The local factors in the Canberra by-election are being diluted one by one and it may surprisingly come down to much more a test of national Labor and Liberal standing than first thought. That said, by-elections are a bit like the balance of payments figures, though less regular: it is not the actual result that counts but whether it is above or below market expectation. When Rose Kelly quit, market expectation was that Canberra is dyed-in-the-wool Labor so there was no point in the Liberals even fielding a candidate in the March 25 by-election.
Four things have changed that. The former Liberal Member for Canberra John Haslem reminded people that the Liberals have held the seat and he would have another crack at it; Alexander Downer lost the leadership; psephologist Malcolm Mackerras reminded people that big by-election swings happened when sitting members swanned off to swank jobs; and lastly Kate Carnell proved Labor does not have a mortgage over the ACT. Market expectation is that the 9.6 percent swing needed to win is difficult but not impossible. The local or unusual factors that might be claimed by either side after the vent to excuse a performance outside market expectations include: actions by the Greens (which might be different from a general election); the personality factors of both the retiring Ros Kelly and Labor’s candidate Sue Robinson; and the Canberra is different from the rest of Australia. Kate Carnell put paid to the last factor and the push-polling incident has meant that from here on in, the campaign will focus on issues and not personalities.
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