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The Liberal and National Parties hold Government in almost every State and Territory. In the two States where Labor clings on, the Coalition won 52% of the vote in New South Wales and 53% in Queensland.
Queensland State Election
Australian Capital Territory ElectionThe election on 18 February was the first ACT election to be conducted under the new Hare Clarke voting system (borrowed from Tasmania along with Robson rotation). The Labor minority Government was defeated - with the Liberal Party winning 40% of the vote against Labor's 30%. The Liberal Leader Kate Carnell received support from all Independents and Greens to form a Liberal Government. There are 7 Liberals, 6 Labor, 2 Greens and 2 Independents in the House of Assembly.
Northern Territory ElectionIn the last election, the Country Liberal Party took 14 seats to Labor's 9 and 2 Independents. After this decisive victory over the Labor Party, Chief Minister Marshall Perron has retired from politics - leaving Shane Stone as the leader of the Country Liberal Party Government. Other news is that the CLP Director Gary Nairn has moved down south and is the Federal candidate for the seat of Eden Monaro - where his skills will be much appreciated.
New South Wales ElectionThe Coalition wons over 52% of the vote throughout the State, but Labor took Government by focussing its vote in the marginal seats. Subsequently Bob Carr has set about breaking numerous promises - such as the infamous one on tollways. Former Liberal Premier John Fahey has now been endorsed as the Federal Liberal candidate for the seat of MacArthur.
South AustraliaThe last South Australian election saw a swing of over 8% to the Liberal Party. Previously the Liberals had won more votes than Labor but had insufficient marginal seats to win Government. Now the picture is phenomenally different. The Liberal Party holds 36 seats aginst only 12 Labor seats.
Western AustraliaLast election Labor went to the people under the helm of Carmen Lawrence. The Liberal Party won 26 seats, the Nationals 6, Labor 24, with one Independent. Meanwhile several former Labor politicians are languishing in jail for corruption, while Carmen Lawrence has been accused by 8 former Cabinet Ministers of making untrue remarks about the discussion of Penny Easton in Cabinet. Today under the real leadership of Richard Court, WA is the fastest growing state in Australia.
VictoriaJournalists who once said Jeff Kennett could never make a Premier now recognise him as the most dominant leader among Australian Premiers. Although he is vilified by ALP propagandists, he has remained high in the opinion polls - often hovering above 50% popularity. In the October 1992 election the Liberal Party cleaned up 52 seats, the Nationals 9 and Labor 27. The Coalition was elected with two-to-one majorities in both houses of parliament - a position unparalleled in almost 140 years of responsible State Government in Victoria. The following period of Government involved contraversial policy upheaval including privatisations, deregulation and large budget cuts. In the wake of the 1996 federal election, Jeff Kennett stunned commentators by going to the polls and achieving a similar majority to his 1992 result. There was only a 2% swing to Labor concentrated largely in safe Liberal seats.
TasmaniaIn early 1992, the Liberal Party won over 50% of the vote and 19 seats in the 35 seat Chamber. The Labor Party returned 11 members and the Greens 5. The then Premier was Ray Groom a former footballer and Federal Liberal Minister in the Fraser Government. Subsequently, following dissatisfaction with the Liberals, the National Party moved to Tasmania to contest House of Assembly elections. Of all the Liberal Governments around Australia, this was the most cautious in its approach to reform - and it suffered the electoral consequences. In the 1996 State election which coincided with the Federal election, the Greens won a balance of power and the Liberals retained the largest block of seats. The comparison between the Tasmanian and Victorian results says a lot. Liberal Premier Tony Rundle governs in minority with support of the Greens.
The Legislative Council (Upper House) has long been dominated by nominal Independents. This is unusual for an Australian Parliament.
Federal General Election 1996When John Howard took over the Liberal leadership in 1995, Prime Minister Paul Keating promised to make 1995 the "worst year of his life." Instead Howard cruised in the opinion polls right up until polling day. During the campaign itself, some major polls recorded a Coalition lead of as high as 14%. The final result after preferences was 53.9% to the Coalition, versus 46.1% Labor. The Liberals won 75 seats in the House of Representatives, the Nationals 19, Labor 49 and Independents 5. This gave the Coalition a majority almost double those that the Hawke-Keating Labor Governments had ever enjoyed. Labor Ministers who lost seats included Gordon Bilney, George Gear, Ross Free, Gary Johns, Michael Lavarch, Con Sciacca, Robert Tickner and Frank Walker.
Although the Coalition won half the Senate seats, they remain two votes short of a Senate majority. This is because only half the Senate was dissolved for this election. The Coalition won 54% of the Senate vote.
Wentworth Federal By-ElectionThe Wentworth by-election was the last by-election while the Australian Labor Party was in Government federally. Labor had been trailing severely in the opinion polls ever since it began breaking promises after the 1993 election. The Wentworth by-election was not contested by Labor, but produced a swing to the Liberal candidate Andrew Thomson of over 9%. Click here to see the final results.
Canberra Federal By-ElectionThis was a Federal Liberal victory with this stronghold Labor seat being won by the Liberal candidate Brendan Smyth. Brendan's surname is pronounced "Smith." The swing of 16.7% to the Liberal Party was the largest federal by-election swing in over 60 years of Australian political history. As Howard pointed out, it was "bigger than Bass" - the 1975 by-election which sounded the death bell of the Whitlam Government. The Canberra By-election was widely seen as the first major test of Howard's leadership and the major turning point in recent federal political history. Click here to see the final results.
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