1973 New South Wales state election
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All 99 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 50 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly were held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 17 November 1973. The result was a win for the Liberal-Country Party coalition under Sir Robert Askin, which had been in office since 1965. As of 2023, this was the first and only time the Coalition won a fourth-term in New South Wales.
Issues
The Legislative Assembly had been enlarged by three members to 99 adding the seats of Woronora, Penrith and Ku-ring-gai.
The election was held just eleven months after the Liberal/Country coalition lost the federal election after 23 years in power. Askin called an early election to take advantage of the increasing economic issues which had been attributed to the Whitlam Labor government.
Leader of the Legislative Council Neville Wran, who would become Premier at the next election moved from the unelected Legislative Council to the Legislative Assembly after the late retirement of Clarrie Earl in the seat of Bass Hill.
Key dates
Date | Event |
---|---|
19 October 1973 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[1] |
25 October 1973 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. |
17 November 1973 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
3 December 1973 | The sixth Askin-Cutler ministry was constituted. |
4 December 1973 | Parliament resumed for business. |
7 December 1973 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
Results
The Democratic Labor Party won its only lower house seat at the 1973 election following the Liberal Party's incumbent for the northern Sydney seat of Gordon — Harry Jago failed to nominate in time. Conservative voters were urged to vote for the DLP candidate, Kevin Harrold.
New South Wales state election, 17 November 1973 [1][2] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enrolled voters | 2,767,876[a] | |||||
Votes cast | 2,560,653 | Turnout | 92.51 | -0.75 | ||
Informal votes | 69,225 | Informal | 2.70 | +0.36 | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
Labor | 1,069,614 | 42.93 | –2.09 | 44 | – 1 | |
Liberal | 843,325 | 33.85 | –1.89 | 34 | + 2 | |
Country | 261,504 | 10.48 | +1.83 | 18 | + 1 | |
Democratic Labor | 148,378 | 5.96 | +2.79 | 1 | + 1 | |
Australia | 104,821 | 4.21 | +3.15 | 0 | ± 0 | |
Communist | 838 | 0.03 | –0.06 | 0 | ± 0 | |
Independent | 63,358 | 2.54 | –3.24 | 2 | ± 0 | |
Total | 2,491,428 | 99 |
|
Seats changing hands
Seat | Pre-1973 | Swing | Post-1973 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
Burrendong | Labor | Leo Nott | 1.8 | -5.6 | 3.8 | Roger Wotton | Country | ||
Gordon | Liberal | Harry Jago* | N/A | N/A | 29.4 | Kevin Harrold | Democratic Labor | ||
South Coast | Liberal | Jack Beale | 0.9 | -2.3 | 1.7 | John Hatton | Independent |
- Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
- Sitting Liberal MP for Gordon, Harry Jago failed to renominate as a candidate by the deadline. As a result, the Liberal party endorsed the DLP candidate against the Labor candidate, and Kevin Harrold won the seat.
- In addition, the Liberal party held the seat of Murray, which it had won from an Independent in the 1973 by-election.
Redistribution affected seats
Seat | 1971 election | 1973 redistribution | Swing | 1973 election | |||||||||
Party | Member | Margin | Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | |||||
Gosford | Labor | Keith O'Connell | 2.6 | Liberal | Notional | 1.1 | +4.6 | 5.7 | Malcolm Brooks | Liberal | |||
Nepean | Labor | Ron Mulock | 1.6 | Liberal | Notional | 1.9 | +1.4 | 3.3 | Ron Rofe | Liberal |
- Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
- Sitting Labor member for Gosford, Keith O'Connell instead contested the new seat of Peats and won.
- Sitting Labor member for Nepean, Ron Mulock instead contested the new seat of Penrith and won.
Post-election pendulum
Liberal/Country seats (51) | |||
Marginal | |||
Murray | Mary Meillon | LIB | 2.7% v IND |
Hurstville | Tom Mead | LIB | 3.1% |
Nepean | Ron Rofe | LIB | 3.3% |
Ashfield | David Hunter | LIB | 3.6% |
Burrendong | Roger Wotton | CP | 3.8% |
Cronulla | Ian Griffith | LIB | 4.7% |
Fuller | Peter Coleman | LIB | 5.3% |
Gosford | Malcolm Brooks | LIB | 5.7% |
Fairly safe | |||
Miranda | Tim Walker | LIB | 6.4% |
Earlwood | Eric Willis | LIB | 6.7% |
