1981 Maitland state by-election

Last updated

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Maitland on 21 February 1981 following the resignation of Milton Morris (Liberal) to unsuccessfully contest the federal seat of Lyne at the 1980 election. [1]

Contents

By-elections for the seats of Cessnock, Oxley and Sturt were held on the same day.

Dates

DateEvent
29 August 1980Resignation of Milton Morris. [1]
18 October 1980 1980 Australian federal election
22 January 1981 Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and close of electoral rolls. [2]
29 January 1981Day of nomination
21 February 1981Polling day
13 March 1981Return of writ

Result

1981 Maitland by-election
Saturday 21 February [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Peter Toms 13,01448.0-6.3
Labor Allan Walsh 12,20145.0-0.7
Independent Daphne Unicomb1,8877.0
Total formal votes27,10298.8
Informal votes3191.2
Turnout 27,42190.1
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Peter Toms 13,75051.5-2.8
Labor Allan Walsh 12,96348.5+2.8
Liberal hold Swing -2.8

Aftermath

Peter Toms' career was to be short-lived, as he was defeated by Allan Walsh in the Labor "Wranslide" at the election in September 1981.

See also

Related Research Articles

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the 53rd parliament held their seats from 2003 to 2007. They were elected at the 2003 state election, and at by-elections. The Speaker was John Aquilina.

David Bruce Cowan AM was an Australian politician and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 14 years from 6 November 1965 until his resignation on 29 August 1980 and then for 13 years in the Australian House of Representatives for Lyne for the Country Party of Australia and its successors, the National Country and then National Parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Maitland</span>

Maitland is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the 46th parliament held their seats from 1978 to 1981. They were elected at the 1978 election, and at by-elections. The Speaker was Laurie Kelly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Booth (politician)</span> Australian politician

Kenneth George Booth was a New South Wales politician, Treasurer, and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Neville Wran and Barrie Unsworth. From 1981 to 1988 he was the Treasurer of New South Wales. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 28 years from 8 October 1960 until his death on 1 November 1988 for the Labor Party, representing the seats of Kurri Kurri and Wallsend.

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the third parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1859 to 1860. The Speaker was Sir Daniel Cooper until 31 January 1860 and then Terence Murray.

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the seventh parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1872 to 1874. The 182 election was held between 13 February and 28 March 1872 with parliament first meeting on 30 April 1872. There were 72 members elected for 52 single member electorates, 6 two member electorates and 2 four member electorates. The maximum term of this parliament was 3 years. However the assembly was dissolved after 32 months. Henry Parkes was the premier for the duration of the parliament. The Speaker was William Arnold.

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly who served in the ninth parliament of New South Wales held their seats from 1877 to 1880. The 1877 election was held between 24 October and 12 November 1877 with parliament first meeting on 27 November 1877. There were 73 members elected for 53 single member electorates, 6 two member electorates and 2 four member electorates. Premiers during this parliament were Sir John Robertson until 18 December 1877, James Farnell from 18 December 1877 until 21 December 1878 and Sir Henry Parkes from 21 December 1878. The Speaker was Sir George Allen.

Allan Peter Walsh was an Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Maitland in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1991.

Milton Arthur Morris AO was an Australian politician who represented the Electoral district of Maitland between 3 March 1956 and 29 August 1980 for the Liberal Party. He helped pass several laws promoting automobile safety.

Maitland, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, was created in 1904 returning a single member. Between 1920 and 1927 it returned three member. It has returned a single member from 1927 to the present.

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.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Cumberland South Riding in November 1856 because the Qualifications Committee declared the August by-election which returned Ryan Brenan was invalid as no poll had been conducted at Canterbury. Brenan was persuaded not to stand to allow Stuart Donaldson to regain a seat, having lost Sydney Hamlets in a ministerial by-election. A committee had been formed to secure the return of Augustus Morris, however it is unclear as to why he was not nominated.

The 1904 New South Wales state election involved 90 electoral districts returning one member each. The election was conducted on the basis of a simple majority or first-past-the-post voting system. There were two significant changes from the 1901 election, the first was that women were given the right to vote, which saw an increase in the number of enrolled voters from 345,500 in 1901, to 689,490 in 1904. The second was that as a result of the 1903 New South Wales referendum, the number of members of the Legislative Assembly was reduced from 125 to 90. The combined effect of the changes meant that the average number of enrolled voters per electorate went from 2,764, to 7,661, an increase of 277%. Leichhardt was the only district that was not substantially changed, while The Macquarie and The Murray districts retained nothing but the name.

A by-election for the seat of Cessnock in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was held on 21 February 1981. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Bob Brown (Labor) to successfully contest the federal House of Representatives seat of Hunter at the 1980 election.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Sturt on 21 February 1981 following the resignation of Tim Fischer to successfully contest the seat of Murray at the 1980 by-election.

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Oxley on 21 February 1981 following the resignation of Bruce Cowan to successfully contest the federal seat of Lyne at the 1980 election.

Northumberland, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales was created in 1859 and abolished in 1913.

East Maitland, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales was created in 1859 and abolished in 1904.

Waratah, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, had two incarnations, the first from 1894 to 1913, the second from 1930 to 1999.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Hon. Milton Arthur Morris AO (1924–2019)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. "Writ of election: Maitland". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales . No. 18. 22 January 1981. p. 425. Retrieved 17 March 2021 via Trove.
  3. Green, Antony. "1981 Maitland by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 17 March 2021.