 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 94 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 48 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1962 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1962. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1961 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
A redistribution of electoral boundaries was undertaken in 1961 based on that year's Australian Census. The redistribution reflected the continuing relative population shifts from the Country and Eastern suburbs of Sydney to Western Sydney and the Central Coast. The Hunter Valley seat of Liverpool Plains, held by the Country Party was abolished while in the eastern suburbs the safe Liberal seat of Woollahra and the safe Labor seat of Paddington-Waverley were combined to form the marginal seat of Bligh. In Northern Sydney, the marginal Labor seat of North Sydney and the safe Liberal seat of Neutral Bay were combined to form the relatively safe Liberal seat of Kirribilli. Wakehurst was created in the Northern Beaches area with a notional Liberal majority and on the Central Coast, the seat of Wyong was established and was expected to have a large Labor majority. In Western Sydney the seats of Merrylands and Leichhardt were abolished and replaced by the safe Labor seats of Wentworthville and Bass Hill. The seat of The Hills was established in North-west Sydney mainly from the northern portion of Blacktown and this made Blacktown a safe Labor seat. While the theoretical effect of the redistribution was to increase the Liberal numbers by 1 at the expense of the Country Party, the boundary changes significantly improved Labor's position in several seats including Nepean, Coogee and Drummoyne. Joan Rydon estimated that the coalition would have needed 52% of the overall vote to win office. [1]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 5 February 1962 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 9 February 1962 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. |
| 3 March 1962 | Polling day. |
| 14 March 1962 | Second Heffron ministry sworn in. |
| 6 April 1962 | Last day for the writs to be returned and the results formally declared. |
| 10 April 1962 | Opening of 40th Parliament. |
In March 1962, Labor had been in power for 21 years and Robert Heffron had been premier for 2 and a half years. Heffron was 72 at the time of the election and his age and the longevity of the government were made issues by the opposition which described it as being composed of "tired old men". The prestige of Heffron's government had suffered when the electors clearly rejected its proposal to abolish the New South Wales Legislative Council at a referendum in April 1961. Labor's new policies for the election included the establishment of a Department of Industrial Development to reduce unemployment, free school travel, aid to home buyers and commencing the construction of the Sydney–Newcastle Freeway as a toll-road. [2]
In contrast to Labor the leader of the conservative coalition, Robin Askin put forward a positive program and addressed contentious issues including the introduction of State Aid for private schools, making rent control fairer and the legalisation of off-course betting on horse races. Askin accused the state government of allowing the transport infrastructure of the state to decline. He promised to build the Newcastle freeway without a toll, to construct the Eastern Suburbs Railway and to plan for a second crossing of Sydney Harbour. Askin also promised more resources for mental health and district hospitals. [3] [4]
The Labor government's position improved substantially at this election. It had a buffer of 7 seats in the new parliament:
Prior to the election Labor had gained the seat of Lismore from the Country Party at a by-election after the Court of Disputed Returns ruling the 1959 election result invalid. Labor had lost the seat of Liverpool Plains to the Country Party at a by-election caused by the resignation of Roger Nott. However, Liverpool Plains was abolished by the redistribution at this election. In Oxley the sitting member, Les Jordan changed his allegiance from the Country Party to the Liberal Party,
Labor regained the seat of Waratah from the independent incumbent Frank Purdue and, as expected, won the new seats of Wyong, Wentworthville, Bass Hill and Bligh. Labor also gained Blacktown, Nepean, Drummoyne and Coogee from the Liberals.
The Liberal Party won the new seats of Kirribilli, Wakehurst and The Hills. In Manly, the sitting Liberal member Douglas Darby, who had lost his party's pre-selection, successfully contested the seat as an Independent Liberal.
The DLP and the Communist party both performed poorly, each party gained less than 2% of the primary vote.
Non-elected Premier Bob Heffron was elected his own right as Premier and would be the last non-elected Premier to achieve this until Morris Iemma in 2007.
