1977 Queensland state election

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1977 Queensland state election
Flag of Queensland.svg
  1974 12 November 1977 (1977-11-12) 1980  

All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout91.35 (Increase2.svg 1.93 pp)
 First partySecond party
  Joh Bjelke-Petersen 1968 (cropped).jpg Labor Placeholder.png
Leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen Tom Burns
Party National–Liberal Coalition Labor
Leader since8 August 196819 December 1974 (1974-12-19)
Leader's seat Barambah Lytton
Last election69 seats, 58.97%11 seats, 36.03%
Seats won5923
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 10Increase2.svg 12
Popular vote569,753466,021
Percentage52.37%42.83%
SwingDecrease2.svg 5.14Increase2.svg 6.80

1977 Queensland state election.svg
Winning margin by electorate.

Premier before election

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National–Liberal Coalition

Elected Premier

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National–Liberal Coalition

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 12 November 1977 to elect the 82 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

Contents

The election resulted in a fourth consecutive victory for the National-Liberal Coalition under Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was the eighth victory of the National Party in Queensland since it first came to office in 1957.

Issues

The major issue in the election was law and order. In 1977, the Government had passed a law making it illegal to march in the street without a permit, which were rarely given. The Coalition argued that this prevented traffic disruption and other inconveniences to the people of Brisbane, while the ALP claimed that it was a curtailment of civil liberties. Joh Bjelke-Petersen also no longer had the Whitlam Labor Government (which was unpopular in Queensland) to use as a campaigning tool.

Key dates

DateEvent
10 October 1977The Legislative Assembly was dissolved. [1]
10 October 1977Writs were issued by the Governor, James Ramsay, to proceed with an election. [2]
17 October 1977Close of nominations.
12 November 1977Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
16 December 1977The Bjelke-Petersen Ministry was reconstituted. [3]
20 December 1977The writ was returned and the results formally declared. [4]
14 January 1978Deadline for return of the writs.
28 March 1978Parliament resumed for business. [5]

Result

The Labor Party gained twelve seats from the Coalition and Independents, making something of a recovery from its disastrous 1974 performance. Even so, the Coalition retained a commanding majority in the Legislative Assembly.

For the first time, the National Party won more votes than the Liberal party (an electoral malapportionment had allowed the Nationals to win more seats than the Liberals previously). The Liberal Party had begun to decline.

The Democratic Labor Party had ceased to exist. The Australian Democrats contested their first election in Queensland.

Results

Queensland state election, 12 November 1977 [6] [7]
Legislative Assembly
<< 19741980 >>

Enrolled voters1,209,494
Votes cast1,104,898 Turnout 91.35%+1.93%
Informal votes16,887Informal1.53%–0.05%
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 466,02142.83%+6.80%23+12
  Nationals 295,35527.15%–0.73%35– 4
  Liberal 274,39825.22%–5.87%24– 6
  Democrats 17,5711.61%+1.61%0± 0
  Progress 16,3271.50%+1.50%0± 0
  Independent 18,3391.69%–1.22%0– 2
Total1,088,011  82 
Popular vote
Labor
42.83%
Nationals
27.15%
Liberal
25.22%
Democrats
1.61%
Progress
1.50%
Independents
1.69%
Seats
Nationals
42.68%
Liberal
29.27%
Labor
28.05%

New parties in this election were the Australian Democrats, who stood 12 candidates, and the Progress Party, who stood 27 candidates. [8]

Seats changing hands

SeatPre-1977SwingPost-1977
PartyMemberMarginMarginMemberParty
Brisbane Central  Liberalnotional - new seat2.8-8.25.4 Brian Davis Labor 
Chatsworth  Liberal Bill Hewitt 5.7-6.81.1 Terry Mackenroth Labor 
Cook  National Eric Deeral 2.6-6.53.9 Bob Scott Labor 
Everton  Liberal Brian Lindsay 9.2-10.21.0 Glen Milliner Labor 
Ipswich West  National Albert Hales 1.1-5.44.3 David Underwood Labor 
Maryborough  Liberal Gilbert Alison 5.0-5.20.2 Brendan Hansen Labor 
Murrumba  National Des Frawley 9.7-11.11.4 Joe Kruger Labor 
South Brisbane  Liberal Colin Lamont 4.1-7.33.2 Jim Fouras Labor 
Southport  Nationalnotional - new seat19.4-29.29.8 Peter White Liberal 
Surfers Paradise  National Bruce Small 23.0-28.75.7 Bruce Bishop Liberal 
Townsville South  Independent Tom Aikens 0.6-1.61.0 Alex Wilson Labor 
Woodridge  Liberalnotional - new seat7.8-11.94.1 Bill D'Arcy Labor 
Wynnum  National Bill Lamond 0.1-4.24.1 Eric Shaw Labor 

