1884 Bathurst colonial by-election

Last updated

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Bathurst on 8 February 1884 as a result of the Legislative Assembly declaring the seats of Francis Suttor, [1] and George Reid, [2] were vacant as a result of a report of the Committee of Elections and Qualifications that they were incapable of being elected, or of sitting, or voting, as a member of the Assembly. [3]

Contents

Background

At the time the Constitution provided that:

XVIII. Any person holding any Office of Profit under the Crown, or having a Pension from the Crown during Pleasure or for Term of Years, shall be incapable of being elected, or of sitting or voting as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, unless he be One of the following official Members of the Government, that is to say, the Colonial Secretary, Colonial Treasurer, Auditor General, Attorney General, and Solicitor General, or One of such additional Officers, not being more than Five, as the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, may from Time to Time, by a notice in the Government Gazette, declare capable of being elected a Member of the said Assembly. [4]

Adolphus Taylor argued that the Governor had already issued five proclamations prior to the appointment of Suttor and thus the appointments of Suttor and Reid to the office of Minister for Public Instruction meant they were disqualified. The Elections and Qualifications Committee agreed, declaring that both Suttor and Reid held an office of profit under the crown and they were both disqualified from holding office. [5]

Results

1884 Bathurst by-election
Friday 8 February  [6] [7]
CandidateVotes%
Francis Suttor (re-elected)unopposed 

Aftermath

While Suttor was unopposed, Reid was defeated in the East Sydney by-election. [8] The errors were remedied by the Constitution Act Amendment Act 1884. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Electoral district of Bathurst State electoral district of New South Wales, Australia

Bathurst is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Paul Toole of The Nationals.

Electoral district of Bathurst (County)

Bathurst (County) was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, named after Bathurst County and including the rural part of the county. The electorate did not include the town of Bathurst which was included in Western Boroughs, until Bathurst was created in 1859. Bathurst (County) was replaced by Carcoar, East Macquarie and West Macquarie in 1859.

John Plunkett

John Hubert Plunkett was Attorney-General of New South Wales, an appointed member of the Legislative Council 1836–41, 1843–56, 1857–58 and 1861–69. He was also elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly 1856–60. He is best known for the prosecution of the colonists who brutally murdered 28 Aboriginals in the Myall Creek Massacre of 1838, seven of whom were convicted and hanged.

Sir Francis Bathurst Suttor was an Australian pastoralist, politician, and sheep and horse breeder.

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the first parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1856 to 1858. </ref> The Speaker was Sir Daniel Cooper.

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the 11th parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1882 to 1885.</ref> Elections for the eleventh Legislative Assembly were held between 30 November and 21 December 1882 with parliament first meeting on 3 January 1883. The Assembly was expanded to 113 members elected in 40 single member electorates, 26 two member electorates, 3 three member electorate and 3 four member electorates. The parliament had a maximum term of 3 years and was dissolved on 7 October 1885 after 33 months. The Premiers during this parliament were Sir Alexander Stuart until 7 October 1885 and then George Dibbs. The Speaker was Edmund Barton.

The second Parkes ministry was the sixteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by Sir Henry Parkes. It was the second of five occasions that Parkes was Leader of the Government.

Bathurst, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, has continuously existed since 1859.

The 1981 New South Wales referendum was held on 19 September 1981, the same day as the state election. The referendum contained two questions:

  1. Do you approve a Bill for an Act to extend the maximum period between general elections for the Legislative Assembly from 3 years to 4 years?
  2. Do you approve a Bill for an Act to require Members of Parliament to disclose certain pecuniary interests and other matters?
Postmaster-General of New South Wales

The Postmaster-General of New South Wales was a position in the government of the colony of New South Wales. This portfolio managed the postal department of the New South Wales Government and was in charge of all postal and communications services in the colony prior to the Federation of Australia, from 1835 to 1901. Upon Federation, Section 51(v) of the Constitution of Australia gave the Commonwealth exclusive power for "postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services".

