1969 Gwydir by-election
Australian federal by-election in New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Gwydir on 7 June 1969. This was triggered by the resignation of Country Party MP Ian Allan, who had been appointed Secretary-General and regional director of ANZAC war graves in the Pacific Region of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[1] As a by-election for the seat of Bendigo had just been called, the two were held on the same day.
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7 June 1969
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The Gwydir seat in the House of Representatives | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 39,800 (88.2%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The by-election was won by Country Party candidate Ralph Hunt. This remains the most recent federal by-election to be contested by only two candidates.
Candidates
The Country Party candidate, Ralph Hunt, was the NSW and federal chairman of the party, and a farmer and grazier from northern New South Wales.[1]
The Labor candidate, Roger Nott, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Liverpool Plains, largely located within Gwydir, from 1941 until 1961, and served as a minister in the Cahill and Heffron governments, before being appointed by the Menzies government as Administrator of the Northern Territory.[1][2]
Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 30 April 1969 | The Speaker announced that Ian Allan had resigned from Parliament.[3] |
| 1 May 1969 | The writ for the by-election was issued.[4] |
| 16 May 1969 | Close of nominations. |
| 7 June 1969 | Polling day. |
| 4 July 1969 | Return of the writ. |
| 12 August 1969 | Ralph Hunt was sworn in as the member for Gwydir.[5] |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Ralph Hunt | 21,113 | 53.6 | −7.7 | |
| Labor | Roger Nott | 18,293 | 46.4 | +7.7 | |
| Total formal votes | 39,406 | 99.0 | |||
| Informal votes | 394 | 1.0 | |||
| Turnout | 39,800 | 88.2 | |||
| Country hold | Swing | −7.7 | |||