Davidson by-election, 1992
Encyclopedia
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
seat of Davidson
Electoral district of Davidson
Davidson is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Jonathan O'Dea of the Liberal Party of Australia.-Members for Davidson:-Election results:...
on 2 May 1992.
It was triggered by the resignation of former Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
-turned Independent MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Terry Metherell
Terry Metherell
Terry Alan Metherell is a former Australian politician who represented the Electoral district of Davidson in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1981 to 1992. When the Liberal Party won the 1988 election, Premier Nick Greiner appointed him Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, a...
, after the scandal known as the 'Metherell Crisis'.
The seat was subsequently won by Andrew Humpherson
Andrew Humpherson
Andrew Humpherson, is a former Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Davidson from 1992-2007.-Early life:...
of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
. However the Liberals suffered a 16% drop in their primary vote, and a 14% drop in their two party preferred vote.
Background
The seat of Davidson, a traditionally safe Liberal seat, was held since 1981 by Dr Terry Metherell, a controversial Minister for Education in the first term of the GreinerNick Greiner
Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married...
government
Charges of tax avoidance forced his resignation from the Ministry in 1990. However there was speculation that he would be re-appointed to the ministry when the Greiner government was re-elected in 1991. However, at the 1991 election
New South Wales state election, 1991
Elections to the 50th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 25 May 1991. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election...
, the Greiner government emerged without a clear majority and all hopes of a ministerial appointment for Metherell were squashed. Feeling betrayed and rejected from his party, in October 1991 Metherell resigned from the Liberal Party live on the 7:30 Report, without having given his colleagues notice.
The government subsequently created a job for Metherell, a position with the Environment Protection Agency, which he accepted, effectively engineering a vacancy in a seat the Liberal Party would recover at a by-election. Labor did not nominate a candidate, but a field of Independents and minor parties reduced the Liberal vote by 16%, and 14% after preferences.
Results
The Liberal Party retained the seat, despite a swing of 16%. The Liberal candidate, WarringahWarringah Council
Warringah is a local council area in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, Australia. Warringah Council overlaps with a number of suburbs from the Manly Council area to the south and the Pittwater Council area to the north...
Councillor since 1985, Andrew Humpherson, was declared the winner against Independent Candidate and Warringah Councillor since 1980, Julie Sutton
Julie Sutton (mayor)
Julie Sutton, JP is a New South Wales politician, elected as a Councillor of Warringah Council and was previously Mayor of Warringah from 1995–1996 and 2002-2003.-Early life:...
.