The Electoral district of City of Sydney was an electorate of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

The Electoral district of Counties of Roxburgh, Phillip and Wellington and from 1851, Roxburgh and Wellington, was an electorate of the partially elected New South Wales Legislative Council, created for the first elections for the Council in 1843. The electoral district included the western counties of Roxburgh, Phillip, Wellington County. Polling took place at Montefiores, Mudgee, Bathurst and Hartley. The County of Phillip was removed from the district with the expansion of the Council in 1851 and became part of the Counties of Phillip, Brisbane and Bligh.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Bathurst on 25 June 1900 when Protectionist party member Francis Suttor was appointed to the Legislative Council.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of East Sydney on 29 February 1884 as a result of the Legislative Assembly declaring the seats of Francis Suttor, and George Reid, were vacant as a result of a report of the Committee of Elections and Qualifications that they were incapable of being elected, or of sitting, or voting, as a member of the Assembly.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of East Macquarie on 15 August 1879 because of the resignation of William Suttor Jr.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of East Sydney on 11 January 1883 because George Reid was appointed Minister of Public Instruction in the Stuart ministry. Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and six ministers were re-elected unopposed. On this occasion a poll was required in East Sydney and Newtown. Copeland was defeated but regained a seat in parliament at the second by-election for East Sydney held on 23 January 1883. The six other ministers, Alexander Stuart (Illawarra), George Dibbs, Henry Cohen, James Farnell, Francis Wright (Redfern) and Joseph Abbott (Gunnedah), were re-elected unopposed.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Goldfields South on 12 December 1870 as a result of the Legislative Assembly declaring the election of Ezekiel Baker was void. Baker had been appointed to conduct a Royal Commission to inquire into the laws and regulations of the goldfields and for securing a permanent water supply. The Committee of Elections and Qualifications held that this appointment was an office of profit under the crown which meant he was incapable of being elected, or of sitting, or voting, as a member of the Assembly.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of The Hastings on 4 July 1870 as a result of the Legislative Assembly declaring the election of Horace Dean was void. Dean had been appointed the postmaster at Tinonee at the time of the nominations for the 1869 election and resigned the following day. The Committee of Elections and Qualifications held that because he had an office of profit under the crown at the time of his nomination meant he was incapable of being elected, or of sitting, or voting, as a member of the Assembly.

In October 1870 the Committee of Elections and Qualifications conducted a re-count of the 1870 The Hastings by-election, in which Horace Dean had been declared elected over Robert Smith. The Committee declared that Horace Dean was not qualified to be a member and that Robert Smith had been elected.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Bathurst on 9 March 1886 as a result of the appointment of Francis Suttor to the office of Postmaster-General in the Jennings ministry. Under the constitution, ministers in the Legislative Assembly were required to resign to recontest their seats in a by-election when appointed. Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion a poll was required for Bathurst and Redfern where Arthur Renwick was re-elected. The 7 other ministers were re-elected unopposed.

References

  1. ↑ "Privilege: representation of the electorate of Bathurst". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . NSW: Legislative Assembly. 31 January 1884. pp. 1554–1576. Retrieved 25 September 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ↑ "Vacant seat: Mr Reid". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . NSW: Legislative Assembly. 20 February 1884. p. 1934. Retrieved 25 September 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  3. ↑ Twomey, Anne (2004). The Constitution of New South Wales. Federation Press. pp.  433–4. ISBN   9781862875166 . Retrieved 13 September 2020.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  4. ↑ "New South Wales Constitution Act 1855 (UK)". New South Wales Government Gazette (164). 24 November 1855. p. 3110. Retrieved 25 September 2019– via Trove.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. ↑ "Report of Committee of elections and qualifications". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . NSW: Legislative Assembly. 16 January 1884. p. 1280. Retrieved 25 September 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  6. ↑ Green, Antony. "1884 results Bathurst by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  7. ↑ "The Bathurst election". The Sydney Morning Herald . 9 February 1884. p. 12. Retrieved 25 September 2019– via Trove.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  8. ↑ Green, Antony. "1884 results East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  9. ↑ "Constitution Act Amendment Act 1884". New South Wales Government Gazette (91). 25 February 1884. p. 1385. Retrieved 25 September 2019– via Trove.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.