1985 Nunawading Province state by-election

Last updated

1985 Nunawading Province
state by-election
Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg
←  March 1985 17 August 1985 1988  →
Province of Nunawading in the Victorian Legislative Council
 First partySecond party
  Liberal Placeholder.png Labor Placeholder.png
Candidate Rosemary Varty Bob Ives
Party Liberal Labor
First preference  vote51,00640,578
Percentage49.2%39.2%
SwingIncrease2.svg 3.1Decrease2.svg 6.6
After preferences 48.49%51.51%
MLC before election

Vacant [a]

Elected MLC

Rosemary Varty
Liberal

The 1985 Nunawading Province by-election was held on 17 August 1985 to elect the member for Nunawading Province in the Victorian Legislative Council. It was ordered by the Court of Disputed Returns after the 1985 Victorian state election had resulted in a dead heat between the top two candidates, and the Chief Electoral Officer drew a name at random. The Chief Electoral Officer drew the name of the ALP candidate Bob Ives. After the Court ordered a new election, the outcome was that the Liberal candidate Rosemary Varty was returned.

Contents

Background

In 1985, the Legislative Council consisted of 44 members. They were elected for 8-year terms from 22 two-member provinces. Half of the Council retired every four years, so each election elected one member in each province. The Nunawading Province consisted of the Victorian Legislative Assembly seats of Box Hill, Mitcham, Ringwood and Warrandyte. Lawrence Alexander McArthur was the continuing member for Nunawading Province. [1]

In the 1985 general election held on 2 March 1985, the vote ended with a dead heat after distribution of preferences from the Australian Democrats candidate. [1] The Labor candidate Bob Ives and the Liberal candidate Rosemary Varty received 54,821 votes each. The returning officer, Kathleen Leonard, was required by law to make a casting vote, which she did by drawing a name from a ballot box. The name drawn was Bob Ives and he was declared elected. [2] The Age described the result as "the most sensational electoral finish in memory". Electing Ives to the Legislative Council would give the ALP control of the house, [2] however the Court of Disputed Returns voided the result before he could take his seat. [3]

Varty disputed the result in the Court of Disputed Returns. [4] The court (Mr Justice Starke) found that there had been errors and omissions made by electoral officers, and these had not been found not to affect the result (i.e., they could have affected the outcome), and declared the election absolutely void on 25 July 1985. [5] Forty-four votes had been incorrectly excluded from the count. [1]

The court ordered a by-election [6] which was won convincingly by Liberal candidate Rosemary Varty. [7]

Controversy

On the day of the by-election, the Nuclear Disarmament Party how-to-vote cards only showed a 1 in the box for their candidate, and encouraged voters to allocate their own preferences. Members of the Labor Party were accused of orchestrating that there were other "How to vote for Nuclear Disarmament" flyers distributed that showed a full set of preferences, with NDP first and Labor 2nd.

Results

1985 Nunawading Province state by-election [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Rosemary Varty 51,00649.2+3.1
Labor Bob Ives 40,57839.2−6.6
Democrats Michael Nardella4,7604.6−3.5
Call to Australia William Watson2,6822.6+2.6
Nuclear Disarmament Jennifer Cotterell2,5302.4+2.4
Democratic Labor Peter Ferwerda1,3611.3+1.3
Independent Basil Smith4380.4+0.4
Independent Brian Lumsden2040.2+0.2
Independent Wilhelm Kapphan750.1+0.1
Total formal votes103,63498.1+0.4
Informal votes2,0551.9−0.4
Turnout 105,689
After distribution of preferences
Liberal Rosemary Varty 52,08650.3
Labor Bob Ives 40,81839.4
Democrats Michael Nardella4,9474.8
Call to Australia William Watson3,1203.0
Nuclear Disarmament Jennifer Cotterell2,6492.6
Liberal gain from Labor Swing N/A

Notes

  1. ↑ Although Bob Ives had won the seat at the 1985 state election following the casting vote by the returning officer, this result had been overturned by the Court of Disputed Returns and the seat was vacant prior to the by-election.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955)</span> Former Australian political party

The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) was an Australian political party. The party came into existence following the 1955 ALP split as the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), and was renamed the Democratic Labor Party in 1957. In 1962, the Queensland Labor Party, a breakaway party of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party, became the Queensland branch of the DLP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorian Legislative Council</span> Upper house of Parliament of Victoria, Australia

The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to its federal counterpart, the Australian Senate. Although it is possible for legislation to be first introduced in the Council, most bills receive their first hearing in the Legislative Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear Disarmament Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP) was an Australian political party formed in June 1984. It was founded by medical researcher Michael Denborough as the political arm of the Australian anti-nuclear movement, which had been active since the early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family First Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Family First Party was a conservative political party in Australia which existed from 2002 to 2017. It was founded in South Australia where it enjoyed its greatest electoral support. Since the demise of the Australian Conservatives into which it merged, it has been refounded in that state as the Family First Party (2021), where it contested the state election in 2022, but failed to win a seat.

