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 ...
was held for the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of ...
seat of
Higgins on 24 February 1968. It was triggered by the
presumed drowning death of the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
and
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
MP
Harold Holt
Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party.
Holt was born in ...
on 17 December 1967.
Background
On 15 January 1968, the speaker William Ashton stated that there was conclusive evidence that Holt had died, and that a writ would be issued for the by-election. Senator
John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...
, who had been elected party leader and Prime Minister by his party colleagues on 9 January, was preselected unopposed to run for the Liberal Party on 31 January. The
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 ...
nominated David Bennett, a research officer with the
Australian Council for Educational Research
The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), established in 1930, is an independent educational research organisation based in Camberwell, Victoria (Melbourne) and with offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Dubai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lond ...
, whilst the
Democratic Labor Party, who had received 11.56% of the vote at the
November 1966 election in the seat, opted not to contest the election. The other two candidates were Dr Leonard Webber for the Australia Reform Movement, and a Sydney journalist, Frank Courtis.
Gorton won the by-election for the Liberals with an increased primary vote.
Results
See also
*
1968 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election
A leadership election in the Liberal Party of Australia, the party of government in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 9 January 1968. It followed the disappearance and presumed drowning of previous leader Harold Holt, who had been declar ...
*
List of Australian federal by-elections
This is a list of by-elections for the House of Representatives from its creation in 1901 until the present day.
Casual vacancies in the House of Representatives arise when a member dies, is disqualified or resigns, or for some other reason th ...
References
{{Aus by-elections 26th parl
1968 elections in Australia
Victorian federal by-elections
1960s in Victoria (Australia)
February 1968 events in Australia