1971 Kew state by-election

1971 Kew state by-election

←  1970 17 April 1971 1973  →
Electoral district of Kew in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Turnout	82.8% ( 10.2)
First party Second party   Candidate Rupert Hamer Rosslyn Ives Party Liberal Labor Primary  vote 13,422 6,325 Percentage 64.8% 30.5% Swing 23.1 4.7
Location of the electoral district of Kew in Melbourne
MP before election Arthur Rylah Liberal Elected MP Rupert Hamer Liberal

A by-election for the seat of Kew was held on 17 April 1971 following the resignation of then Deputy Premier, Arthur Rylah. The by-election was won by Liberal candidate, Rupert Hamer, he won with a 64.8% primary vote and a swing of 23.1% in his primary vote.

Background

Since it was first created in 1927, the electoral district of Kew has typically been a safe seat for the Liberal Party.

The by-election was called after the sitting member and Deputy Premier at the time, Arthur Rylah, resigned from parliament. Rylah's resignation followed a failed attempt from members of the local East Kew branch to challenge his preselection. A month after Rylah's resignation announcement, he has collapsed at his desk and spent the following four months in hospital. ^[1]

Candidates

A total of 3 candidates ran in the by-election.

Party		Candidate	Background
	Liberal	Rupert Hamer	Member of the Legislative Council for East Yarra Province [2]
	Labor	Rosslyn Ives
	Independent	L. R. Hull

Results

1971 Kew state by-election ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rupert Hamer	13,422	64.8	+23.1
	Labor	Rosslyn Ives	6,325	30.5	+4.7
	Independent	L R Hull	968	4.7	+4.7
Total formal votes			20,715	97.7	+0.5
Informal votes			497	2.3	−0.5
Turnout			21,212	82.8	−10.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	None

• Preferences were not distributed as Hamer won with an absolute majority of votes (50% of votes).

See also

• List of Victorian state by-elections

References

1. Costar, B. J. (2002). "Rylah, Sir Arthur Gordon (1909–1974)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
2. "Meet Our Alumni – The Hon Sir Rupert James Hamer AC, KCMG, ED". Melbourne Grammar School . 2018. Archived from the original on 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
3. Carr, Adam. "The Forty-ffifth Parliament Elected 30 May 1970". Adam Carr's Election Archive. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2022.

Further reading

• Hughes, Colin A. (1987). Voting for the Australian state lower houses, 1975–1984. Canberra: Dept. of Political Science, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. ISBN   0-909779-24-4.