1959 New South Wales state election

State election for New South Wales, Australia in March 1959 December 2021 December 2021 1959 New South Wales state election New South Wales parliamentary no 1956 New South Wales state election 1956 1962 New South Wales state election 1962 All 94 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly48 Assembly seats were needed for a majority yes 1959 03 21 150x150px Joseph Cahill 2 April 1952 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) Cook's River 49.12% 1.87 50 seats 49 1 150x150px Pat Morton 20 September 1955 Liberal/Country coalition Mosman 44.06% 2.19 42 seats 44 2 1959 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 1959 New South Wales state election was held on 21 March 1959. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1957 redistribution.http://www.atlas.nsw.gov.au/public/nsw/home/topic/article/1957-redistribution.html 1957 Redistribution Atlas of New South Wales NSW Land & Property Information https://web.archive.org/web/20150623031719/http://www.atlas.nsw.gov.au/public/nsw/home/topic/article/1957-redistribution.html 23 June 2015 dead 1957 redistribution The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Key dates Date Event 16 February 1959 The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. 20 February 1959 Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. 21 March 1959 Polling day. 1 April 1959 Fourth Cahill ministry sworn in. 16 April 1959 Last day for the writs to be returned and the results formally declared. 21 April 1959 Opening of 39th Parliament. Redistribution A redistribution of electoral boundaries was undertaken in 1957 based on the 1954 Australian Census. Reflecting population shifts from the eastern and inner western suburbs of Sydney to western Sydney, two safe Liberal seats, Ashfield and Croydon were combined into the seat of Ashfield-Croydon and two safe Labor seats, Paddington and Waverley were combined into Paddington-Waverley. Merrylands was created in Western Sydney and was a notional Labor seat. In addition, the marginal seat of Parramatta became a safe Labor seat. In southern Sydney, the marginal seat of Sutherland became a safe Labor seat by the creation of Cronulla which had a notional Liberal majority. The effect of the redistribution was to increase Labor's numbers by 1. Issues In March 1959, Labor had been in power for 18 years and Joseph Cahill had been premier for 7 years. Cahill, who was commonly known as "old smoothie" continued to be a popular premier but the opposition campaign argued that his cabinet consisted of "tired old men". While nationally the Labor party remained divided on sectarian and ideological grounds, in New South Wales much of the split between Labor and the DLP had been avoided. Clive Evatt, the brother of H V Evatt, who had been the major left-wing agitator within the caucus was expelled from the party after he voted against a government move to increase tram fares. As a result, party unity was significantly improved. However, a small branch of the DLP under the leadership of Jake Kane had organised in NSW and nominated candidates at this election for the first time. Cahill attacked the opposition for its "reckless election promises" which were "worth no more than a handful of Bondi sand" . Morton promises like Bondi beach sand The Sydney Morning Herald 3 March 1959 4 Labor promised, that if re-elected, it would form a Commonwealth- State Housing Corporation to lend up to 95% of housing costs on a 45-year basis. It would attempt to reduce road taxes for haulage companies and promised a vigorous program of road development including the possible use of privately constructed toll roads. Cahill announced plans to build Housing Commission towers in Surry Hills and promised a referendum on the abolition of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Labor Plan for 95% home purchase loans The Sydney Morning Herald 25 February 1959 1 The coalition of the Liberal Party and the Country Party coalition had been led by Pat Morton since September 1955. However, Morton remained a somewhat aloof figure, with a public presence more typical of pre-war conservative politicians, and found it difficult to connect with the public. Davis Hughes, who had led the Country Party since September 1958 was forced to resign the leadership at the start of the campaign when it was revealed that he had falsely claimed to have a university degree. He was replaced by Charles Cutler. The opposition campaigned on the government's broken promises and its continuing record of over-budget and uncompleted public works. In addition it promised to abolish several taxes including; land tax and the road maintenance tax. School transport would be free and the number of high school bursaries increased. Sewering the outer western suburbs, with a deep sea discharge, and completing the Sandy Hollow railway line were the opposition's public works priorities. The housing crisis