New South Wales state election, 3 March 1962 [5] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 2,173,768 [a] | |||||
| Votes cast | 1,957,406 | Turnout | 94.00 | +0.00 | ||
| Informal votes | 30,048 | Informal | 1.54 | −0.29 | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Labor | 936,047 | 48.57 | −0.55 | 54 | +5 | |
| Liberal | 671,716 | 34.85 | −0.50 | 25 | −3 | |
| Country | 180,640 | 9.37 | +0.66 | 14 | −2 | |
| Independent | 60,420 | 3.13 | −0.50 | 0 | −1 | |
| Independent Liberal | 37,555 | 1.95 | +1.95 | 1 | +1 | |
| Democratic Labor | 28,830 | 1.50 | +0.18 | 0 | − | |
| Communist | 12,150 | 0.63 | −0.82 | 0 | − | |
| Total | 1,927,358 | 94 | ||||
| Seat | 1959 | 1962 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Member | Party | |||
| Bass Hill | New seat [b] | Clarrie Earl | Labor | |||
| Blacktown | Liberal | Alfred Dennis [c] | Jim Southee | |||
| Bligh | New seat [d] | Tom Morey | ||||
| Coogee | Liberal | Kevin Ellis | Lou Walsh | |||
| Drummoyne | Walter Lawrence | Reg Coady | ||||
| Kirribilli | New seat [d] | John Waddy | Liberal | |||
| Leichhardt | Labor | Reg Coady | Seat abolished | |||
| Lismore [e] | Country | Keith Compton | Labor | |||
| Liverpool Plains [f] | Labor | Seat abolished | ||||
| Manly | Liberal | Douglas Darby | Independent Liberal | |||
| Merrylands | Labor | Jack Ferguson | Seat abolished | |||
| Nepean | Liberal | Bill Chapman | Alfred Bennett | Labor | ||
| Neutral Bay | Ivan Black | Seat abolished | ||||
| North Sydney | Labor | Ray Maher | Seat abolished | |||
| Oxley | Country | Les Jordan | Liberal | |||
| Paddington-Waverley | Labor | Keith Anderson | Seat abolished | |||
| The Hills | New seat [d] | Max Ruddock | Liberal | |||
| Wakehurst | New seat [d] | Dick Healey | ||||
| Waratah | Independent | Frank Purdue | Edward Greaves | Labor | ||
| Wentworthville | New seat [b] | Jack Ferguson | ||||
| Woollahra | Liberal | Vernon Treatt | Seat abolished | |||
| Wyong | New seat [b] | Ray Maher | Labor | |||
Robert Heffron resigned in April 1964, aged 74 and was replaced by Jack Renshaw. Robert Askin and Charles Cutler remained as leaders of their respective parties throughout the term of the parliament. During the parliament there were 4 by-elections. These produced no change in party representation with the exception of Labor losing Waratah to the independent former member, Frank Purdue.
Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG, was an Australian politician and the 32nd premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but always disliked his first name and changed it by deed poll in 1971. Before being knighted in 1972, however, he was generally known as Bob Askin. Born in Sydney in 1907, Askin was educated at Sydney Technical High School. After serving as a bank officer and as a sergeant in the Second World War, Askin joined the Liberal Party and was elected to the seat of Collaroy at the 1950 election.
The Division of Greenway is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
The 2007 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday, 24 March 2007. The entire Legislative Assembly and half of the Legislative Council was up for election. The Labor Party led by Morris Iemma won a fourth four-year term against the Liberal-National coalition led by Peter Debnam.
The Electoral district of Wakehurst is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It covers a significant part of Sydney's Northern Beaches as well as parts of the Forest District. Created in 1962, it has been won by the Liberal Party at all but three elections over the last half-century.
Seven Hills was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Mark Taylor of the Liberal Party.
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the 39th parliament held their seats from 1959 to 1962. They were elected at the 1959 state election, and at by-elections. The Speaker was Ray Maher.
Philip Henry (Pat) Morton was an Australian businessman and politician. Born in Lismore in Northern New South Wales to a prominent political family and educated at Lismore High School, Morton left school at fourteen to be employed in a legal firm, before branching out into various businesses. Moving to Sydney, Morton first entered politics in 1944 as an Alderman on Mosman Municipal Council, rising to be Mayor in 1946. Morton then entered the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on 3 May 1947, representing the Electoral district of Mosman for the Liberal Party.
The 1950 New South Wales state election was held on 17 June 1950. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1949 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly, which was an increase of 4 seats since the previous election.
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.
Alfred Hugh Dennis was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1959 to 1962, representing the electorate of Blacktown. He was elected in 1959 as a Liberal for the typically safe Labor seat, but resigned to sit as an independent in 1962.
The 1959 New South Wales state election was held on 21 March 1959. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1957 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
The 1968 New South Wales state election was held on 24 February 1968. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1966 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Liberal Party, led by Premier Robert Askin, in Coalition with the Country Party of Deputy Premier Charles Cutler, was elected for a second term—the first time that a non-Labor government had been reelected since before World War II.
Drummoyne, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, has had two incarnations, the first from 1913 to 1920, the second from 1927 to the present.
Bligh, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales was created in 1962 and abolished in 2007.
This is a list of electoral district results for the 1991 New South Wales state election.
The 1981 New South Wales state election involved 99 electoral districts returning one member each. The election was conducted on the basis of optional preferential voting system. There was a significant change from the 1978 election as a result of the passage of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections (Amendment) Act 1979, and the Constitution (Amendment) Act 1979. The effect of these Acts was to end the electoral malapportionment requiring that the number of electors within each electoral district be within 10%. Under the previous zoning system, a seat in the "central area" had a quota of 34,067, but could be as high as 40,880 while a "country area" seat had a quota of 26,016 but could be as low as 20,813. The effect of the 1980 redistribution was to create 6 new seats in Sydney Newcastle and Wollongong and abolishing 6 country seats.
This is a list of electoral district results for the 1973 New South Wales state election.
This is a list of electoral district results for the 1962 New South Wales state election.
The Mackerras pendulum for the 2015 New South Wales state election.
This is a list of electoral district results for the 2015 New South Wales state election.
