The 1965 New South Wales state election was held on 1 May 1965. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory
preferential voting {{short description, Election systems
Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems:
* Ranked voting methods, all election methods that involve ranking candidates in order of pr ...
and was held on boundaries created at a 1961 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the
Legislative Assembly.
Issues
In May 1965, Labor had been in power for 24 years and 56-year-old
Jack Renshaw
John Brophy Renshaw AC (8 August 190928 July 1987) was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of New South Wales from 30 April 1964 to 13 May 1965. He was the first New South Wales Premier born in the 20th century.
Early life
Jack Re ...
, who had been seen as a generational change for the party leadership, had been premier for one year. Yet Renshaw had difficulty adjusting to a televised campaign; and his manner, the result of spending much of his early life in remote New South Wales, had limited appeal to urban voters. The longevity of the government was an issue promoted by the opposition which described it as being composed of "tired old men"; indeed, six members of Renshaw's cabinet were 65 years old or older, and most of them had been in cabinet during Labor's entire 24-year run in government.
Continuing cost overruns and construction delays at the
Sydney Opera House made problematic the Renshaw government's claims of sound economic management. Causing further damage were accusations that 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 ...
,
Ray Maher, had indecently exposed himself to a staff member. This scandal disrupted the start of the government's campaign.
Moreover the government's keynote policy of releasing large tracts of land in Sydney for residential development was leaked to the opposition, which then claimed the plan as its own policy. The ALP continued to have an ideological difficulty matching the Opposition's promises of state aid for non-government schools, and this was the most decisive issue in the election. Other government policies included increased high school bursaries, measures to reduce unfair trading, reduced power costs, increased sick leave and reform of Workers' Compensation schemes.
[
In contrast to Renshaw, ]Robert Askin
Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG (4 April 1907 – 9 September 1981), was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but ...
(who had been the leader of the conservative coalition since 1959) was skilled in his use of television and put forward a positive program. This included promises for non-government schools included free transport, library grants, low interest loans, textbook subsidies and bursaries. Askin accused Renshaw's administration of having allowed the transport infrastructure of the state to decay. Also, Askin pledged that if he won the election, he would order improvements to the Illawarra and Eastern Suburbs rail lines. He promised to integrate the state's bus and train fares and reduce suburban rail costs. Motor registry costs would be reduced and better rent control was to be introduced for pensioners. Askin, in addition, promised to recruit more police, and provide more resources for mental health and district hospitals.
Results
Prior to the election, Independent Frank Purdue
Frank Outen Jensen Purdue, (2 September 1899 – 24 December 1985) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1956 until 1962 and again between 1964 and 1965. He was prominent in local Governm ...
had gained the seat of Waratah
Waratah (''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania). The best-known species in this genus is ''Telopea speci ...
from the Labor Party at 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 ...
caused by the death of Edward Greaves. Sam Jones regained the seat for Labor at the general election.
Despite a strong swing of more than 5% to the Coalition, the result of the election remained in doubt for two weeks. The effects of a long incumbency bolstered by the cumulative effects of a number of re-distributions limited Labor's losses to nine seats. In several of these the margin of defeat was less than 300 votes. In the final result the Coalition had 47 seats, one short of a majority. However, it could rely on the support of two conservative independents--Douglas Darby
Evelyn Douglas Darby MP (24 September 1910 – 22 August 1985) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. His efforts in denouncing socialism, attacking the labour movement, breaking strikes, ...
, a former Liberal who was subsequently readmitted to the party room, and Harold Coates, who had won the seat of Hartley. After providing a Speaker, the coalition was able to form a government with a three-seat majority in the Assembly, ending 24 years and eight terms of Labor government.
* Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
31 seats
* Independent Liberal 1 seat
* Country Party 16 seats
* Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
45 seats
* Independent 1 seat
The DLP contested 28 seats and, while it gained less than 2.5% of the statewide primary vote, its preferences strongly favoured the coalition and were vital to its success. The Communist party was reduced to 13 candidates who received negligible support.
Seats changing party representation
This table lists changes in party representation since the 1965 election
Key dates
Results
Aftermath
Robert Askin and Charles Cutler became Premier and Deputy Premier in New South Wales' first conservative government for 24 years. Renshaw became Leader of the Opposition, a post he held throughout the term of the parliament. During this parliament there were 3 by-elections
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 use ...
. These resulted in the Country party gaining one seat from Labor and one seat from the Liberal Party.
See also
* Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1965–1968
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1965 New South Wales State Election
Elections in New South Wales
1965 elections in Australia
1960s in New South Wales
May 1965 events in Australia