1962 Western Australian state election

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1962 Western Australian state election
Flag of Western Australia.svg
  1959 31 March 1962 (1962-03-31) 1965  

All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  DavidBrand1963.jpg Albert Hawke 1965.jpg
Leader David Brand Albert Hawke
Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor
Leader since1 March 19573 July 1951
Leader's seat Greenough Northam
Last election25 seats23 seats
Seats won26 seats24 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg1Increase2.svg1
Percentage46.09%44.41%
SwingIncrease2.svg3.07Decrease2.svg0.51

Premier before election

David Brand
Liberal/Country coalition

Elected Premier

David Brand
Liberal/Country coalition

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 31 March 1962 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Liberal-Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir David Brand, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Albert Hawke.

Contents

The election resulted in a confirmation of the status quo, with the only apparent seat changes since the 1959 election being due to the changes of affiliation of the two Independent Liberal members. Edward Oldfield, representing Mount Lawley, had joined the Labor Party during the previous term, whilst Bill Grayden, representing South Perth, had joined the Liberal Party. Both were re-elected.

Two seats changed between the Country and LCL Parties. In Avon, the sitting member James Mann (LCL) retired after 32 years in Parliament, and Harry Gayfer, one of the two Country Party candidates, succeeded him in the seat. Meanwhile, in outer-metropolitan Darling Range, LCL candidate Ken Dunn defeated the sitting Country member Ray Owen. The Labor candidate (Jack Metcalfe) narrowly won the primary vote, whilst Dunn polled one vote ahead of Owen, meaning Owen was eliminated and his votes distributed between Dunn and Metcalfe. A petition was filed and the Court of Disputed Returns ordered a fresh election for 22 July 1962, which widened the gap to 15 votes.

Results

Western Australian state election, 31 March 1962
Legislative Assembly
<< 19591965 >>

Enrolled voters319,594 [1]
Votes cast297,520 Turnout 93.09%+1.05%
Informal votes5,324Informal1.79%–0.79%
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 129,75744.41%–0.51%24+ 1
  Liberal and Country 120,26741.16%+3.68%18+ 1
  Country 17,3395.93%–0.61%8± 0
  Democratic Labor 6,6012.26%–2.86%0± 0
 Ind. Lib.4,5561.56%–2.26%0– 2
  Communist 1,2010.41%–0.43%0± 0
  Independent 12,4754.27%+2.99%0± 0
Total292,196  50 
1 381,805 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 11 seats (22% of the total) were uncontested—4 Labor seats (two more than 1959) representing 29,773 enrolled voters, 4 LCL seats (one less than 1959) representing 26,836 enrolled voters, and 3 Country seats (one less than 1959) representing 15,532 enrolled voters.

Post-election pendulum

LCL/Country seats (26)
Marginal
Karrinyup Les Nimmo LCL2.5%
Subiaco Hugh Guthrie LCL2.6%
Bunbury George Roberts LCL3.7%
Fairly safe
Cottesloe Ross Hutchinson LCL6.8%
Avon Harry Gayfer CP7.2% v LCL
Mount Lawley Ray O'Connor LCL8.4%
Dale Gerald Wild LCL8.6%
Darling Range Ken Dunn LCL8.6%
Safe
Murchison Richard Burt LCL10.9%
Stirling Clayton Mitchell CP12.7% v IND
East Melville Des O'Neil LCL13.6%
Claremont Harold Crommelin LCL18.2% v IND
Toodyay James Craig CP18.3%
Murray Ross McLarty LCL18.7% v IND
Roe Tom Hart CP19.7% v LCL
Nedlands Charles Court LCL21.4%
Blackwood John Hearman LCL24.1% v IND
Greenough David Brand LCL45.4% v COM
South Perth Bill Grayden LCLundist.
Katanning Crawford Nalder CPunopp.
Moore Edgar Lewis CPunopp.
Mount Marshall George Cornell CPunopp.
Narrogin William Manning CPunopp.
Vasse William Bovell LCLunopp.
Wellington Iven Manning LCLunopp.
Wembley Guy Henn LCLunopp.
Labor seats (24)
Marginal
Canning Donald May ALP1.0%
Maylands Edward Oldfield ALP1.4%
Perth Stanley Heal ALP4.3%
Warren Joseph Rowberry ALP5.9%
Fairly safe
Balcatta Herb Graham ALP6.0%
Mount Hawthorn Bill Hegney ALP6.2%
Merredin-Yilgarn Lionel Kelly ALP8.1%
Beeloo Colin Jamieson ALP9.7%
Safe
Melville John Tonkin ALP11.3%
Victoria Park Ron Davies ALP13.9%
Albany Jack Hall ALP14.3%
Collie Harry May ALP15.9%
Cockburn Henry Curran ALP16.1%
Boulder-Eyre Arthur Moir ALP16.7%
Fremantle Harry Fletcher ALP19.0%
Kalgoorlie Tom Evans ALP26.3%
Kimberley John Rhatigan ALP28.7% v IND
Swan John Brady ALP41.8% v COM
Belmont James Hegney ALPundist.
Geraldton Bill Sewell ALPundist.
Bayswater Merv Toms ALPunopp.
Gascoyne Daniel Norton ALPunopp.
Northam Albert Hawke ALPunopp.
Pilbara Arthur Bickerton ALPunopp.

See also

References