Lidia Serafina Argondizzo is an Australian politician. She was the Labor Party (ALP) member of the Victorian Legislative Council representing Templestowe Province from 2002 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Australian Capital Territory election</span>

The 1989 Australian Capital Territory election was held on 4 March 1989 to elect the 1st Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. This was the first direct election by voters in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for their power legislative body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Victorian state election</span> Election in Victoria, Australia, in 2006

The 2006 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 25 November 2006, was for the 56th Parliament of Victoria. Just over 3 million Victorians registered to vote elected 88 members to the Legislative Assembly and, for the first time, 40 members to the Legislative Council under a proportional representation system. The election was conducted by the independent Victorian Electoral Commission.

This is a list of members of the Victorian Legislative Council between 1985 and 1988. As half of the Legislative Council's terms expired at each periodic election, half of these members were elected at the 1982 state election with terms expiring in 1988, while the other half were elected at the 1985 state election with terms expiring in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Mitchell (Victorian politician)</span> Australian politician

Robert George Mitchell is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since August 2010, representing the electorate of McEwen. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 2002 to 2006, and was Second Deputy Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 2013 to 2022.

This is a list of members of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 22 May 1916 to 21 May 1918. The chamber had 30 seats made up of ten provinces each electing three members, on a system of rotation whereby one-third of the members would retire at each biennial election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Victorian state election</span> Australian state election

The 2014 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 29 November 2014, was for the 58th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were up for election. The incumbent centre-right Coalition minority government, led by Liberal Party leader and Premier Denis Napthine and National Party leader and Deputy Premier Peter Ryan, was defeated by the centre-left Labor Party opposition, led by Daniel Andrews. The Greens won two lower house seats, their first Legislative Assembly seats in a Victorian state election, whilst increasing their share of upper house seats. The new Andrews Ministry was sworn in on 4 December 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral regions of Victoria</span> Electoral divisions of the Victorian Legislative Council

Members of the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of the Australian State of Victoria, are elected from eight multi-member electorates called regions. The Legislative Council has 40 members, five from each of the eight regions.

Nunawading Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council. It was created in 1976, based in the outer eastern Melbourne suburbs including Nunawading. It was finally abolished 29 March 1996. Much of its area was replaced by Koonung Province.

Rosemary Varty is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1985 to 1999, representing Nunawading Province (1985–1992) and Silvan Province (1992–1999).

Robert Stuart Ives is a former Australian politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Victorian state election</span> Election for the 59th Parliament of Victoria

The 2018 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 24 November 2018 to elect the 59th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Daniel Andrews, won a second four-year term, defeating the Liberal/National Coalition opposition, led by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy in a landslide victory. Minor party the Greens led by Samantha Ratnam also contested the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Victorian state election</span> Election for the 60th Parliament of Victoria

The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council were up for election at the time the writs were issued, however the election in the district of Narracan was deferred due to the death of a candidate.

This is a list of electoral results for the Nunawading Province in Victorian state elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2026 Victorian state election</span> Election for the 61st Parliament of Victoria

The 2026 Victorian state election is expected to be held on 28 November 2026 to elect the 61st Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council will be up for election, presuming there are no new electorates added in a redistribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Labour Party (Australia, 1978)</span> Political party in Australia

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), formerly known as the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), is an Australian political party which broke off from the Australian Labor Party (ALP) as a result of the 1955 ALP split. Following the partial dissolution of the party as a result of many members re-joining the ALP after the departure of Gough Whitlam in 1977, the DLP was re-formed by members of the original Democratic Labor Party

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Carr, Adam. "Victoria - Legislative Council - Election of 2 March 1985". Psephos. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 Broadbent, David; Colebatch, Tim; Hawker, Philippa (14 March 1985). "'Raffle' gives Labor Victory". The Age . Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "Robert ('Bob') Stuart Ives". Re-Member (Former Members). Parliament of Victoria. 1993. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Pinto, Pamela (20 June 1985). "Poll 'lottery' fairest way, official tells court". The Age . Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "Inaugural speech of Varty, Rosemary". Re-Member (Former Members). Parliament of Victoria . Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Young, Leith (25 July 1985). "Judge rules court had no power to open sealed votes". The Age . Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Broadbent, David (19 August 1985). "Now we'll win government, says Kennett after 'stunning victory'". The Age . Retrieved 2 January 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.