Voters will go to the polls on February the 12th to decide the next Member for Bega
Jonathan O'Dea MP, the Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly, has announced his intention to issue writs for the four by-elections for the vacant seats of Willoughby, Monaro, Bega and Strathfield.
"Subject to health advice changing, it is my intention to issue the writs for the by-elections to be held in the vacant seats of Willoughby, Monaro, Bega and Strathfield this Friday, January 21, so that the by-elections can be conducted on Saturday, February 12, 2022."
"I have consulted with relevant officeholders, including the Electoral Commissioner and representatives of the major parties, about this timeframe. No objections have been raised with me," Mr O'Dea said.
The expensive and time consuming exercise came about because the current member decided to resign from representing the State electorate of Bega (that covers Batemans Bay to the Victorian border) and instead attempt to contest the Federal seat of Gilmore that is presently held by Labor's Fiona Phillips and expected to be retained with even a greater margin.
The winning candidate in the Bega by-election will only be in place for a year given that the 2023 New South Wales state election will be held on 25 March 2023 to elect the 58th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council.
No doubt the Bega and Monaro by-elections will be closely watched as a reflection of the sentiment held by voters of the current Liberal held Perrottet, and Morrison, governments.
