Macquarie by-election, 1951
Encyclopedia
The 1951 by-election for the Australian House of Representatives
seat of Macquarie
was called on 28 July after the death of the incumbent Australian Labor Party
member, Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the Australian Labor Party and, previously the 16th Prime Minister
, the Right Honourable
Ben Chifley
who died on 14 June after suffering a heart attack. Chifley's death came less than three months after the 1951 general election
.
, who had been the ALP (NSW)
candidate in Macquarie in 1931 and 1934, his preferences defeating Chifley in 1931. William Blanchard ran as an independent Labor candidate in protest at Luchetti's selection as Chifley's successor.
Their main opponent was William Hannam of the Liberal Party of Australia
. Vernon Moffit, representing the Country Party of Australia, also ran.
Lauchetti retained the seat and was the sole Labor candidate.
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
seat of Macquarie
Division of Macquarie
The Division of Macquarie is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for Lachlan Macquarie, who was Governor of New South Wales between 1810 and 1821...
was called on 28 July after the death of the incumbent Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member, Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the Australian Labor Party and, previously the 16th Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, the Right Honourable
The Right Honourable
The Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
Ben Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
who died on 14 June after suffering a heart attack. Chifley's death came less than three months after the 1951 general election
Australian federal election, 1951
Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 April 1951. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution called after the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Bank Bill...
.
Candidates
Contesting the seat for the Labor Party was Anthony LuchettiAnthony Luchetti
Anthony Sylvester Luchetti, AM was a long serving Australian federal member of parliament.Born of Italian/Irish parentage in Lowther, New South Wales, Luchetti was educated in the Catholic school system before working in jobs as varied as miner and journalist...
, who had been the ALP (NSW)
Lang Labor
Lang Labor was the name commonly used to describe three successive break-away sections of the Australian Labor Party, all led by the New South Wales Labor leader Jack Lang premier of NSW .-Initial opposition to Lang's leadership:...
candidate in Macquarie in 1931 and 1934, his preferences defeating Chifley in 1931. William Blanchard ran as an independent Labor candidate in protest at Luchetti's selection as Chifley's successor.
Their main opponent was William Hannam of the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
. Vernon Moffit, representing the Country Party of Australia, also ran.
Results
The presence of Blanchard made little impact on Luchetti or the outcome.Aftermath
At the following 1954 general electionAustralian federal election, 1954
Federal elections were held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, no Senate election took place...
Lauchetti retained the seat and was the sole Labor candidate.