Thomas Kennedy (1860 – 16 February 1929) was an Australian politician. Born in

Gisborne, Victoria Gisborne () is a town in the Macedon Ranges, located about north-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the largest town in the Shire of Macedon Ranges, Macedon Ranges Shire, with a population of 14,432 as of June 2021 in the Gisborne di ...

, he received a primary education and was a farmer by the age of 17. In 1893, Kennedy contested the seat of Benalla and Yarrawonga in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

at the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. He received the same number of votes as another candidate, Lieutenant-Colonel

John Montgomery Templeton John Montgomery Templeton (20 May 1840 – 10 June 1908) was a Scottish Australian businessman and the author of non-forfeiture clause in life assurance policies. Templeton was born at Kilmaurs, East Ayrshire; he was the eldest son of Hugh ...

, with the returning officer declaring Templeton the winner on his casting vote. Kennedy then lodged a petition with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, alleging irregularities in the electoral process (the Devenish booth had received no electoral roll), and also that Templeton held an office of profit under the crown as a member of the Victorian militia and an official liquidator. In November 1893, the Committee of Elections and Qualifications declared the election in Benalla and Yarrawonga void, although it also ruled that liquidator was not an office of profit under the crown. A by-election was held on 20 November, which Kennedy won. He remained in the Legislative Assembly until 1901. In that year, he transferred to federal politics, winning the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

seat of Moira for the

Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party, also known as the Protectionist Liberal Party or Liberal Protectionist Party, was an Politics of Australia, Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. T ...

at the first federal election. Kennedy's seat of Moira was abolished in 1906; he contested

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative cen ...

instead, but was narrowly defeated by Albert Palmer. He retired from politics and became a farmer at

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

. Kennedy died in 1929.

References

1860 births 1929 deaths Protectionist Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Moira Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly People from Gisborne, Victoria People from the Colony of Victoria Australian MPs 1901–1903 Australian MPs 1903–1906 {{Australia-politician-stub