A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Parramatta on 22 September 1973. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Liberal Party long servng Attorney General and Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Honourable (and later Sir) Nigel Bowen who accepted an appointment to the NSW Court of Appeal.
The seat was retained by the Liberal Party, with Philip Ruddock defeating the Parramatta City Council Mayor, Barry Wilde, who contested the seat for the Labor Party. Ten other candidates from minor parties contested the seat.
| Parramatta by-election, 1973[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Philip Ruddock | 33,506 | 52.6 | +6.6 | |
| Labor | Barry Wilde | 24,623 | 38.7 | -7.3 | |
| Australia Party | John Butterworth | 3,522 | 5.5 | +2.0 | |
| Independent | Marilyn Pye | 575 | 0.9 | n/a | |
| Def. of Govt Schools | Michael Hourihan | 528 | 0.8 | n/a | |
| Independent | Marcus Aussie-Stone | 363 | 0.6 | n/a | |
| Independent | Sidney McGarrity | 325 | 0.6 | n/a | |
| Independent | Gwenda Lister | 65 | 0.1 | n/a | |
| Independent | Edwin Bellchambers | 53 | 0.1 | n/a | |
| National Socialist | Ross May | 37 | 0.1 | n/a | |
| Independent | Leonard Kiernan | 30 | 0.0 | n/a | |
| Independent | Kevin Meares | 25 | 0.0 | n/a | |
| Total formal votes | 63,652 | 97.7 | -0.1 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,493 | 2.3 | +0.1 | ||
| Turnout | 65,145 | 88.4 | -7.3 | ||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +2.3 | |||