A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Murray on 6 October 1973 because of the death of Joe Lawson (Independent).
[1] Lawson had represented the district since 1932, as a member of the Country Party until 1968 when he lost pre-selection.
He ran as an independent, winning the seat at the 1968 and 1971 elections.
[2] This was the first election for all 3 candidates and each would again contest the electorate at the general election in November 1973 with similar results.