Guide 3 to NSW State Archives relating to Responsible Government - OCR - Flipbook - Page 187
A Guide to New South Wales State Archives relating to Responsible Government
the redistribution of electorates to City and Newcastle 60 and
Country 40; the life of Parliament to be five years instead of the
then existing three; and other matters. Cabinet considered at its
meeting of 30 January 1945 that this matter should be
resubmitted at a later date.
A sub-Committee of Cabinet appointed on 3 May 1949 agreed on a
number of amendments to the Parliamentary Electorates and
Elections Act, including redistribution to be carried out by a single
Commissioner, to be the Electoral Commissioner; the existing
division of State into three areas to be rescinded and equal quota
adopted for each of the 90 electorates (the principle of one-voteone value); the margin of allowance on the quota for each
Electoral District not to be departed from to a greater extent that
1/5 more or 1/5 less; the tightening of postal voting provisions
generally to be enforced; etc. The Chief Secretary was instructed
to proceed with the drafting of the Bill, following the decision at
the Cabinet meeting of 10 May 1949.
Included are papers relating to: the redistribution of State
electoral boundaries by the Electoral Districts Commissioners;
appointment of the Electoral Districts Commissioner for the 1949
re-distribution; visit overseas by the Electoral Commissioner to
study electoral methods; naming of new State Electorates;
removal of subdivisions from one Electoral District to another;
abolition of the payment of deposits by candidates for election to
Parliament; abolition of compulsory preferential voting; control of
press and radio publicity prior to the polling date; capping
expenditure on elections, in particular on newspaper
advertisements; size of electoral posters; removal of electoral
signs posted up or exhibited in contravention of the Parliamentary
Electorates and Elections Act; and, the Parliamentary Electorates
and Elections Act (Amendment) Act, 1950, which repealed Section
151C of the Act prohibiting the exhibition, printing, publishing or
distributing of electoral matter during the period of 70 hours
immediately preceding the hour fixed for the closing of the poll.
Also included are: newspapers clippings; lists of enrolment figures
for each electoral district in New South Wales as at 27 February
1948; advising from the Crown Solicitor on the redistribution of
State electoral boundaries under sections 6 and 13 of the
Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act, 1912-46;
representations by private individuals or organisations about
electoral matters; 1952 procedures regarding objections to
proposed new electoral boundaries; note of a deputation from the
New South Wales Country Press Association on 6 February 1950;
and, copies of legislation, including the Parliamentary Electorates
and Elections (Amendment) Bill, 1952.
State election press clippings — "1956 election"
These clippings, taken from Sydney newspapers by officers of the
Premier's Department, give a good indication of the policies, issues
and electioneering of the time. They include Party advertisements,
summation of results and articles on prominent politicians, the
voting system and party platform.
184
CGS 12061,
[7/11880]
State Records Authority of New South Wales
