1962 New South Wales state election

1962 New South Wales state election
All 94 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly; 48 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
	Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate
Premier before election; Bob Heffron; Labor	Elected Premier ; Bob Heffron; Labor

The 1962 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1962. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1961 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Redistribution

A redistribution of electoral boundaries was undertaken in 1961 based on that year's Australian Census. The redistribution reflected the continuing relative population shifts from the Country and Eastern suburbs of Sydney to Western Sydney and the Central Coast. The Hunter Valley seat of Liverpool Plains, held by the Country Party was abolished while in the eastern suburbs the safe Liberal seat of Woollahra and the safe Labor seat of Paddington-Waverley were combined to form the marginal seat of Bligh. In Northern Sydney, the marginal Labor seat of North Sydney and the safe Liberal seat of Neutral Bay were combined to form the relatively safe Liberal seat of Kirribilli. Wakehurst was created in the Northern Beaches area with a notional Liberal majority and on the Central Coast, the seat of Wyong was established and was expected to have a large Labor majority. In Western Sydney the seats of Merrylands and Leichhardt were abolished and replaced by the safe Labor seats of Wentworthville and Bass Hill. The seat of The Hills was established in North-west Sydney mainly from the northern portion of Blacktown and this made Blacktown a safe Labor seat. While the theoretical effect of the redistribution was to increase the Liberal numbers by 1 at the expense of the Country Party, the boundary changes significantly improved Labor's position in several seats including Nepean, Coogee and Drummoyne. Joan Rydon estimated that the coalition would have needed 52% of the overall vote to win office.^[1]

Key dates

Date	Event
5 February 1962	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
9 February 1962	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
3 March 1962	Polling day.
14 March 1962	Second Heffron ministry sworn in.
6 April 1962	Last day for the writs to be returned and the results formally declared.
10 April 1962	Opening of 40th Parliament.

Issues

In March 1962, Labor had been in power for 21 years and Robert Heffron had been premier for 2 and a half years. Heffron was 72 at the time of the election and his age and the longevity of the government were made issues by the opposition which described it as being composed of "tired old men". The prestige of Heffron's government had suffered when the electors clearly rejected its proposal to abolish the New South Wales Legislative Council at a referendum in April 1961. Labor's new policies for the election included the establishment of a Department of Industrial Development to reduce unemployment, free school travel, aid to home buyers and commencing the construction of the Sydney–Newcastle Freeway as a toll-road.^[2]

In contrast to Labor the leader of the conservative coalition, Robin Askin put forward a positive program and addressed contentious issues including the introduction of State Aid for private schools, making rent control fairer and the legalisation of off-course betting on horse races. Askin accused the state government of allowing the transport infrastructure of the state to decline. He promised to build the Newcastle freeway without a toll, to construct the Eastern Suburbs Railway and to plan for a second crossing of Sydney Harbour. Askin also promised more resources for mental health and district hospitals.^[3]^[4]

Results

The Labor government's position improved substantially at this election. It had a buffer of 7 seats in the new parliament:

Prior to the election Labor had gained the seat of Lismore from the Country Party at a by-election after the Court of Disputed Returns ruling the 1959 election result invalid. Labor had lost the seat of Liverpool Plains to the Country Party at a by-election caused by the resignation of Roger Nott. However, Liverpool Plains was abolished by the redistribution at this election. In Oxley the sitting member, Les Jordan changed his allegiance from the Country Party to the Liberal Party,

Labor regained the seat of Waratah from the independent incumbent Frank Purdue and, as expected, won the new seats of Wyong, Wentworthville, Bass Hill and Bligh. Labor also gained Blacktown, Nepean, Drummoyne and Coogee from the Liberals.

The Liberal Party won the new seats of Kirribilli, Wakehurst and The Hills. In Manly, the sitting Liberal member Douglas Darby, who had lost his party's pre-selection, successfully contested the seat as an Independent Liberal.

The DLP and the Communist party both performed poorly, each party gained less than 2% of the primary vote.

Non-elected Premier Bob Heffron was elected his own right as Premier and would be the last non-elected Premier to achieve this until Morris Iemma in 2007.

