2000 Woodridge state by-election

August 2019 A by-election was held in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Woodridge on 5 February 2000. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting Labor member Bill D'Arcy. It was held concurrently with the Bundamba state by-election. The seat was retained by Labor Party with the election of candidate Mike Kaiser. Background Bill D'Arcy was first elected to state parliament as the Labor member for Albert at the 1972 state election. He lost his seat at the 1974 state election, a landslide defeat for Labor, but returned to parliament as the Labor member for the new seat of Woodridge at the 1977 state election and held the seat continuously thereafter. D'Arcy resigned from parliament on 9 January 2000. It emerged shortly afterwards that D'Arcy was facing charges of child sex offences from his days as a school teacher.Labor stumbles in by-elections Graham Young 31 January 2000 Online Opinion http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=1837 D'Arcy was later convicted and spent seven years in jail as a result.Nadine McGrath 16 December 2007 Sydney Morning Herald Child rapist D'Arcy free after seven years in jail http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/child-rapist-darcy-free-after-seven-years-in-jail/2007/12/15/1197568330056.html Candidates To defend the seat, Labor preselected Mike Kaiser, then state secretary of the Queensland branch of the Labor Party.Biography: Mike Kaiser Queensland Parliament House http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/historical/documents/memberBio/kaiser.htm 10 April 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20100802035843/http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/historical/documents/memberBio/kaiser.htm 2 August 2010 dead Kaiser's chief opponent was Logan City councillor Russell Lutton, standing as an independent but formerly a member of the Labor Party. Results Kaiser won the normally safe seat for the Labor Party, with Lutton polling a strong second. Woodridge state by-election, 2000Bundamba and Woodridge statistical returns Electoral Commission of Queensland http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/content/21779001068527814937.pdf 2009-04-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20090713085432/http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/data/portal/00000005/content/21779001068527814937.pdf 2009-07-13 dead Labor QLD Mike Kaiser 7,635 50.79 −0.87 Independent Russell Lutton 5,012 33.34 +33.34 Liberal QLD Irene Allan 1,340 8.91 −5.08 Nigel Freemarijuana 386 2.57 +2.57 Democrats Robert Hernandez 337 2.24 −3.71 Independent Gary Wilkins 275 1.83 +1.83 Independent John McKenna 47 0.31 +0.31 15,032 97.56 376 2.44 15,408 85.21 Labor QLD Mike Kaiser 7,955 56.49 −7.0 Independent Russell Lutton 6,126 43.51 +43.51 Labor QLD N/A Aftermath Labor's retention of Woodridge and Bundamba ensured the government of Peter Beattie retained its one-seat majority in parliament. Mike Kaiser's stint in parliament would be a short one. He confessed to the Shepherdson Inquiry—set up to investigate electoral fraud—that he signed a false enrolment form in 1986.Qld reflects on Kaiser's downfall 11 January 2001 The 7.30 Report http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s232576.htm He consequently resigned from the Labor Party in January 2001 to sit as an independent and did not contest the 2001 state election. See also List of Queensland state by-elections References Category:2000 elections in Australia Category:Queensland state by-elections Category:2000s in Queensland