1944 Kearsley Shire Council election

March 2024 New South Wales 2 December 1944 1941 New South Wales local elections 1941 1947 New South Wales local elections 1947 parliamentary no 150x150px Bill Varty Communist Party of Australia 4,149 5 seats 52.29% 52.29 IND N/A Independents 2 seats 3,084 38.66% ALP A. Johnson Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) 1 seat 703 8.85% The 1944 Kearsley Shire Council election was held on 2 December 1944 to elect eight councillors to Kearsley Shire. The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales, Australia.Local Government Election Results https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17930168 Sydney Morning Herald 4 December 1944 The election was notable for resulting in five members of the Australian Communist Party being elected. According to the party's official newspaper, Tribune, this was the first time a communist party had won a local government majority in the English-speaking world.NELLIE SIMM — A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY AND COURAGE https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/259569161. Tribune 3 August 1983 KEARSLEY COUNCIL ELECTS PRESIDENT https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208690270 Tribune 21 December 1944 As of 2024, this is the most seats won by a communist political party in Australia in a single LGA. The present-day Communist Party of Australia had one councillor elected to Auburn City Council from 2012 until 2016, which remains its only electoral victory.Auburn City Council http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2012/council/?page=Auburn ABC News 2024-03-09 2014-08-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20140822215459/http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2012/council/?page=Auburn bot: unknown Background Kearsley Shire was one of 138 shire councils in New South Wales in 1944. It was based in Cessnock, and also included the towns of Branxton, Greta and Kearsley. The council was split into four two-member wards (also known as ridings) − A Riding, B Riding, C Riding and D Riding.Little Interest in Local Elections https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17930249 Sydney Morning Herald 4 December 1944 Shire of Kearsley: Town improvement districts 111 2471 17 September 1948 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224782566 National Library of Australia During World War II, the party (although banned from 1940 to 1942) rose in popularity. Its membership rose to 20,000, it won control of a number of important trade unions, and a Communist candidate, Fred Paterson, was elected to the Queensland parliament in April 1944. In late 1944, the party launched a campaign to get its members elected to councils. At the statewide local elections in December, a total of 16 Communist candidates won seats across six different LGAs, with its best results in Kearsley and neighbouring Cessnock.Mowbray Martin The Red Shire of Kearsley, 1944-1947: Communists in Local Government Labour History November 1986 51 51 83–94 10.2307/27508799 http://links.org.au/files/Red%20Shire%20of%20Kearsley,%201944-1947%20Communists%20in%20Local%20Government.pdf Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Inc. 27508799 19 April 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180419120116/http://links.org.au/files/Red%20Shire%20of%20Kearsley,%201944-1947%20Communists%20in%20Local%20Government.pdf dead Results Five Communist councillors were elected, giving the party a majority. The party's best result was in B Riding, where the Communist ticket had 74% of the vote. Both independent councillors in A Riding were re-elected unopposed.Kearsley Shire nominations Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder 10 October 1944 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/100047613 CESSCessnock Eagle and South Maitland RecorderCandidates for election https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/100047412 Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder 10 November 1944 Labor beaten https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/160663100 National Advocate 4 December 1944 Results of the 1944 New South Wales local elections Kearsley yes Aftermath Following the election, councillors voted for William "Bill" Varty to serve as shire president. Between 1930 and 1943, prior to running as a Communist, Varty had served in the position for four (yearly) terms, along with two years as deputy president. He was also a former Australian Labor Party (ALP) and State Labor Party member. Reacting to the election of the Communists, other councils − including Albury, Maitland, Muswellbrook and Taree − accused Kearley of "deplorable action" and "disloyalty". However, Lake Macquarie (which itself had elected three Communist councillors) co-operated with Kearsley.12.1.45:1 Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder After the election, the council was committed to municipal socialism, advocating nationalisation of electricity and the expansion of the social wage, and was unique for its commitment to activism around federal and international affairs. 1947 election 1947 New South Wales local elections Ahead of the 1947 local elections, the state Labor government introduced compulsory voting for local elections, seen as an attempt to give them an advantage and harm the Communist Party. Allan Opie resigned from council on 14 August 1947, and Bernard Tonner took his place as one of the candidates on the Communist ticket in B Riding. The elections saw Communist Party councillors defeated in five LGAs, with no members re-elected in Kearsley (although their actual number of votes rose, their percent of the vote went down). Five Labor candidates, including incumbent C Riding councillor A. Johnson, were elected. Former councillor Mary Ellen "Nellie" Simm later ran for the party at the 1950 state election in Kurri Kurri, and again at the 1951 Australian Senate election.Mary Ellen (Nellie) Simm (1901–1983) https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/simm-mary-ellen-nellie-33066 People Australia References Kearsley Kearsley Category:Local elections in New South Wales Kearsley