This is a list of by-elections for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

. A by-election may be held when a member's seat becomes vacant through resignation, death or some other reasons. These are referred to as casual vacancies. *Brackets around a date (D/M/Y) indicate that the candidate was unopposed when nominations closed or that, as a result of an appeal against an election result, the sitting member was replaced by the appellant. These candidates were declared "elected unopposed" with effect from the date of the closing of nominations or appeal decision, and there was no need to hold a by-election. *By-elections which resulted in a change in party representation are highlighted as: Gains for the Labor Party and its splinter groups in ; for the

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 ...

and its predecessors in ; for the National Party and its predecessors in ; for independents and minor parties in ; for the

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

in and for the

Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party or Liberal Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. The party advocated protective tariffs, arguing it would allow Australi ...

in . __NOTOC__

No party system was discernible in the New South Wales parliament before the election of 1887

__NOTOC__

Causes

A by-election may occur whenever there is a vacancy in the Legislative Assembly. Vacancies can occur for reasons including: * Death * Voluntary resignation for any reason; historically these reasons have included: ** Retirement ** Ill-health ** Family or business commitments ** Prolonged absence from the state—this occurred most commonly in the period when travel to Europe required a long sea voyage ** Loss of cabinet position, e.g., the resignation of

Reba Meagher Reba Paige Meagher (born 11 September 1967) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electoral district of Cabramatta. She was a minister in various portfolios from 2003 t ...

in 2008 after she lost the position of

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

** Matters of principle, e.g., Billy Dunn resigned from the seat of

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area as well as being th ...

in 1911 after disagreeing with his party's land ownership legislation. ** Resignation or expulsion from a political party ** To create a vacancy for a party leader who did not have a seat. This occurred most recently in 1986 when Rockdale MLA

Brian Bannon Brian Joseph Bannon (22 August 1930 – 6 October 2017) was an Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Rockdale in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1959 to 1986. He died in Sydney on 6 October 2017. Biography Bannon ...

resigned to enable newly elected

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

Barrie Unsworth Barrie John Unsworth (born 16 April 1934) is a former Australian politician, representing the Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988. Early years Unswort ...

to transfer from the Legislative Council to the Legislative Assembly. ** Public disgrace ** As a result of an inducement from an opposing party and thus create the potential for that party to increase its representation e.g. Independent MLA

Alick Kay Alick Dudley Kay (3 October 1884 – 4 February 1961) was an Australian politician and Domain orator. He is described by the Australian Dictionary of Biography as a "harmless ratbag". Early life and education Kay was born in the Sydney subur ...

accepted an appointment to the Metropolitan Meat Board in 1927. Under a controversial use of the Legislative Assembly (Casual Vacancies) Act, he was replaced by Labor's

Arthur Tonge Arthur Tonge (18 December 1887 – 1 June 1963) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1926 and 1932 and from 1935 to 1962. He was variously a member of the Labor Party (ALP), the Australia ...

; this gave the government of Jack Lang a secure majority in the house. *Constitutional ineligibility to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly, including: **Election result voided or overturned on appeal—appeals were initially made to the Qualifications Committee of the Assembly but since 1928 they have been determined by the Court of Disputed Returns **Election to two seats—in which case the member was required to resign from one seat **Appointment or election to the Legislative Council This occurred most commonly prior to 1936, when members of the council were appointed for life by the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

**Election to another parliament, particularly federal parliament—members are required to resign prior to the issuing of the writs for the other parliament's election **Having or accepting a position of profit under the crown **Not being a citizen of Australia **Non-residence in New South Wales for more than 6 months prior to election **Becomes of "unsound mind" **Insolvency **Conviction for a major criminal offence or, since 2007, having faced trial on a charge of sexual abuse of a minor **Absence from the house for an entire session without leave **Expulsion from the house for infamous conduct **Ministerial appointment Until 1904, members appointed to a ministerial position were required to face a by-election. These were generally uncontested. The political instability of New South Wales in the Nineteenth century caused a very large number of these by-elections and for convenience they have not been listed unless the minister was defeated. It is now a convention that a by-election is not held if a vacancy occurs within 3–4 months of an expected dissolution of the parliament.

Notes

References

{{Australian by-elections

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

By-elections 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 use ...