Post-election pendulum

National / Liberal seats (59)
Marginal
Barron River Martin Tenni NAT0.2%
Mourilyan Vicky Kippin NAT0.3%
Stafford Terry Gygar LIB0.5%
Mount Isa Angelo Bertoni NAT0.6%
Salisbury Rosemary Kyburz LIB0.7%
Townsville West Max Hooper NAT0.9%
Toowoomba North John Lockwood LIB1.6%
Wavell Brian Austin LIB2.8%
Kurilpa Sam Doumany LIB3.0%
Warrego Neil Turner NAT3.0%
Hinchinbrook Ted Row NAT3.1%
Pine Rivers Rob Akers LIB3.4%
Ipswich Llewellyn Edwards LIB4.1%
Windsor Bob Moore LIB4.5%
Ashgrove John Greenwood LIB4.9%
Toowoomba South John Warner NAT4.9%
Albert Ivan Gibbs NAT5.0%
Redlands John Goleby NAT5.4%
Whitsunday Ron Camm NAT5.5%
Surfers Paradise Bruce Bishop LIB5.7%
Fairly safe
Ithaca Col Miller LIB6.0%
Redcliffe Jim Houghton NAT6.2%
Townsville Norman Scott-Young LIB6.3%
Merthyr Don Lane LIB6.4%
Gregory Bill Glasson NAT6.8%
Flinders Bob Katter NAT7.1%
Peak Downs Vince Lester NAT7.8%
Nundah William Knox LIB8.1%
Yeronga Norm Lee LIB8.1%
Mulgrave Roy Armstrong NAT8.4%
Toowong Charles Porter LIB8.7%
Caboolture Des Frawley NAT9.0%
Isis Lin Powell NAT9.2%
South Coast Russ Hinze NAT9.3%
Southport Peter White LIB9.8% v NAT
Safe
Burdekin Val Bird NAT10.3%
Mount Gravatt Guelfi Scassola LIB10.4%
Fassifern Selwyn Muller NAT11.4%
Aspley Fred Campbell LIB11.5% v NAT
Mirani Tom Newbery NAT11.5%
Greenslopes Bill Hewitt LIB12.4%
Mansfield Bill Kaus LIB12.6%
Sherwood Angus Innes LIB12.9%
Carnarvon Peter McKechnie NAT13.5%
Callide Lindsay Hartwig NAT15.3%
Roma Ken Tomkins NAT16.0%
Somerset Bill Gunn NAT17.9%
Cooroora Gordon Simpson NAT18.1%
Landsborough Mike Ahern NAT18.2%
Gympie Max Hodges NAT18.8%
Warwick Des Booth NAT18.9%
Burnett Claude Wharton NAT19.3%
Mount Coot-tha Bill Lickiss LIB19.8%
Very safe
Condamine Vic Sullivan NAT21.4%
Balonne Don Neal NAT21.9%
Auburn Neville Hewitt NAT22.3%
Lockyer Tony Bourke LIB22.5%
Barambah Joh Bjelke-Petersen NAT28.3%
Cunningham Tony Elliott NAT30.6%
Labor seats (23)
Marginal
Maryborough Brendan Hansen ALP0.2% v LIB
Everton Glen Milliner ALP1.0% v LIB
Townsville South Alex Wilson ALP1.0% v IND
Chatsworth Terry Mackenroth ALP1.1% v LIB
Murrumba Joe Kruger ALP1.4%
South Brisbane Jim Fouras ALP3.2% v LIB
Cook Bob Scott ALP3.9%
Woodridge Bill D'Arcy ALP4.1% v LIB
Wynnum Eric Shaw ALP4.1%
Ipswich West David Underwood ALP4.3%
Bundaberg Jim Blake ALP4.4%
Brisbane Central Brian Davis ALP5.4% v LIB
Fairly safe
Sandgate Nev Warburton ALP8.0%
Nudgee Ken Vaughan ALP8.7% v LIB
Bulimba Jack Houston ALP9.8% v LIB
Safe
Wolston Bob Gibbs ALP10.6% v LIB
Cairns Ray Jones ALP11.4%
Port Curtis Bill Prest ALP11.8%
Mackay Ed Casey ALP11.9%
Rockhampton North Les Yewdale ALP16.2% v LIB
Lytton Tom Burns ALP17.0%
Rockhampton Keith Wright ALP17.3% v LIB
Archerfield Kevin Hooper ALP18.4% v LIB

See also

References

  1. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette . 10 October 1977. p. 256:517.
  2. "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette . 10 October 1977. p. 256:519.
  3. "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette . 16 December 1977. p. 256:1533–1536.
  4. "Notices of Results of General Election". Queensland Government Gazette . 20 December 1977. p. 256:1641–1655.
  5. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette . 23 February 1978. p. 257:701.
  6. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 12 November 1977" . Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  7. Hughes, Colin A. (1986). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1975-1984. ANU Press. p. 204. ISBN   978-0-08-033038-9.
  8. Cribb, M.N.B. (April 1978). "Australian Political Chronicle: July–December 1977". Australian Journal of Politics and History. 24 (1): 92. ISSN   0004-9522.