1956 New South Wales state election

State election for New South Wales, Australia in March 1956 August 2019 July 2020 1956 New South Wales state election New South Wales parliamentary no 1953 New South Wales state election 1953 1959 New South Wales state election 1959 All 94 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly48 Assembly seats were needed for a majority yes 1956 03 03 150x150px Joseph Cahill 2 April 1952 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) Cook's River 47.25% 7.78 57 seats 50 7 150x150px Pat Morton 20 September 1955 Liberal/Country coalition Mosman 46.25% 6.71 36 seats 42 6 1956 New South Wales state election.svg 400px Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate Premier Joseph Cahill Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) Joseph Cahill Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) The 1956 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1956. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Key dates Date Event 6 February 1956 The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. 10 February 1956 Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. 3 March 1956 Polling day. 15 March 1956 Third Cahill ministry sworn in. 5 April 1956 Last day for the writs to be returned and the results formally declared. 10 April 1956 Opening of 38th Parliament. Issues In March 1956, Labor had been in power for 15 years and Joseph Cahill who had won a landslide victory at the 1953 election had been premier for 4 years. Cahill, who was commonly known as "old smoothie" had been a popular premier and had shown some flair in leadership by announcing a design competition for the Sydney Opera House in September 1955. However, nationally the Labor party was divided on sectarian and ideological grounds. In Victoria, many members of the predominantly Catholic right-wing of the party had left the party and joined the nascent Democratic Labor Party (DLP). Cahill was desperate to keep the New South Wales branch of the ALP united. He achieved this by controlling the anti-DLP faction led by his ex-minister Clive Evatt (brother of H V Evatt) while at the same time keeping the right-wing faction within the party. Clive Evatt bitterly attacked in Caucus The Sydney Morning Herald 3 February 1955 11 Cahill's attempts at unity were assisted by the state's Catholic hierarchy who were less politically involved than their Victorian counterparts under Daniel Mannix. As a result, the effects of this split were not as severe in New South Wales and the DLP did not contest the 1956 state election. However, the split did have a significant effect on the Labor Party's vote and contributed to the loss of the seat of Waratah.McMullin Ross The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991 Oxford University Press 1991 0-19-554966-X 282 Labor's election promises included making the supply of state housing a top priority, reviving the State Bank which had been under the control of the federal government since 1932 and revitalizing the state's railways including the long delayed Eastern Suburbs line. The coalition of the Liberal Party and Country Party coalition continued to suffer from leadership issues. Murray Robson had replaced Vernon Treatt as the Liberal Party leader and Leader of the Opposition in August 1954, but had proved inept for the position and was replaced by Pat Morton as leader in September 1955. Morton was a somewhat aloof figure, with a public presence more typical of pre-war conservative politicians, and found it difficult to connect with the public. Michael Bruxner continued as the leader of the Country Party. The opposition campaigned on the government's broken promises and uncompleted public works as well as resentment against compulsory unionism and the implementation of the Cumberland Plan, which reserved a large area of the Sydney Basin from development. The coalition promised that the state transport system would be run along the lines of private enterprise and cease to be a drain on the state's budget. Bruxner called Cahill's plans a death bed repentance with no incentives for rural development.All-in fight on March 3 The Sydney Morning Herald 12 February 1956 9 Results Results of the 1956 New South Wales state election The result of the election was a clear victory for Labor despite a net loss of 7 seats. The results gave Labor a parliamentary buffer of 3 seats plus the usual support of Tom Armstrong. Labor losses were largely confined to the marginal or usually conservative seats that it had unexpectedly won at the 1953 election including Armidale, Coogee, Drummoyne, Georges River, Parramatta, and Sutherland. Tables turned for '53 losers The Sydney Morning Herald 4 March 1956 2 Labor regained the seat of Hartley from Independent Labor member Jim Chalmers who unsuccessfully contested Nepean as an independent. The loss of the usually safe seat of Waratah was a shock for Labor and was caused by a number of factors. The popular Labor incumbent Robert Cameron had retired and after a bitter pre-selection battle, Labor endorsed a Tighes Hill butcher, Harry Sheedy. Sheedy was a member of the socialist wing of the party and, at a time when the party was split on sectarian and ideological grounds, was disliked by many among the large and usually Labor voting Catholic population in the electorate. His main opponent and the winner of the seat was the independent, Frank Purdue who was prominent in local Government and the popular Lord Mayor of Newcastle. {{Australian elections/Title row | table style = float:right;clear:right;margin-left:1em; | title = New South Wales state election, 3 March 1956 | house = Legislative Assembly | series = New South Wales state election | back = 1953 | forward = 1959 | enrolled = 2,011,258There were 1,846,859 enrolled voters in 86 contested electorates and 164,399 were enrolled in 8 uncontested electorates (2 Labor, 3 Liberal and 3 Country ).Antony Green Antony Green 1956 election totals https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/electionresults18562007/1956/Totals.htm New South Wales Election Results 1856–2007 Parliament of New South Wales 12 August 2019 | total_votes = 1,722,628 | turnout % = 93.27 | turnout chg = −0.59 | informal = 28,805 | informal % = 1.67 | informal chg = −0.81 }} yes Labor NSW 800,410 47.25 −8.05 50 −7 Liberal NSW 611,342 36.09 +8.15 27 +5 Country NSW 172,020 10.16 −1.44 15 +1 Independent 53,019 3.13 +0.62 1 +1 Communist 29,534 1.74 +0.36 0 − Independent Labor NSW 14,950 1.88 −0.19 1 − Lang Labor 11,028 0.65 +0.17 0 − All others 1,502 0.09 +0.09 0 − 1,693,823 94 |} Retiring members Candidates of the 1956 New South Wales state election Retiring Members yes Seats changing party representation Seat 1953 1956 Party Member Member Party Armidale   Labor NSW Jim Cahill Davis Hughes Country NSW   Coogee Lou Walsh Kevin Ellis politician Liberal NSW   Drummoyne Roy Jackson politician Walter Lawrence Australian politician Georges River Frank O'Neill politician Douglas Cross Hartley   Independent Labor NSW Jim Chalmers New South Wales politician Jim Robson politician Labor NSW   KahibahJoshua Arthur (Labor NSW) resigned as a result of the report of the Royal Commission concerning his relationship with Reginald Doyle. Tom Armstrong (Independent Labor NSW) won the resulting by-election.1953 Kahibah_1 1952 Kahibah by-election 2021-12-11   Labor NSW Tom Armstrong politician Independent Labor NSW   Parramatta Kevin Morgan Australian politician James Clough Liberal NSW   Sutherland Tom Dalton Ian Griffith Waratah Robert Cameron New South Wales politician Frank Purdue Independent   Aftermath Joe Cahill's triumph at this election ensured that he remained premier during the course of the parliament. Pat Morton remained Leader of the Opposition but Michael Bruxner finally retired as Leader of the New South Wales Country Party, a position he had held since 1932 and was replaced by Davis Hughes in 1958. During the parliament there were 6 by-elections. This led to changes in party representation in Kahibah where Tom Armstrong (Independent Labor) died and the endorsed Labor candidate Jack Stewart won the resulting by-election and in Wagga Wagga where Eddie Graham (Labor) died and the Liberal's Wal Fife won the resulting by-election. These results reduced the government's effective majority by 1. See also Candidates of the 1956 New South Wales state election Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1956–1959 Notes References Category:Elections in New South Wales Category:1956 elections in Australia Category:1950s in New South Wales Category:March 1956 in Australia