1989 Gwydir by-election

1989 Gwydir by-election

15 April 1989

First party Second party Third party   IND IND Candidate John Anderson John Uebergang Bevan O'Regan Party National Independent Independent Popular vote 31,209 14,660 9,881 Percentage 56.0% 26.3% 17.7% Swing 1.2 26.3 17.7 TPP 60.4% 39.6% TPP swing 0.1 39.6

MP before election Ralph Hunt National Elected MP John Anderson National

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Gwydir on 15 April 1989. This was triggered by the resignation of National Party MP Ralph Hunt.

The Australian Labor Party did not field a candidate. The by-election was won by the National Party's John Anderson.

Candidates

• National Party of Australia – John Anderson, farmer and grazier.
• Independent – Bevan O'Regan. O'Regan had contested New England at the 1987 election as an independent National candidate, supporting the Joh for Canberra campaign. He later contested the Senate in 1996 for Australians Against Further Immigration and in 1998 for One Nation.
• Independent – John Uebergang. Uebergang later contested the Senate in the 1993 election for the Confederate Action Party.

Results

1989 Gwydir by-election [1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Anderson	31,209	56.0	−1.2
	Independent	John Uebergang	14,660	26.3	+26.3
	Independent	Bevan O'Regan	9,881	17.7	+17.7
Total formal votes			55,750	95.3
Informal votes			2,768	4.7
Turnout			58,518	84.0
Two-candidate-preferred result
	National	John Anderson		60.4 [a]
	Independent	John Uebergang		39.6
	National hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Australian federal by-elections

Notes

1. The Australian Electoral Commission has no record of the distribution of preferences for this by-election, despite the fact that a full distribution was required by the Electoral Act. Adam Carr estimates a majority of 60.4% for Anderson, assuming 75% of O'Regan's preferences went to Uebergang.[1]

References

1. "By-Elections 1987-1990". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 11 June 2022.