was to be resolved by the government construction of 100,000 houses in 3 years.McMullin Ross The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891-1991 Oxford University Press 1991 0-19-554966-X Results Results of the 1959 New South Wales state election The result of the election showed little change but was a clear victory for Labor with a buffer of 2 seats in the parliament. Labor regained the seat of Hurstville from Clive Evatt who had sat as an Independent Labor member since his expulsion from the party. It had already reclaimed Kahibah at a by-election caused by the death of the Independent Labor Member Tom Armstrong. However Labor failed to take back the usually safe seat of Waratah from Frank Purdue. As expected Labor won Parramatta, Sutherland and Merrylands but lost Dubbo, Cronulla and Blacktown to the Liberals. It had already lost the seat of Wagga Wagga at a by-election caused by the death of Eddie Graham. Labor also lost Young to the Country Party. The DLP performed poorly, finishing behind the Communist party with less than 2% of the vote. {{Australian elections/Title row | table style = float:right;clear:right;margin-left:1em; | title = New South Wales state election, 21 March 19591959 Totals 1959 election totals 12 August 2019 | house = Legislative Assembly | series = New South Wales state election | back = 1956 | forward = 1962 | enrolled = 2,075,268There were 1,850,675 enrolled voters in 83 contested electorates and 224,593 were enrolled in 11 uncontested electorates (1 Labor, 5 Liberal and 5 Country ). | total_votes = 1,739,580 | turnout % = 94.00 | turnout chg = +0.73 | informal = 31,864 | informal % = 1.83 | informal chg = +0.16 }} yes Labor NSW 838,836 49.12 +1.87 49 −1 Liberal NSW 603,718 35.35 −0.74 28 +1 Country NSW 148,738 8.71 −1.45 16 +1 Independent 61,939 3.63 +0.50 1 − Communist 24,784 1.45 −0.29 0 − dlp 22,508 1.32 +1.32 0 − Independent Labor NSW 7,193 0.42 −1.46 0 −1 1,707,716 94 |} {{ bar box | float=right | title=Popular vote | titlebar=#ddd | width=600px | barwidth=410px | bars= Labor Australian Labor Party 49.12 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 35.35 Country National Party of Australia – NSW 8.71 Independents Independent 4.05 Communist #C00000 1.45 Democratic Labor #008080 1.32 #ddd Seats Labor Australian Labor Party 52.13 49 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 29.79 28 Country National Party of Australia – NSW 17.02 16 Independents Independent 1.06 1 }} Retiring members Candidates of the 1959 New South Wales state election Retiring Members yes Seats changing party representation Seat 1956 1959 Party Member Member Party Ashfield   Liberal NSW Richard MurdenUnsuccessfully contested Ashfield-Croyden. za Absorbed into Ashfield-Croydon Ashfield-Croydon za New seatNotional liberal Ashfield-Croydon and Cronulla were notionally Liberal seats.1957 redistribution David Hunter New South Wales politician Liberal NSW   Blacktown   Labor NSW John Freeman Australian politicianretired Alfred Dennis politician Cronulla zc New seat Ian Griffith Croydon   Liberal NSW David Hunter New South Wales politicianSuccessfully contested Ashfield-Croyden. zc Absorbed into Ashfield-Croyden Dubbo   Labor NSW Clarrie Robertson Les Ford Liberal NSW   KahibahTom Armstrong (Independent Labor NSW) died and Jack Stewart (Labor NSW) won the resulting by-election.   Independent Labor NSW Jack Stewart New South Wales politician Labor NSW   Merrylands zm New seatNotional labor Merrylands and Paddington-Waverley were notionally Labor seats.1957 redistribution Jack Ferguson Paddington   Labor NSW Maurice O'Sullivan politicianretired Did not contest the election. zp Absorbed into Paddington-Waverley Paddington-Waverley zp New seatNotional labor William Ferguson 1891–1961 Labor NSW   Parramatta   Liberal NSW Jim Cloughretired Dan Mahoney politician Sutherland Ian GriffithSuccessfully contested Cronulla. Tom Dalton Wagga WaggaEddie Graham (Labor NSW) died and Wal Fife (Liberal NSW) won the resulting by-election.   Labor NSW Wal Fife Liberal NSW   Waverley William Ferguson 1891–1961Successfully contested Paddington-Waverley. zw Absorbed into Paddington-Waverley Young Fred Cahillretired George Freudenstein Country NSW   Aftermath Joseph Cahill died in October 1959 and was replaced by Robert Heffron who continued as Premier for the rest of the term. Pat Morton was replaced as Leader of the Opposition in July 1959 by Robert Askin. Charles Cutler remained Leader of the New South Wales Country Party throughout the term of the parliament. During the parliament there were 6 by-elections with Labor and the Country Party each winning a seat at the other party's expense. See also Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1959–1962 Candidates of the 1959 New South Wales state election Notes References Category:Elections in New South Wales Category:1959 elections in Australia Category:1950s in New South Wales Category:March 1959 in Australia