Monaro | Steve Mauger | LIB | 7.3% |
Yaralla | Lerryn Mutton | LIB | 9.8% |
Safe | |||
Young | George Freudenstein | CP | 10.4% |
Wakehurst | Allan Viney | LIB | 11.4% |
Wollondilly | Tom Lewis | LIB | 12.0% |
Burwood | John Jackett | LIB | 12.4% |
Bathurst | Clive Osborne | CP | 12.8% |
Armidale | David Leitch | CP | 13.0% |
Manly | Douglas Darby | LIB | 13.0% |
Albury | Gordon Mackie | LIB | 13.4% |
Tamworth | Noel Park | CP | 13.6% |
Upper Hunter | Col Fisher | CP | 13.8% |
Byron | Jack Boyd | CP | 14.3% |
Kirribilli | John Waddy | LIB | 14.3% |
Dubbo | John Mason | LIB | 15.0% |
Hornsby | Neil Pickard | LIB | 15.4% |
Hawkesbury | Kevin Rozzoli | LIB | 16.5% |
Eastwood | Jim Clough | LIB | 17.4% v AP |
Goulburn | Ron Brewer | CP | 17.9% |
Clarence | Matt Singleton | CP | 18.1% |
Raleigh | Jim Brown | CP | 18.4% |
Tenterfield | Tim Bruxner | CP | 18.6% |
Vaucluse | Keith Doyle | LIB | 18.8% v AP |
Davidson | Dick Healey | LIB | 19.0% |
Pittwater | Robert Askin | LIB | 19.2% |
Lane Cove | Ken McCaw | LIB | 19.3% |
Willoughby | Laurie McGinty | LIB | 19.3% |
Maitland | Milton Morris | LIB | 19.6% |
Wagga Wagga | Wal Fife | LIB | 19.7% |
Orange | Charles Cutler | CP | 20.1% |
The Hills | Max Ruddock | LIB | 20.2% |
Northcott | Jim Cameron | LIB | 20.4% v AP |
Temora | Jim Taylor | CP | 20.5% |
Sturt | Tim Fischer | CP | 21.7% |
Oxley | Bruce Cowan | CP | 22.6% |
Lismore | Bruce Duncan | CP | 24.8% |
Gloucester | Leon Punch | CP | 25.2% |
Barwon | Geoff Crawford | CP | 25.5% v AP |
Bligh | John Barraclough | LIB | 30.0% v AP |
Mosman | David Arblaster | LIB | 30.0% v AP |
Ku-ring-gai | John Maddison | LIB | 31.2% |
Labor seats (45) | |||
Marginal | |||
Coogee | Michael Cleary | ALP | 0.1%* |
Drummoyne | Michael Maher | ALP | 0.7% |
Georges River | Frank Walker | ALP | 0.7% |
Casino | Don Day | ALP | 1.0% |
Castlereagh | Jack Renshaw | ALP | 1.3% |
Murrumbidgee | Lin Gordon | ALP | 1.7% |
Burrinjuck | Terry Sheahan | ALP | 2.0% |
Woronora | Maurie Keane | ALP | 2.2% |
Kogarah | Bill Crabtree | ALP | 5.1% |
Campbelltown | Cliff Mallam | ALP | 5.6% |
Fairly safe | |||
Waverley | Syd Einfeld | ALP | 6.4% |
Parramatta | Dan Mahoney | ALP | 6.6% |
Peats | Keith O'Connell | ALP | 7.3% |
Charlestown | Richard Face | ALP | 8.4% |
Lakemba | Vince Durick | ALP | 9.7% |
Canterbury | Kevin Stewart | ALP | 9.9% |
Maroubra | Bill Haigh | ALP | 9.9% |
Penrith | Ron Mulock | ALP | 9.9% |
Safe | |||
Wentworthville | Ernie Quinn | ALP | 10.1% |
Bass Hill | Neville Wran | ALP | 10.7% |
East Hills | Pat Rogan | ALP | 11.1% |
Merrylands | Jack Ferguson | ALP | 11.9% |
Wollongong | Eric Ramsay | ALP | 12.4% |
Blacktown | Gordon Barnier | ALP | 12.7% |
Bankstown | Nick Kearns | ALP | 12.8% |
Newcastle | Arthur Wade | ALP | 12.9% |
Mount Druitt | Tony Johnson | ALP | 13.3% |
Rockdale | Brian Bannon | ALP | 13.4% |
Auburn | Peter Cox | ALP | 14.1% |
Munmorah | Harry Jensen | ALP | 14.6% |
Corrimal | Laurie Kelly | ALP | 14.8% |
Heathcote | Rex Jackson | ALP | 15.5% |
Granville | Pat Flaherty | ALP | 17.5% |
Marrickville | Tom Cahill | ALP | 17.7% |
Fairfield | Eric Bedford | ALP | 17.8% |
Liverpool | George Paciullo | ALP | 18.0% |
Illawarra | George Petersen | ALP | 22.7% v DLP |
Lake Macquarie | Merv Hunter | ALP | 23.2% v IND |
Heffron | Laurie Brereton | ALP | 23.8% v DLP |
Phillip | Pat Hills | ALP | 24.9% |
Balmain | Roger Degen | ALP | 26.5% v DLP |
Wallsend | Ken Booth | ALP | 26.5% v DLP |
Waratah | Sam Jones | ALP | 26.6% v DLP |
Cessnock | George Neilly | ALP | 28.1% v DLP |
Broken Hill | Lew Johnstone | ALP | unopp. |
Crossbench seats (3) | |||
South Coast | John Hatton | IND | 1.7% v LIB |
Blue Mountains | Harold Coates | IND | 6.5% v ALP |
Gordon | Kevin Harrold | DLP | 29.4% v ALP |
- The results for Coogee was based on the result of the by-election that was held as a result of the decision by the Court of Disputed Returns due to the closeness off the result for the electorate at the 1973 election.
See also
Notes
- ^ There were 2,788,733 enrolled voters but 20,857 were enrolled in Broken Hill (Labor) which was uncontested at the election.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Green, Antony. "1973 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ Hughes, Colin A. (1977). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1965-1974. ANU Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7081-1340-0.
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