Talk:List of New South Wales state by-elections

Wal Fife's resignation

I adjusted the reason for Wal Fife's resignation from Wagga Wagga in 1975 as I was not satisfied of him contesting Farrer at the 1975 federal election as being the reason.

The fact is he resigned in October 1975 and the federal election in December 1975 was triggered by the Whitlam Dismissal on November 11.

Therefore he could not have known in October 1975 that there would be an early federal election in December 1975.

It perhaps would be helpful to know what he actually said at the moment of his resignation from Wagga Wagga in October 1975.218.214.52.68 (talk) 04:03, 30 October 2021 (UTC)

Your opinion as to plausibility, based on nothing more than a limited chronology of events is original research, which, due to the lack of verifiability, is not permitted on Wikipedia. In this case the assumption you are making is that the dismissal & early general election was the only way for a vacancy in the seat to arise. If you go to the article 1975 Wagga Wagga state by-election you will see that the facts you are missing is that the Liberal party called for pre-selection for Farrer in August 1975, and Fife was pre-selected for the seat in September & was resigning because of it. --Find bruce (talk) 22:04, 30 October 2021 (UTC)

References

It is not original research to ask what he actually said in his resignation statement.

As far as I am aware winning the preselction alone is not a requirement for him to resign. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.3.72.79 (talk) 12:40, 3 January 2022 (UTC)

An example of what I said before was in 1995 John Fahey, Ian Causley and Paul Zammit won preselections for Federal seats but didn't resign from state Parliament until 1996 when the that federal election was called.49.3.72.79 (talk) 13:09, 3 January 2022 (UTC)

I was very much aware of Fife winning the Farrer preselection but Find bruce made it sound like I did not know it at all.

I did not missed that fact at all as I precisely took it into account when I asked that question. 49.3.72.79 (talk) 13:14, 3 January 2022 (UTC)

In answer to your original question, on 15 October 1975 (the day of his resignation), Fife asked the following question without notice in the NSW Parliament (Hansard):

"I address my question to the Premier and Treasurer. Does section 70 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act provide that a nominee for the House of Representatives or the Senate must not have been a member of a State parliament at any time within fourteen days prior to the date of nomination for a House of Representatives seat or a Senate vacancy? Is the Premier aware that, because of the uncertainty as to when the next federal election will be held, I am compelled to resign as member for Wagga Wagga to protect my federal candidature? Will the Premier assure me that during the time the seat of Wagga Wagga may be vacant he and the members of his Government will protect the interests of the Wagga Wagga electorate?"

As you can see from that question, Fife felt compelled to resign as state MP for Wagga Wagga because of a clause in the Commonwealth Electoral Act at the time which forbade nomination for candidacy within fourteen days of the nominee having been a state MP, and as the election could be called at any time, he resigned to ensure he would be eligible when the official nomination occurred. --Canley (talk) 10:14, 4 January 2022 (UTC)

Regarding the timing of the election and saying that Fife "could not have known" that an early election would be held, you have to consider the context of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis—by mid-October, speculation that Gough Whitlam would call an early election had been rampant for months. By October, when the moves to defer the appropriation bills and withhold supply were underway (to force Whitlam to call an election), it would have been virtually a certainty. In fact, the premier, Tom Lewis, in his reply to Fife's question above agreed that the Section 70 clause was unfair and said he was sure that "Mr. Fraser" would amend that legislation "in the next few months". --Canley (talk) 13:01, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Thanks Canley, I have added the additional detail to 1975 Wagga Wagga state by-election, along with contemporaneous newspaper reports of the early election speculation. --Find bruce (talk) 01:30, 11 January 2022 (UTC)