1907 Blayney state by-election

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1907 Blayney state by-election

| type = parliamentary

| country = New South Wales

| seats_for_election = Electoral district of Blayney in the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1904 New South Wales state election

| previous_year = 1904

| next_election = 1907 New South Wales state election

| next_year = Nov. 1907

| election_date = 12 January 1907

| candidate1 = John Withington

| image1 =

| party1 = Liberal Reform Party (Australia)

| popular_vote1 = 1,733

| percentage1 = 50.33%

| candidate2 = George Beeby

| image2 = x160px

| party2 = Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)

| popular_vote2 = 1,710

| percentage2 = 49.67%

| map_image =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| title = MLA

| before_election = Paddy Crick

| before_party = Progressive Party (1901)

| after_election = John Withington

| after_party = Liberal Reform Party (Australia)

| turnout = 50.6% ({{decrease}} 15.5%)

}}{{short description|Election result for Blayney, New South Wales, Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=April 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Blayney on 12 January 1907 because Paddy Crick ({{Australian politics/name|Progressive}}) resigned from Parliament after findings of corruption made by a Royal Commission.{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |first2=Bede |last2=Nairn |first=Martha |last=Rutledge |name-list-style=amp |title=Crick, William Patrick (1862–1908) |id2=crick-william-patrick-paddy-5821 |access-date=15 August 2020}} Crick had also been expelled from the Legislative Assembly for outrageous behaviour in the chamber, however he was returned in the resulting by-election.

The Royal Commission handed down an interim report in May 1906, which found that 50% of the sums received by a land agent Peter Close were paid to Crick whilst he was Minister for Lands. The Legislative Assembly proposed to immediately deal with Crick, however the Speaker ruled that the Assembly could not deal with the matter as it might prejudice his criminal trial. Instead the assembly amended its standing orders and suspended Crick pending the outcome of his criminal trial.{{cite book |first1=Anne |last1=Twomey |author-link=Anne Twomey (academic) |title=The Constitution of New South Wales |year=2004 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=9781862875166 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KayCZfZwafwC&pg=PA458 458] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KayCZfZwafwC&pg=PA458 |access-date=2021-04-03}} The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and the Attorney General declined to prosecute the matter again as evidence before the Royal Commission had been ruled inadmissible in his criminal trial. Crick then submitted his resignation from parliament, however before it was accepted the assembly passed a motion that he was guilty of conduct that rendered him ineligible to sit as a member. Rutledge and Nairn stated this was due to old scores being paid off, while Anne Twomey stated that this motion was passed to influence future voters not to vote for Crick. In any event Crick did not nominate for the by-election.