1984 Hughes by-election

1984 Hughes by-election

18 February 1984

First party Second party   Candidate Robert Tickner Clifford Mason Party Labor Liberal Popular vote 40,728 22,962 Percentage 58.1% 32.7% Swing 3.5pp 4.3pp TPP 63.0% 37.0% TPP swing 5.3pp 5.3pp

MP before election Les Johnson Labor Elected MP Robert Tickner Labor

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Hughes on 18 February 1984. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP Les Johnson to become Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand. The by-election was held to coincide with the Corangamite and Richmond by-elections.

The election was won by Labor candidate Robert Tickner, despite a 5.3% swing to the Liberal Party.

Candidates

• Australian Democrats – Ronald Hellyer.
• Independent – Leslie Johnson.
• Liberal Party of Australia – Clifford Mason.
• Australian National Action Group – Jim Saleam, a far-right activist who had previously been involved with the Australian Nazi Party.
• Australian Labor Party – Robert Tickner, a Sydney City Councillor.

Results

Hughes by-election, 1984

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Robert Tickner	40,728	58.1	−3.5
	Liberal	Clifford Mason	22,962	32.7	+4.3
	Democrats	Ronald Hellyer	4,065	5.8	−3.3
	Independent	Leslie Johnson	1,393	2.0	+2.0
	National Action	Jim Saleam	970	1.4	+1.4
Total formal votes			70,118	97.9
Informal votes			1,486	2.1
Turnout			71,604	86.2
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Robert Tickner	44,162	63.0	−5.3
	Liberal	Clifford Mason	25,956	37.0	+5.3
	Labor hold		Swing	−5.3

See also

• List of Australian federal by-elections