The 1917 Newcastle state by-election was a

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 ...

held on 12 May 1917 for the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

seat of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of first-term Labor MP

Thomas Butterfield Thomas Butterfield (circa 1871 – 13 October 1943) was an Australian politician and minister in the South Australian Parliament. Political career In 1910/11 Butterfield was a councillor for the Tumby Bay ward in the Tumby Bay Council and was ...

on 21 March to contest a seat in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

at the 1917 federal election. There were only two candidates

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

labourer William Harvey for the Labor Party, and

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as bo ...

farmer and grazier

Edward Twopeny Edward Nowell Twopeny (24 October 1854 – 17 February 1932) was an Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly multi-member seat of Newcastle from 1917 to 1918, representing the Liberal Union. Twopeny was born ...

for the Liberal Union. Twopeny, who had unsuccessfully contested the seat twice previously, won the seat. The largest booths were at

(580 votes),

(572 votes), Wilmington (177 votes) and

Hawker Hawker or Hawkers may refer to: Places * Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Hawker, South Australia, a town * Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia * Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...

(175 votes). There were also booths at

Beltana Beltana is a town north of Adelaide, South Australia. Beltana is known for continuing to exist long after the reasons for its existence had ceased. The town's history began in the 1870s with the advent of copper mining in the area, construction ...

, Belton,

Blinman Blinman is a locality incorporating two towns located in the Australian state of South Australia within the Flinders Ranges about north of the state capital of Adelaide. It is very small but has the claim of being the highest surveyed town in S ...

, Boolcunda East,

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

Carrieton Carrieton is a small town situated in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. It is located between the towns of Orroroo to the south and Cradock to the north. Originally opened in 1877 as Yanyarrie Whim, (Yanyarrie is in the local indigenou ...

, Cockburn,

Cordillo Downs Cordillo Downs or Cordillo Downs Station is both a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station and a formal bounded locality in South Australia. It is located about north of Innamincka and south east of Birdsville. The name and bo ...

, Cradock, Edeowie,

Eurelia Eurelia is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the east side of the Flinders Ranges about north of the state capital of Adelaide and about from the municipal seat of Orroroo. The town was surveyed in J ...

, Farina,

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

, Hammond, Hookina, Johnburg, Leigh Creek, Limestone Well, Lyndhurst Siding, Marree, Mount Lyndhurst, Mungeranie,

Murnpeowie Murnpeowie or Murnpeowie Station is a pastoral lease in outback South Australia. The pastoral lease once operated as a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station. The land occupying the extent of the pastoral lease was gazetted as a ...

, Olary,

Oodnadatta Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta Track, an outback road ...

, Parachilna,

Port Augusta West Port Augusta West is a suburb of Port Augusta, South Australia, Port Augusta, South Australia. However, it has a separate early colonial history to Port Augusta, because it is on the Eyre Peninsula, while the rest of Port Augusta is on the east ...

, Saltia,

Stirling North Stirling North is a town located east of Port Augusta in the Australian state of South Australia. The now abandoned Marree railway line forms the official border line separating the two towns. Primarily, Stirling North is a satellite town to Po ...

, Warcowie, Waukaringa,

William Creek William Creek, Australia is located halfway on the Oodnadatta Track, north west of Marree and east of Coober Pedy in South Australia. The town has a permanent population of 10. William Creek is in the federal Division of Grey and the state ...

, Willipa,

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

, Wooltana, Wyacca and Yanyarrie. The election saw a drastic drop in turnout, which was down more than 25% from the 1915 state election. This was attributed by both candidates to major problems with the electoral roll. Twopeny criticised the "disgraceful state of the electoral roll", stating that the rolls "could not be in a worse condition" and expressing concern about voters being disenfranchised for being "too late" to be counted, while others who were present on the roll were dead or had left the state. He hoped there would soon be "clean rolls". Harvey stated that "had the rolls been in good order Labor would have won" and claimed that 200 Labor voters in Port Augusta had been refused a vote, but stated he was "pleased with the way Mr Twopeny had run the campaign". ''

The Register ''The Register'' is a British technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee, John Lettice and Ross Alderson. The online newspaper's masthead sublogo is "''Biting the hand that feeds IT''." Their primary focus is information tec ...

'' in Adelaide reported that there had been "great indignation" about the state of the rolls, with voters who "had their cards and transfer notices" not being on the certified roll. The newspaper also noted that the time at which the polls closed and the location of the polling booth in Port Augusta differed from that at the Commonwealth elections one week prior. Butterworth lost the Senate race at the federal election, reclaimed his Newcastle seat at the 1918 state election and would go on to be a senior minister in state Labor governments during the 1920s.

Results

References

{{reflist South Australian state by-elections 1917 elections in Australia 1910s in South Australia

Results

See also

References