A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Port Stephens on 5 November 1988 because the Court of Disputed Returns declared that the 1988 Port Stephens election was void because Bob Martin (Labor) handed government cheques to community groups during the campaign and this amounted to electoral bribery.[1][2]
Dates
edit| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 19 March 1988 | New South Wales state election.[1] |
| 30 May 1988 | Bob Scott filed a petition in the Court of Disputed returns.[3] |
| 19 September 1988 | 1988 Port Stephens election declared void.[2][4] |
| 17 October 1988 | Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and close of electoral rolls.[5] |
| 21 October 1988 | Nominations |
| 5 November 1988 | Polling day |
| 25 November 1988 | Return of writ |
Result
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Bob Martin (re-elected) | 15,953 | 53.6 | +11.4 | |
| Liberal | Bob Scott | 8,930 | 30.0 | -10.4 | |
| Independent | Innes Creighton | 4,368 | 14.7 | ||
| Independent | Arthur Dalton | 496 | 1.7 | ||
| Total formal votes | 29,747 | 98.1 | |||
| Informal votes | 581 | 1.9 | |||
| Turnout | 30,328 | 87.0 | |||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Bob Martin | 17,925 | 63.0 | +12.9 | |
| Liberal | Bob Scott | 10,521 | 37.0 | -12.9 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | +12.9[a] | |||
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Green, Antony. "1988 Port Stephens by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Bribery finding over grants to community groups Port Stephens election declared void by court". The Canberra Times. 20 September 1988. p. 15. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ "Re election for Port Stephens". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 99. 10 June 1988. p. 3135. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ Scott v Martin, (1998) 14 NSWLR 663 (Court of Disputed Returns 19 September 1988). LawCite search
- ^ "Writ of election: Port Stephens". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 156. 17 October 1988. p. 5467. Retrieved 15 March 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ Green, Antony. "Port Stephens". NSW Votes 2011. ABC.net.au. Retrieved 15 March 2021.