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Electoral district of Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Registered | 24,715 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 84.7% (![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1951 Prahran state by-election was held on 16 June 1951 to elect the member for Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, following the resignation of Labor Party MP Frank Crean. [1] [2] Crean resigned to contest the federal election on 28 April 1951, where he was elected as the member for Melbourne Ports. [3] [4]
Robert Pettiona retained the seat for Labor despite a swing of 2.9% towards the Liberal and Country Party (LCP). [5] [6] He retained the seat at the 1952 state election but narrowly lost it to the LCP in 1955. [7] [8]
This was the final of three by-elections in Prahran held in a timeframe of six years, with by-elections also held in 1945 and 1949 (where Crean was elected). [9] [10]
Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot. [14]
Party | Candidate | Background | |
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Liberal and Country | Desmond McGinnes | Candidate for Melbourne at the 1949 federal election | |
Labor | Robert Pettiona | President of the Federated Rubber and Allied Workers' Union of Australia |
Robert Pettiona, the president of the Federated Rubber and Allied Workers' Union of Australia and the president of the Labor's Windsor branch, won the party's preselection. [15] He had unsuccessfully ran for Labor preselection at the 1949 Prahran by-election. [16] Pettiona three other candidates – H.E. Clarke (secretary of the Melbourne branch of the Waterside Workers' Federation), N. O'Donnell (public servant and Clerks' Union steward) and L.J. Stewart (Boot Trades Union organiser) – to win preselection. [17]
The LCP chose Desmond McGinnes, a returned soldier, as its candidate. [18] McGinnes had previously sought preselection at the 1949 Prahran by-election while serving as the president of the Prahran branch of the now-defunct Liberal Party. [19] He also contested the 1949 federal election in the seat of Melbourne against Labor's Arthur Calwell. [20]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Labor | Robert Pettiona | 10,922 | 52.7 | −2.9 | |
Liberal and Country | Desmond McGinnes | 9,803 | 47.3 | +2.9 | |
Total formal votes | 20,725 | 99.0 | 0.0 | ||
Informal votes | 207 | 1.0 | 0.0 | ||
Turnout | 20,932 | 84.7 | −9.5 | ||
Labor hold | Swing | −2.9 |