1985 Nunawading Province state by-election
The Nunawading Province by-election of 1985 was a
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
In the
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
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Rosemary Varty | 51,006 | 49.2 | +3.1 | |
Labor | Bob Ives
|
40,578 | 39.2 | -6.6 | |
Democrats | Michael Nardella | 4,760 | 4.6 | -3.5 | |
Call to Australia | William Watson | 2,682 | 2.6 | ||
Nuclear Disarmament | Jennifer Cotterell | 2,530 | 2.4 | ||
Democratic Labor | Peter Ferwerda | 1,361 | 1.3 | ||
Independent | Basil Smith | 438 | 0.4 | ||
Independent | Brian Lumsden | 204 | 0.2 | ||
Independent | Wilhelm Kapphan | 75 | 0.1 | ||
Total formal votes | 103,634 | ||||
Informal votes | 2,055 | 1.9 | |||
Turnout | 105,689 | ||||
After distribution of preferences | |||||
Liberal | Rosemary Varty | 52,086 | 50.3 | ||
Labor | Bob Ives
|
40,818 | 39.4 | ||
Democrats | Michael Nardella | 4,947 | 4.8 | ||
Call to Australia | William Watson | 3,120 | 3.0 | ||
Nuclear Disarmament | Jennifer Cotterell | 2,649 | 2.6 |
- A full distribution of preferences was not carried out, as Varty recorded a majority after the fifth count.
References
- ^ a b c d Carr, Adam. "Victoria - Legislative Council - Election of 2 March 1985". Psephos. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
- ^ a b Broadbent, David; Colebatch, Tim; Hawker, Philippa (14 March 1985). "'Raffle' gives Labor Victory". The Age. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ "Robert ('Bob') Stuart Ives". Re-Member (Former Members). Parliament of Victoria. 1993. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ^ Pinto, Pamela (20 June 1985). "Poll 'lottery' fairest way, official tells court". The Age. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ^ "Inaugural speech of Varty, Rosemary". Re-Member (Former Members). Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ^ Young, Leith (25 July 1985). "Judge rules court had no power to open sealed votes". The Age. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ^ Broadbent, David (19 August 1985). "Now we'll win government, says Kennett after 'stunning victory'". The Age. Retrieved 2 January 2017.