The former Charlestown MP Andrew Cornwell departs after giving evidence at Icac. His resignation was one of two that triggered the Hunter region byelections. Photograph: Paul Miller/AAP
Labor is expected to cruise to victory on Saturday in two New South Wales byelections triggered by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac).
Newcastle and Charlestown have been vacant seats since the resignation in August of Liberal MPs Tim Owen and Andrew Cornwell, who told Icac they received allegedly illegal donations from property developers.
The Liberals won’t be running candidates in either contest on Saturday in what the NSW party director, Tony Nutt, described as an act of “atonement”.
Both seats fall within a traditionally safe Labor area and are expected to return to the ALP.
Newcastle Labor councillor Tim Crakanthorp is tipped to win Newcastle while fellow ALP candidate and Lake Macquarie mayor Jodie Harrison is expected to snatch Charlestown.
Crakanthorp said he hoped a victory would give Labor momentum for the March general election.
“It’s about trying to engage people and convince them that Labor is back,” he told reporters outside Hamilton South public school before casting his vote.
“If victorious today and it’s a resounding victory, I certainly hope it does send a message to [the NSW premier] Mike Baird who said he’d come back here and win back the trust of the people.
“We haven’t seen hide or hair of him.”
The Liberals won Newcastle in the 2011 election on a 2.6% margin and picked up Charlestown with a 9.9% margin.
The federal MP Clive Palmer may make an appearance in Newcastle to campaign for two Palmer United party (PUP)-backed independents Jennifer Stefanac and Suellen Wrightson.
The pair aren’t officially running as PUP candidates as the party missed a deadline to register itself for the 2015 election.
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