A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Albury on Saturday 9 November 1946. [1]
It was triggered by the resignation of the former Premier of New South Wales and second Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Alexander Mair, in order to run for a seat in the Australian Senate. [1]
The seat was subsequently won by John Hurley of the Labor Party. The Liberals witnessed a drop in their primary vote due to the Country Party fielding a candidate and splitting the conservative vote. [1]
The seat of Albury, a traditionally safe Liberal seat, was held since 1932 by Alexander Mair, who after serving as a cabinet minister rose to become Premier of the state from 1939 to 1941. Following the electoral defeat in 1941, Mair played a central role in the negotiations to merge the conservative parties to form Robert Menzies' newly created Liberal Party of Australia, becoming a delegate for the Canberra Conference in October 1944 and hosting the second party conference in his seat in Albury at Mate's Department Store. Despite initial efforts to merge the Democratic Party with the Liberal Democratic Party becoming deadlocked over questions of party organisation and by acrimony between Weaver and the LDP leader, Ernest K White, they were ultimately successful and the Liberal party was born in early 1945. [2] Serving on the Liberals' New South Wales executive from 1945 to 1946, when first party leader Weaver died suddenly on 12 November 1945, Mair was chosen to succeed him.
He served as the second Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party only briefly until he resigned as leader on 21 March 1946, being succeeded by his former Minister for Justice, Vernon Treatt. On 14 August 1946, after serving fourteen years in the New South Wales Parliament, Mair resigned his seat to run for a seat in the Australian Senate. [2] At the 1946 federal election held on 28 September, Mair was unsuccessful with the Labor Party winning all three NSW seats. [3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labor | John Hurley | 7,013 | 49.47 | ||
Country | Alfred Townsend | 3,823 | 26.97 | ||
Liberal | Ernest Atkinson | 3,339 | 23.56 | ||
Total formal votes | 14,175 | 85.38 | |||
Informal votes | 163 | 1.14 | |||
Turnout | 14,338 | 86.52 | |||
Two-party-preferred result | |||||
Labor | John Hurley | 7,518 | 53.04 | ||
Country | Alfred Townsend | 6,657 | 46.96 | ||
Labor gain from Liberal | Swing |
The Liberal candidate, Ernest Atkinson, was excluded on the first count. The Labor candidate John Hurley picked up 15% of the Liberal preferences which was enough to defeat the Country Party candidate, Alfred Townsend. [1]
The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as "the Coalition" or informally as the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in the Coalition are the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia. Its main opponent is the Australian Labor Party (ALP); the two forces are often regarded as operating in a two-party system. The Coalition was last in government from the 2013 federal election, before being unsuccessful at re-election in the 2022 Australian federal election. The group is led by Peter Dutton, who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 Australian federal election.
Sir Eric Archibald Willis was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts with double honours. Enlisting during the Second World War, Willis served on the homefront and later served in New Guinea and the Philippines. He continued to serve the Citizen Military Forces until 1958.
Albury is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is currently held by Justin Clancy of the Liberal Party.
The Liberal Party of Australia , commonly known as the New South Wales Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party currently governs in New South Wales in coalition with the National Party of Australia (NSW). The party is part of the federal Liberal Party which governs nationally in Coalition with the National Party of Australia.
Alexander Mair was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 5 August 1939 to 16 May 1941. Born in Melbourne, Mair worked in various businesses there before moving to Albury, New South Wales where he went on to be a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for fourteen years. In 1932, Mair was elected to the seat of Albury and was re-elected a further four times. He rose quickly through the cabinet of Bertram Stevens' United Australia Party government, becoming an Assistant Minister in April 1938, Minister for Labour and Industry in June and Colonial Treasurer in October.
Reginald Walter Darcy Weaver was an Australian conservative parliamentarian who served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 28 years. Serving from 1917 in the backbenches, he entered the cabinet of Thomas Bavin in 1929 as Secretary for Mines and Minister for Forests until he returned to opposition in 1930. Following the success of the United Australia Party in the 1932 election, Weaver returned as the Secretary for Public Works and Minister for Health in the Stevens ministry.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Frederick Bruxner was an Australian politician and soldier, serving for many years as leader of the Country Party in New South Wales. Born in the north of the state, Bruxner was educated at The Armidale School and started studies at University of Sydney but later dropped out to take up employment as a grazier and station agent in Tenterfield. After serving in the Citizen Military Forces from 1911, Bruxner enlisted into the Australian Light Horse upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Serving with distinction in Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was an Australian breakaway political party of the United Australia Party that contested the 1943 federal election and the 1944 New South Wales state election. Formed in 1943, it was replaced by the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party of Australia in January 1945.
George Roy William McDonald was an Australian politician.
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the 34th parliament held their seats from 1944 to 1947. They were elected at the 1944 state election, and at by-elections. The opposition Democratic Party merged into the nascent Liberal Party in late 1944, becoming the New South Wales branch of the new party. The Speaker was Daniel Clyne.</ref>
Sir Vernon Haddon Treatt was an Australian lawyer, soldier, Rhodes Scholar and politician. Born in Singleton, New South Wales and educated at Shore School, Treatt interrupted his studies at the University of Sydney to enlist at the outbreak of the First World War. Serving in the Royal Australian Artillery, Treatt served in France and was awarded the Military Medal. Upon returning to Australia he was awarded a Rhodes scholarship and further educated at New College, Oxford.
The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33rd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single-member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting.
The 1953 New South Wales state election was held on 14 February 1953. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
The Democratic Party was a short-lived, urban, conservative political party which was active in New South Wales, Australia between November 1943 and 1945. The Democratic Party was formed in November 1943 by the union of the United Australia Party (UAP) in New South Wales and the Commonwealth Party. It was one of the main conservative parties in New South Wales and contested the 1944 state election as a coalition with Country Party.
The 1947 New South Wales state election was held on 3 May 1947. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1940 redistribution. The election was for all of the 90 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Cornelius John Hurley was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 109 days in 1946–7. He was a member of the Labor Party.
The 1944 New South Wales state election was held on 27 May 1944. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1940 redistribution. The election was for all of the 90 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Vaucluse on Saturday, 24 August 1957. It was triggered by the resignation of the former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Lt.Col. Murray Robson, who retired from parliament.
Albury, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, was created in 1880. It was abolished in 1920 when multiple member constituencies were established using the Hare-Clark single transferable vote. It was re-created in 1927 when the state returned to single member electorates.
The 1917 New South Wales state election was held on 24 March 1917. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 24th New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in single-member constituencies with a second ballot if a majority was not achieved on the first. The 23rd parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 21 February 1917 by the Governor, Sir Gerald Strickland, on the advice of the Premier William Holman.