1967 Roe state by-election

The 1967 Roe state by-election was a by-election held on 2 September 1967 for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Roe in the southeastern agricultural part of the state.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Country Party member Tom Hart on 6 July 1967.

The seat of Roe, first established in 1950, was considered to be a safe seat for the Country Party. At the time of the by-election, the seat included the towns of Dumbleyung, Gnowangerup, Kondinin, Kulin, Lake Grace, Narembeen and Ravensthorpe.^[1]

Timeline

Date	Event
6 July 1967	Tom Hart resigned, vacating the seat of Roe.
2 August 1967	The Minister for Justice, Arthur Griffith, appointed polling places in the district.
4 August 1967	Writs were issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to proceed with a by-election.
11 August 1967	Close of nominations and draw of ballot papers.
2 September 1967	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
18 September 1967	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

The by-election attracted two candidates. Bill Young, representing the Country Party, was a farmer and party official residing in Kondinin, while Mel Bungey, representing the Liberal and Country League, was a farmer residing in Gnowangerup.

Bill Young easily retained the seat for the Country Party. No swings are noted due to the seat being uncontested at the 1965 election.

Roe state by-election, 1967^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Country	Bill Young	3,481	66.89
	Liberal	Mel Bungey	1,723	33.11
Total formal votes			5,204	97.86
Informal votes			114	2.14
Turnout			5,318	81.29
	Country hold		Swing	N/A

^ "Electoral Act 1907–1964: Roe Electoral District By-Election: Polling Places". Western Australia Government Gazette. 2 August 1967. p. 1967:1909.
^ Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth: Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. p. 296. ISBN 0-7309-8409-5.