1969 Gwydir by-election

1969 Gwydir by-election

7 June 1969
The Gwydir seat in the House of Representatives
Turnout	39,800 (88.2%)
First party Second party   Candidate Ralph Hunt Roger Nott Party National Labor Popular vote 21,113 18,293 Percentage 53.6% 46.4% Swing 7.7 7.7
MP before election Ian Allan National Elected MP Ralph Hunt National

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Gwydir on 7 June 1969. This was triggered by the resignation of Country Party MP Ian Allan, who had been appointed Secretary-General and regional director of ANZAC war graves in the Pacific Region of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. As a by-election for the seat of Bendigo had just been called, the two were held on the same day.

The by-election was won by Country Party candidate Ralph Hunt.

Candidates

The Country Party candidate, Ralph Hunt, was the NSW and federal chairman of the party, and a farmer and grazier from northern New South Wales.

The Labor candidate, Roger Nott, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Liverpool Plains, largely located within Gwydir, from 1941 until 1961, and served as a minister in the Cahill and Heffron governments, before being appointed by the Menzies government as Administrator of the Northern Territory.

Key dates

Date	Event
30 April 1969	The Speaker announced that Ian Allan had resigned from Parliament.
1 May 1969	The writ for the by-election was issued.
16 May 1969	Close of nominations.
7 June 1969	Polling day.
4 July 1969	Return of the writ.
12 August 1969	Ralph Hunt was sworn in as the member for Gwydir.

Results

Gwydir by-election, 1969

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Country	Ralph Hunt	21,113	53.6	−7.7
	Labor	Roger Nott	18,293	46.4	+7.7
Total formal votes			39,406	99.0
Informal votes			394	1.0
Turnout			39,800	88.2
	Country hold		Swing	−7.7