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1954 Papua New Guinean general election
Number 57: New article
'''General elections''' were held in [[Territory of Papua and New Guinea|Papua and New Guinea]] on 2 October 1954.<ref name=PIM6/>
==Electoral system==
The 29-member [[Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea|Legislative Council]] consisted of the [[List of colonial governors of Papua New Guinea|Administrator]], 16 civil servants, nine members appointed by the Administrator (three representatives of the indigenous population, three representing European settlers and three representing missionaries) and three elected Europeans.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2Hrjw57 Local voice in Papua-N. Guinea administration: Legislative Council Taking Shape After Long Delay] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1951, p9</ref> The [[Chinese people in Papua New Guinea|Chinese community]] were also given the right to vote alongside Europeans.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2UGvRrq Future of Chinese Communities In The Pacific] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1953, p40</ref> However, although there were around 13,000 Europeans and 2,000 Chinese in the territory, only around 2,700 people registered to vote.<ref name=PIM6>[https://ift.tt/2ZON08o Territorians Show Disinterest In Local Politics] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1954, p12</ref>
The three elected members were elected from three single-member constituencies, New Guinea Islands, New Guinea Mainland and Papua by [[Instant-runoff voting|preferential voting]].<ref name=PIM1>[https://ift.tt/2ZsUB7h P-NG Legislative Council: Election of Three Members] Pacific Islands Monthly, November 1951, p11</ref> Voting was not compulsory.<ref name=PIM2>[https://ift.tt/2ZLHovt P-NGs Second Council Elections, October 2] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', June 1954, p31</ref>
==Campaign==
Nominations for the three elected seats closed on 9 August, with five candidates put forward. The New Guinea Islands seat was contested by the incumbent [[Donald Barrett (Papua New Guinean politician)|Donald Barrett]] and John Stokie, a plantation manager. In New Guinea Mainland, the incumbent [[Carl Jacobsen (Papua New Guinean politician)|Carl Jacobsen]] did not run, resulting in a contest between the theatre owner Harry Starr and optometrist and planter [[George Whittaker (Papua New Guinean politician)|George Whittaker]]. Incumbent MLC [[Ernest James]] was the only candidate in Papua.<ref name=PIM5>[https://ift.tt/2UEyzO4 Only Few Seek PN-G Voters' Favour] ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', August 1954, p16</ref>
==Results==
{| class=wikitable
!Constituency
!Candidate
!Votes
!%
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=2|New Guinea Islands||[[Donald Barrett (Papua New Guinean politician)|Donald Barrett]]||align=right|408||align=right|77.9||Re-elected
|-
|John Stokie||align=right|116||align=right|22.1||
|-
|rowspan=2|New Guinea Mainland||[[George Whittaker (Papua New Guinean politician)|George Whittaker]]||align=right|145||align=right|78.4||Elected
|-
|Harry Starr||align=right|40||align=right|21.6||
|-
|Papua||[[Ernest James]]||align=center colspan=2|Unopposed||Re-elected
|-
|colspan=2|Invalid/blank votes||align=right|25||align=right|–||
|-
|colspan=2|'''Total'''||align=right|'''734'''||align=right|'''100'''||
|-
|colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout||align=right|1,825||align=right|40.2||
|-
|colspan=5|Source: [https://ift.tt/2ZON08o Pacific Islands Monthly]
|}
===Appointed members===
{| class=wikitable
!colspan=2|Position
!Member
|-
|colspan=2 rowspan=3|Representatives of Europeans||[[Doris Booth]]
|-
|[[Robert Bunting]]
|-
|[[Basil Fairfax-Ross]]
|-
|colspan=2 rowspan=3|Representatives of Natives||[[Merari Dickson]]
|-
|[[Pita Simogun]]
|-
|[[John Vula]]
|-
|colspan=2 rowspan=3|Representatives of Missionaries||James Dwyer
|-
|Frank George Lewis
|-
|David Eric Ure
|-
|colspan=3|Source: [https://ift.tt/2ZON1cs Pacific Islands Monthly]
|}
==References==
[[Category:Elections in Papua New Guinea]]
[[Category:1954 elections in Oceania]]
[[Category:1954 in Papua New Guinea]]
[[Category:Politics of Papua and New Guinea]]
September 09, 2019 at 01:13AM
