1992 Ku-ring-gai state by-election

Background

Main article: Terry Metherell

The seat of Ku-ring-gai, a traditionally safe Liberal seat, was held since 1980 by Nick Greiner, who had been Premier of New South Wales since 1988. However, with the hung parliament result of the 1991 election, Greiner's performance in government had become dependent on the support of the few independent members of the legislative assembly. With the resignation from the party of former minister Terry Metherell in October 1991, the government's majority became even tighter. 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.

While the Liberal Party won the by-election, there was a much higher cost. Because the Greiner government was in a minority, it could not prevent the Legislative Assembly referring the matter of Metherell's appointment to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which made findings of corruption. These findings were eventually ruled by the Supreme Court of New South Wales as being outside the powers of the ICAC to make, but by then Premier Greiner had already resigned as Premier and an MP after the four independent MPs threatened to bring down the government if Greiner stayed in office.

Results

Saturday 22 August}}

Notes

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References

References

1. Green, Antony. "Ku-ring-gai - NSW Votes 2011". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
2. "Davidson - profile". The Poll Bludger - 2007 election.
3. (1991). "1992 Ku-ring-gai by-election".