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 seat of Dale in the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

was held on 7 May 1988. It was triggered by the resignation of

Cyril Rushton Edgar Cyril Rushton (23 November 1922 – 23 August 1992) was an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1965 to 1988. He served as a minister in the governments of Charles Cour ...

(the sitting

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 ...

member and a former

deputy premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

) on 25 February 1988. The seat was retained by the Liberal Party, with their candidate,

Fred Tubby Frederick Charles Tubby (born 23 January 1947) is a former Australian politician. The son of Reg Tubby, also an MP, he was born in Morawa, Western Australia, and was a school principal before entering politics. In 1988 he was elected in a by-el ...

, winning 59.1 percent of the

two-candidate-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

(2CP) vote. The Labor Party did not stand at the election, despite having lost the seat by less than 400 votes at the 1986 state election. A former Labor candidate, Michael Marsh, won 40.9 percent of the 2CP vote standing as an independent.

Background

had held Dale for the Liberal Party since a 1965 by-election, and served as a minister in the governments of Sir

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party. Early life Court's family e ...

and

Ray O'Connor Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of parliament from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in ...

(including as deputy premier under the latter). Rushton underwent open-heart surgery in August 1987, and missed much of the following parliamentary session.Edgar Cyril Rushton
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 February 2017. He resigned from parliament on 25 February 1988, and the writ for the by-election was issued on 30 March, with the close of nominations on 14 April. Polling day was on 7 May, with the writ returned on 12 May.

Results

Aftermath

Tubby joined his father,

Reg Tubby Reginald John Tubby (1924 – 14 October 2015) was an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1975 to 1989, representing the seat of Greenough. Tubby was born in Geraldton, We ...

, in parliament, and the pair served together until Reg's retirement at the 1989 state election (a period of less than a year). The seat of Dale was abolished in a redistribution prior to that same election, and Fred Tubby switched to the new seat of Roleystone, which he held until his defeat at the 2001 state election.Frederick Charles
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 February 2017.

References

{{Reflist Western Australian state by-elections 1988 elections in Australia May 1988 events in Australia

Background

Results

Aftermath

See also

References