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.
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The Electoral district of Kew in the Legislative Assembly of Victoria | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 82.8%  10.2 | ||||||||||||||||||
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 Location of the electoral district of Kew, in Melbourne's inner eastern suburbs | |||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editSince 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
editA total of 3 candidates ran in the by-election.
| Party | Candidate | Background | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Rupert Hamer | At the time of running, Hamer was a WWII veteran, a partner in his family's law firm, the Member of the Legislative Council for East Yarra Province, and was also the Minister for Local Government.[2] | |
| Labor | Rosslyn Ives | ||
| Independent | L R Hull | ||
Results
edit| 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 | N/A | |||
- Preferences were not distributed as Hamer won with an absolute majority of votes (50% of votes).
See also
editFurther reading
edit- 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.
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.