A by-election was held for the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
electorate of
Surry Hills
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...
on 21 July 1906 because of the resignation of
John Norton (). Norton blamed
William Holman
William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...
for an article in
The Worker commenting on Norton's unnatural silence over the land scandals involving
Paddy Crick
William Patrick Crick (10 February 1862 – 23 August 1908) was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor. He was described by author Cyril Pearl as an irresistible demagogue, who "looked like a prize fighter, dressed like a ...
and
William Willis.
Norton made a personal attack on Holman in parliament, challenging him to resign and both would contest Holman's seat of
Cootamundra.
Dates
Result
John Norton () challenged William Holman
William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...
to resign and both would contest Holman's seat of Cootamundra.
Aftermath
The
Cootamundra by-election was held the following week, however Norton withdrew from the contest.
H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...
argues that the most likely explanation for Norton's attack was to remove Labour's best debater at a critical time.
Norton returned to parliament at the
1907 election for Darling Harbour.
See also
*
Electoral results for the district of Surry Hills
Surry Hills, an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: ...
*
List of New South Wales state by-elections
This is a list of by-elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. A by-election may be held when a member's seat becomes vacant through resignation, death or some other reasons. These are referred to as casual vacancies.
*Brackets aro ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surry Hills 1906
1906 elections in Australia
New South Wales state by-elections
1900s in New South Wales