1917 Macquarie state by-election

Election result for Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia December 2019 December 2019 The 1917 Macquarie state by-election was held for the New South Wales state electoral district of Macquarie on 28 July 1917. The by-election was triggered by the death of Australian Labor Party MP Thomas Thrower, who had died only three months after being re-elected at the 1917 state election.1216 Mr Thomas Henry Thrower (1870-1917) Yes 8 May 2019 Labor preselected as their candidate Patrick McGirr, a member of the Parkes Land Board and the brother of Greg McGirr, the state member for Yass.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145807963 Macquarie by-election The Australian Worker 12 July 1917 16 December 2019 11 Trove McGirr was selected overwhelmingly from a broad field that included Iron Trades Federation secretary E. M. Davies, Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Association assistant secretary R. Corish, radical Sydney Wharf Laborers' Union president William McCristal and unsuccessful federal or state election candidates T. Lavelle, I. A. Vitnell, Tom Brown and W. J. Boston.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228195754 Labor's nominee Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent 3 July 1917 16 December 2019 1 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238586497 Macquarie electorate council Co-operator 2 August 1917 16 December 2019 7 Trove The preselection process for the new conservative Nationalist Party was somewhat chaotic, with different meetings of local interests and organisations that had come together to form the new party recommending different candidates to the state executive. The eventual executive decision largely came down to two candidates: Wellington miller Murdoch McLeod and Dubbo businessman H. T. Blackett, but also saw some support for former federal MP Ernest Carr, who had lost his seat at that year's election, with McLeod ultimately endorsed as the candidate.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122786640 13 Nationalists offering The Sunday Times 1 July 1917 16 December 2019 2 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137419955 Macquarie by-election Wellington Times 9 July 1917 16 December 2019 2 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15752119 Macquarie by-election The Sydney Morning Herald 6 July 1917 16 December 2019 8 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239390287 MMacquarie by-election The Daily Telegraph 25 June 1917 16 December 2019 4 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75559374 Macquarie National Convention. The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate 3 July 1917 16 December 2019 2 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124369114 Mr. H. T. Blackett. The Scrutineer and Berrima District Press 4 February 1928 16 December 2019 2 Trove A third candidate, former federal MP Frank Foster, is often recorded as having contested as an independent or "Independent Nationalist", but campaigned for his own new minor party, the Australian Producers Co-Operative Party. Foster had been a Labor MP until losing his seat in 1913 and had left the party in the 1916 Labor split, but had not joined the Nationalist Party and had instead sought to form his own party taking a middle position between the two parties.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228195716 Macquarie Bye-Election Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent 3 July 1917 16 December 2019 2 Trovehttps://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137414235 Macquarie by-election Wellington Times 25 June 1917 16 December 2019 2 Trove McGirr won the by-election, finishing 239 votes ahead of McLeod with Foster a distant third, an increase on the Labor majority from the general election. McGirr was reported to have polled well in the larger centres while McLeod had performed better in the rural booths.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1639400 New South Wales politics The Argus Victoria, Australia 30 July 1917 16 December 2019 6 Trove The pro-Labor National Advocate newspaper in Bathurst described the result as a "magnificent success" that showed that the party was recovering from "the defection of the renegades" in the 1916 party split; they also noted that the result in the usually marginal seat was "the greatest for over nine years" and suggested the margin would have been larger had it not been for Foster's candidacy.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158628505 The Macquarie election National Advocate 30 July 1917 16 December 2019 2 Trove The more conservative Evening News in Sydney downplayed the result, stating "the two parties simply maintained their respective positions: no advantage has been gained by either side", but drew attention to the Nationalist failure to win the seat despite dedicating tremendous resources, stating "the eloquence of nearly every Minister in the New South Wales Government was released upon the electors of Macquarie, but it fell short of success. This needs some explanation."https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121246653 The Macquarie election Evening News 30 July 1917 16 December 2019 4 Trove Dates Date Event 21 June 1917 Death of Thomas Thrower. 30 June 1917 Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226217060 Writ of election: Macquarie New South Wales Government Gazette 97 30 June 1917 13 December 2019 3339 Trove 9 July 1917 Nominations 28 July 1917 Polling day 11 August 1917 Return of writ Results 1917 Macquarie by-electionSaturday 28 July1917 Macquarie by-election 1917 Macquarie_1 13 December 2019 Labor NSW Patrick McGirr 3,521 50.8 -0.1 Nationalist Murdock McLeod 3,232 46.6 -2.6 Australian Producers Co-Operative Party Frank Foster 182 2.6 6,935 99.5 +0.5 34 0.5 -0.5 6,969 65.1based on an electoral roll of 10,704 at the 1917 state election.Green 1917 Macquarie|1917 Macquarie 3 May 2020 -7.3 Labor NSW N/A Thomas Thrower (Labor NSW) died. See also exist Electoral results for the district of Macquarie *Electoral results for the district of Macquarie List of New South Wales state by-elections Notes References expanded Category:New South Wales state by-elections Category:1917 elections in Australia Category:1910s in New South Wales