1969 Gwydir by-election

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.^[1] As a by-election for the seat of Bendigo had just been called, the two were held on the same day.

1969 Gwydir by-election

← 1966 7 June 1969 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

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.^[1]

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.^[1][2]

Key dates

Date	Event
30 April 1969	The Speaker announced that Ian Allan had resigned from Parliament.[3]
1 May 1969	The writ for the by-election was issued.[4]
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.[5]

Results

Gwydir by-election, 1969^[6]

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