Richmond by-election, 1984

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Richmond on 18 February 1984. This was triggered by the resignation of National Party Leader MP Doug Anthony. The by-election was held to coincide with the Corangamite and Hughes by-elections.

The election was won by National candidate and future Nationals leader, Charles Blunt, despite challenges from both the Labor and Liberal parties.

Candidates

• National Party of Australia – Charles Blunt, State Director of the National Party.
• Independent – Fast Bucks. He later stood for the Senate in Queensland in 1984 for the Conservative Party, and as an independent in 1987 in Wills.
• Australian Labor Party – Peter Carmont.
• Australian Democrats – Simon Clough.
• Independent – Denis Griffin.
• Liberal Party of Australia – Brian Pezzutti, former national serviceman and president of the Lismore branch of the Liberal Party. He was later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council.
• Uninflated Movement – Nadar Ponnuswamy, Newtown restaurateur and candidate at the October 1983 Marrickville by-election.^[1]

Results

Richmond by-election, 1984[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Peter Carmont	28,914	36.2	-3.5
	National	Charles Blunt	26,972	33.8	-19.2
	Liberal	Brian Pezzutti	16,948	21.2	+21.2
	Independent	Fast Bucks	3,657	4.6	+4.6
	Democrats	Simon Clough	2,587	3.2	-4.1
	Independent	Denis Griffin	469	0.6	+0.6
	Uninflated Movement	Nadar Ponnuswamy	290	0.4	+0.4
Total formal votes			79,837	98.3
Informal votes			1,383	1.7
Turnout			81,220	89.8
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Charles Blunt	44,528	55.8	-0.1
	Labor	Peter Carmont	35,309	44.2	+0.1
	National hold		Swing	-0.1

See also

• List of Australian federal by-elections

References

1. Thomson, Robert (20 February 1984). "Like Gandhi, Swamp let the people decide". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 September 2015 – via Google News.
2. "By-Elections 1983-1984". Psephos.