| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
All 78 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 40 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The 1866 Victorian colonial election was held from 30 December 1865 to 29 January 1866 to elect the 5th Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though ten seats were uncontested. [1]
There were 24 single-member, 21 two-member and 4 three-member electorates. [1]
The 1866 general election was called when the Legislative Council rejected the McCulloch government's bill for a protective tariff and the Governor, Sir Charles Darling, agreed to a dissolution of parliament over the issue. [2] [3] McCulloch and his protectionist supporters easily won the election and remained in office throughout this parliament. [1]
Party / Grouping | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ministerial | 52,754 | 63.38 | 58 | ||||
Opposition | 30,476 | 36.62 | 20 | ||||
Totals | 83,230 | 78 |
The new assembly was sworn in on 12 February 1866. [5] A Bill of Supply, with tariff legislation included, was passed in the assembly and submitted to the Upper House. The Legislative Council rejected the bill, which effectively stopped Government supply. McCulloch and his ministry resigned in protest at the continual obstruction by the Legislative Council dominated by conservative free-trade pastoralists. Governor Darling requested that leading opposition figure, Legislative Council member Thomas H. Fellows, form a ministry, but negotiations about the conditions of accepting the responsibility proved insurmountable. In late March 1866 McCulloch agreed to an interim measure whereby he and his colleagues would continue to administer their departments despite not being formally appointed. [6] [7]
Governor Darling had been a consistent supporter of McCulloch's ministry in its efforts to introduce protectionist legislation. In December 1865 a petition of complaint protesting the Governor's behaviour had been sent to the Queen by council members. [2] [8] In mid-April 1866 news reached the colony that Darling was to be recalled as Governor of Victoria by the British government. [9] The dismissal of Governor Darling broke the deadlock. A conference of representatives from both houses negotiated an acceptable compromise. Within days outstanding Appropriation Bills for the previous two years were passed by the Upper House, as well as an advance of sixty thousand pounds for 1866. [10]
During public expressions of support for the ousted Governor, a select committee of the parliament recommended a grant of £20,000 be made to Lady Darling to compensate for the "heavy pecuniary loss" sustained due to the Governor's recall for political reasons. [11] In February 1867 the McCulloch government was advised that Lady Darling's acceptance of the proposed grant would be contrary to the regulations of the colonial service. [12] In England Darling resigned from the service to bypass colonial regulations and enable the grant to be accepted. In April 1867 a vote for the £20,000 grant to Lady Darling was passed in the Legislative Assembly, but subsequently rejected by the Upper House. In August 1867 the grant to Lady Darling was included in the supplementary estimates of expenditure in the annual Appropriation Bill, but in October the Legislative Council rejected the bill, claiming that such a grant ought to have been the subject of a separate measure. [8] [13] [14]
After a temporary Supply Bill was rejected in the Upper House in early November the parliament was prorogued. Its dissolution was gazetted on 30 December 1867, with a general election to commence in late-January 1868. [15]
Sir Charles Cowper, was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870.
George Higinbotham was a politician and was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian colony, later state, of Victoria.
Sir James McCulloch, was a British colonial politician and statesman who served as the fifth premier of Victoria over four non-consecutive terms from 1863 to 1868, 1868 to 1869, 1870 to 1871 and 1875 to 1877. He is the third longest-serving premier in Victorian history.
Sir Charles Sladen,, Australian colonial politician, was the 6th Premier of Victoria.
Sir Graham Berry,, was an Australian colonial politician and the 11th Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most radical and colourful figures in the politics of colonial Victoria, and made the most determined efforts to break the power of the Victorian Legislative Council, the stronghold of the landowning class.
The following lists events that happened during 1922 in Australia.
Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer was an Irish-Australian politician who served as the fifth Premier of Queensland, in office from 1870 to 1874. He later held ministerial office in Thomas McIlwraith's ministry from 1879 to 1881, before serving as President of the Queensland Legislative Council from 1881 until his death in 1898.
John Douglas was an Anglo-Australian politician and Premier of Queensland.
Sir James Penn Boucaut (;) was a South Australian politician and Australian judge. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly on four occasions: from 1861 to 1862 for City of Adelaide, from 1865 to 1870 for West Adelaide (1865–1868) and The Burra (1868–1870), from 1871 to 1878 for West Torrens (1871–1875) and Encounter Bay (1875–1878), and a final stint in Encounter Bay in 1878.
Henry Gyles Turner was a notable Australian banker, writer and historian. He entered the banking profession as a clerk in London, and in 1855 emigrated to Melbourne where he advanced his career. In 1870 Turner was appointed general manager of the Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd., a position he held until his retirement in 1901.
A political family of Australia is a family in which multiple members are involved in Australian politics, particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple siblings may be involved.
Charles Edwin Jones was an Australian politician, member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 1864 to 1871 and 1886 to 1889.
The 1877 Victorian colonial election was held on 11 May 1877 to elect the 9th Parliament of Victoria. It was the first election in Victoria in which all electorates voted on the same day. All 86 seats in 55 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though four seats were uncontested.
The 1874 Victorian colonial election was held from 25 March to 22 April 1874 to elect the 8th Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though eleven seats were uncontested.
The 1871 Victorian colonial election was held from 14 February to 16 March 1871 to elect the 7th Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though six seats were uncontested.
The 1868 Victorian colonial election was held from 21 January to 20 February 1868 to elect the 6th Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though seven seats were uncontested.
The 1864 Victorian colonial election was held from 5 October to 3 November 1864 to elect the 4th Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though sixteen seats were uncontested.
The 1861 Victorian colonial election was held from 2−19 August 1861 to elect the 3rd Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though four seats were uncontested.
The 1859 Victorian colonial election was held from 26 August to 26 September 1859 to elect the 2nd Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though eight seats were uncontested. This election was the first held in Victoria after the electoral rolls were compiled according to the principle of manhood suffrage.
The 1856 Victorian colonial election was held from 23 September to 24 October 1856 to elect the first Parliament of Victoria. All 60 seats in 37 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though eight seats were uncontested. The eligibility to vote at the 1856 Victorian election was subject to a property qualification. The voting was carried out by secret ballot.