected to the Australian Senate for being a dual citizen, in similar circumstances to four of the lower house MPs.[2] Labor MP for Perth Tim Hammond resigned for family reasons on the same day, causing the first time ever that five by-elections would be held on the same day in Australia. All sitting MPs apart from Hammond re-contested and won the ensuing by-elections.[3]
The governing Liberal/National Coalition did not contest the by-elections in the safe Labor seats of Fremantle and Perth, with the Liberal Party contesting the by-elections in the marginal Labor seats of Braddon and Longman, and the Centre Alliance-held Mayo. Coalition performance at the by-elections was below expectations[4] and Malcolm Turnbull resigned as Prime Minister after losing a leadership spill less than a month later.[5]
- ^ "Mark your calendars, the date has been set for five by-elections". ABC News. 24 May 2018.
- ^ Karp, Paul (9 May 2018). "Dual citizenship crisis: four MPs resign after court rules Katy Gallagher ineligible". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "Tim Hammond quits politics, saying he can't be an MP and a father of three". ABC News. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ Murphy, Katharine. "Super Saturday elections: Shorten passes test as Labor wins 'four from four'". The Guardian Australia. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ McGowan, Michael. "Scott Morrison sworn in as Australia's 30th prime minister – politics live". The Guardian Australia. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 February 2022.