New South Wales state election, 3 March 1962 ^[5] Legislative Assembly << 1959–1965 >>
Enrolled voters		2,173,768^[a]
Votes cast		1,957,406		Turnout	94.00	+0.00
Informal votes		30,048		Informal	1.54	−0.29
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	936,047	48.57	−0.55	54	+5
	Liberal	671,716	34.85	−0.50	25	−3
	Country	180,640	9.37	+0.66	14	−2
	Independent	60,420	3.13	−0.50	0	−1
	Independent Liberal	37,555	1.95	+1.95	1	+1
	Democratic Labor	28,830	1.50	+0.18	0	−
	Communist	12,150	0.63	−0.82	0	−
Total		1,927,358			94

Popular vote

Labor			48.57%
Liberal			34.85%
Country			9.37%
Independents			5.08%
Democratic Labor			1.50%
Communist			0.63%
Parliamentary seats
Labor			54
Liberal			25
Country			14
Independents			1

Retiring members

Labor

Keith Anderson (Paddington-Waverley) — lost preselection for Bligh.
William Gollan (Randwick)
Bill Lamb (Granville) — lost preselection.
Spence Powell (Bankstown)
Arthur Tonge (Canterbury) — lost preselection.

Liberal

Ivan Black (Neutral Bay)

Country

Seats changing party representation

Seat	1959			1962
Seat	Party		Member	Member	Party
Bass Hill			New seat ^[b]	Clarrie Earl	Labor
Blacktown		Liberal	Alfred Dennis ^[c]	Jim Southee
Bligh			New seat ^[d]	Tom Morey
Coogee		Liberal	Kevin Ellis	Lou Walsh
Drummoyne		Liberal	Walter Lawrence	Reg Coady
Kirribilli			New seat ^[d]	John Waddy	Liberal
Leichhardt		Labor	Reg Coady	Seat abolished
Lismore ^[e]		Country		Keith Compton	Labor
Liverpool Plains ^[f]		Labor		Seat abolished
Manly		Liberal	Douglas Darby		Independent Liberal
Merrylands		Labor	Jack Ferguson	Seat abolished
Nepean		Liberal	Bill Chapman	Alfred Bennett	Labor
Neutral Bay		Liberal	Ivan Black	Seat abolished
North Sydney		Labor	Ray Maher	Seat abolished
Oxley		Country	Les Jordan		Liberal
Paddington-Waverley		Labor	Keith Anderson	Seat abolished
The Hills			New seat ^[d]	Max Ruddock	Liberal
Wakehurst			New seat ^[d]	Dick Healey	Liberal
Waratah		Independent	Frank Purdue	Edward Greaves	Labor
Wentworthville			New seat ^[b]	Jack Ferguson	Labor
Woollahra		Liberal	Vernon Treatt	Seat abolished
Wyong			New seat ^[b]	Ray Maher	Labor

Aftermath

Robert Heffron resigned in April 1964, aged 74 and was replaced by Jack Renshaw. Robert Askin and Charles Cutler remained as leaders of their respective parties throughout the term of the parliament. During the parliament there were 4 by-elections. These produced no change in party representation with the exception of Labor losing Waratah to the independent former member, Frank Purdue.

Notes

^ There were 2,082,320 enrolled voters in 90 contested electorates and 91,448 were enrolled in 4 uncontested electorates (2 Labor, 2 Liberal).^[5]
^ ^a ^b ^c Bass Hill, Wentworthville and Wyong were notionally Labor seats.^[1]
^ Alfred Dennis unsuccessfully contested The Hills as an Independent Liberal.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wakehurst. Bligh, Kirribilli and The Hills were notionally Liberal seats.^[1]
^ The Country Party had won the 1959 election for Lismore by 2 votes, however it was declared void by the Court of Disputed Returns. The resulting by-election was won by Keith Compton (Labor).
^ Roger Nott (Labor) resigned and Frank O'Keefe (Country) won the resulting by-election.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "1961 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
^ "Labor Election Policy". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 February 1962. p. 1.
^ "Pledge to Suspend Toll Road Proposals". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 February 1962. p. 1.
^ McMullin, Ross (1991). The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891-1991. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-554966-X.
^ ^a ^b Green, Antony. "1962 Totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[6] There were 2,082,320 enrolled voters in 90 contested electorates and 91,448 were enrolled in 4 uncontested electorates (2 Labor, 2 Liberal).^[5]

[Notional_labor-7] Bass Hill, Wentworthville and Wyong were notionally Labor seats.^[1]

[8] Alfred Dennis unsuccessfully contested The Hills as an Independent Liberal.

[Notional_liberal-9] Wakehurst. Bligh, Kirribilli and The Hills were notionally Liberal seats.^[1]

[10] The Country Party had won the 1959 election for Lismore by 2 votes, however it was declared void by the Court of Disputed Returns. The resulting by-election was won by Keith Compton (Labor).

[11] Roger Nott (Labor) resigned and Frank O'Keefe (Country) won the resulting by-election.

[1961_redistribution-1] "1961 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.

[2] "Labor Election Policy". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 February 1962. p. 1.

[3] "Pledge to Suspend Toll Road Proposals". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 February 1962. p. 1.

[4] McMullin, Ross (1991). The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891-1991. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-554966-X.

[Green_1962-5] Green, Antony. "1962 Totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

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