by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

seat of

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

was held on 20 October 1904. It was triggered by the resignation of former Ministerialist Premier

Walter James Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 1 ...

, who was appointed to take up the role of Agent General for Western Australia. The election was won by Ministerialist candidate John Hardwick, who beat the Labor Party's John Curran.

Background

had been the member for

in the

since 1894, and served as the

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

and

attorney-general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

as part of the Ministerialists from July 1902.

Previous election results

Resignation of Walter James

In August 1904, two months after the 1904 state election, the James Government was defeated in a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. He was replaced as premier by

Henry Daglish Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in Ballarat, V ...

of the Labor Party. The following month, Daglish offered James the role of Agent General for Western Australia representing the state in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It was unanimously agreed that James was suited for the position, but some were sceptical of Daglish's motives, believing that he was trying to get his main political rival out of parliament and was possibly trying to have the Labor Party win the ensuing by-election. The move also saw disillusion grow within the Labor Party's rank-and-file, as one of their main attacks on James during his premiership was that he gave cabinet positions out as bribes to gain support, similar to what Daglish was doing now. On 30 September, James formally resigned. On 4 October, the Legislative Assembly passed a motion that the seat be declared vacant, and so the

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

issued a writ for the election. 12 October was set at the due date for nominations, Thursday, 20 October was set as the day of the election, and 24 October for the return of the writ.

Candidates

Ministerialist

John Hardwick, a Perth City councillor and James's campaign manager for the 1904 election, was selected by the East Perth Electoral league and endorsed by the National Political league.

Labor

Edward Casson, who was Labor's candidate for East Perth at the 1904 state election, declined requests for him to be Labor's candidate, saying that "in view of the existing circumstances in regard to the political situation, I cannot see my way clear to do so". This was in reference to the Daglish Ministry abandoning several Labor principles that they were elected on. Other potential Labor candidates were: *J. J. Curran, secretary of the Coastal Trades and Labour Council *J. Fabre, secretary of the Hotel, Restaurant, and Caterers' Employees' Union * Con O'Brien, member of the Legislative Council from 1901 to 1904 *H. Courtney, president of the East Perth branch of the Political Labor Party *J. Healy, unsuccessful candidate for the seat of

Canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...

at the 1904 state election *W. Eales *W. Somerville Curran was viewed as the most likely candidate to be selected, as he had lived in East Perth ever since he moved to Western Australia. Nominations closed at 6pm on 26 September, with Curran, Fabre, O'Brien, Courtney, and Healy as the nominations. On 30 September, each nomination gave a speech, after which East Perth branch members voted. The winning candidate had to receive an absolute majority. In the first ballot, Curran was three short of a majority, and so O'Brien and Healy dropped out. Curran was two short of a majority after the second ballot, and Fabre and Courtney were tied, so the chairman gave his casting vote to Fabre. In the final ballot, Curran received a majority of the votes, and so he was selected as Labor's candidate for the by-election.

Campaign

Hardwick primarily campaigned on local issues, however, members of the former James Ministry, such as

Hector Rason Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason (18 June 1858 – 15 March 1927), better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh Premier of Western Australia. Early life Rason was born in Cleeve, Somerset, in England on 18 June 1858. He was the son ...

John Marquis Hopkins John Marquis Hopkins (1870 – 3 July 1912) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, representing Boulder from 1901 to 1905 and Beverley from 1908 to 1910. He had been mayor of Boulder from 1 ...

and Henry Gregory, campaigned on issues affecting the state.

Results

The by-election had four polling places.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite thesis , last=Buttfield , first=E. S. , date=1979 , title=The Daglish Ministry 1904-5 : Western Australia's first Labor Government , degree=MA , pages=115–120 , publisher=University of Western Australia , url=https://onesearch.library.uwa.edu.au/permalink/61UWA_INST/1vk1d8f/alma9963778902101 1904 elections in Australia 1900s in Perth, Western Australia October 1904 events Western Australian state by-elections