1975 Bass by-election

1975 Bass by-election
28 June 1975
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Kevin Newman John Macrostie
Party Liberal Labor
First preference vote 24,638 15,609
Percentage 57.6% 36.5%
Swing Increase11.6pp Decrease17.5pp
TPP 60.3% 39.7
TPP swing Increase14.3pp Decrease14.3pp
MP before election

Lance Barnard
Labor

Elected MP

Kevin Newman
Liberal

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Bass on 28 June 1975. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP and former Deputy Prime Minister Lance Barnard.

The by-election was won by Liberal Party candidate Kevin Newman. Newman's victory came as something of a surprise. Barnard had held the seat since 1954 and had usually skated to reelection. However, in the by-election, Labor's primary vote plummeted by more than 17 percent, and Newman took the seat off Labor with a resounding 60 percent of the two-party vote. Newman actually won 57.6 percent of the primary vote, enough to win the seat outright.

The shock loss of Bass is widely reckoned as the beginning of the end for Gough Whitlam, whose government was dismissed from office six months later.

Results

1975 Bass by-election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Kevin Newman 24,638 57.6 +11.6
Labor John Macrostie 15,609 36.5 −17.5
United Tasmania Violet Petrovsky 1,272 3.0 +3.0
Independent Paul Kent 904 2.1 +2.1
Independent Marcus Aussie-Stone 243 0.6 +0.6
Independent Syd Negus 124 0.3 +0.3
Total formal votes 43,814 98.2 +0.2
Informal votes 773 1.8 −0.2
Turnout 43,563 93.2 −2.0
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Kevin Newman 60.3 +14.3
Labor John Macrostie 39.7 −14.3
Liberal gain from Labor Swing +14.3

See also

References

  1. ^ "By-Elections 1974-1975". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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