1977 Western Australian state election

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1977 Western Australian state election
Flag of Western Australia.svg
←  1974 19 February 1977 (1977-02-19) 1980  →
All 55 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
and 17 (of the 32) seats to the Western Australian Legislative Council
28 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Charles Court 1974 (1) (cropped).jpg Colin Jamieson 1973-01.png
Leader Charles Court Colin Jamieson
Party Liberal/NCP coalition Labor
Leader since5 June 197216 April 1976
Leader's seat Nedlands Welshpool
Last election29 seats22 seats
Seats won3322
Seat changeIncrease2.svg4Steady2.svg
Popular vote318,435257,730
Percentage54.70%45.30%
SwingIncrease2.svg3.50Decrease2.svg3.88
TPP 54.70%45.30%
TPP swingIncrease2.svg4.53Decrease2.svg4.53
Premier before election

Charles Court
Liberal/NCP coalition

Elected Premier

Charles Court
Liberal/NCP coalition

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1977 to elect all 55 members to the Legislative Assembly and 17 members to the 32-seat Legislative Council. The Liberal-National Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir Charles Court, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Colin Jamieson.

Contents

The election produced a decisive victory for the Coalition, attributed by some observers to its strong and organised campaign, the Premier's ability in dealing with the media and good economic times built on resource exports, as contrasted against the Labor Opposition's often unfocussed campaign dwelling on the government's perceived autocratic methods and those sections of the general population which were not benefitting from the good times. [1]

Results

Legislative Assembly

Western Australian state election, 19 February 1977
Legislative Assembly
<< 1974–1980 >>

Enrolled voters663,113
Votes cast601,975 Turnout 90.78%+0.65%
Informal votes19,148Informal3.18%–0.90%
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Liberal 287,65149.35%+9.02%27+ 4
  Labor 257,73044.22%–3.88%22± 0
  National Country [1] 30,7845.28%–5.52%6± 0
  Progress 2,6400.45%+0.45%0± 0
  Australia Party 5490.09%–0.31%0± 0
  Independent 3,4730.60%+0.23%0± 0
Total582,827  55 
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal/NCP 318,79654.70%+4.53%
  Labor 264,03145.30%–4.53%

Notes:

1 The National Country Party contested seven seats in the election. The previous high vote stemmed from its attempted merger with the Democratic Labor Party prior to the 1974 election, known as the "National Alliance", which contested 44 seats including many in the metropolitan area. The Alliance ceased to exist shortly after the 1974 election, and adopted a more traditional strategy in 1977.

Legislative Council

Western Australian state election, 19 February 1977
Legislative Council

Enrolled voters663,113
Votes cast601,442 Turnout 90.70%+0.76%
Informal votes26,160Informal4.35%–0.44%
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeats
won		Seats
held
  Liberal 289,41650.31%+4.88%918
  Labor 241,35941.95%–5.28%410
  National Country 31,9745.56%–1.78%34
  Independent 12,5332.18%+2.18%00
Total575,282  1632
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal/NCP 319,95255.62%+3.72%
  Labor 255,33044.38%–3.72%

Seats changing hands

SeatPre-1977SwingPost-1977
PartyMemberMarginMarginMemberParty
Clontarf  Labor Don May 2.2-9.87.6 Tony Williams Liberal 
Mundaring  Labor James Moiler 1.6-3.82.2 Tom Herzfeld Liberal 
Murdoch  LaborNotional - new seat8.6-11.02.4 Barry MacKinnon Liberal 

Redistribution affected seats

Seat1974 election1976 redistributionSwing1977 election
PartyMemberMarginPartyMemberMarginMarginMemberParty
Murray  Liberal Richard Shalders 1.8 LaborNotional1.0+11.310.3 Richard Shalders Liberal 
Scarborough  Liberal Ray Young 0.5 LaborNotional0.8+7.46.6 Ray Young Liberal 

Post-election pendulum

Liberal/NCP seats (33)
Marginal
Kimberley Alan Ridge LIB1.3%
Mundaring Tom Herzfeld LIB2.2%
Murdoch Barry MacKinnon LIB2.4%
Pilbara Brian Sodeman LIB2.8%
Bunbury John Sibson LIB4.5%
Fairly safe
Scarborough Ray Young LIB6.6%
Dale Cyril Rushton LIB7.2%
Clontarf Tony Williams LIB7.6%
Mount Lawley Ray O'Connor LIB9.5%
Cottesloe Bill Hassell LIB9.7%
Safe
Murray Richard Shalders LIB10.3%
Karrinyup Jim Clarko LIB11.0%
Wellington June Craig LIB11.3%
Whitford Mick Nanovich LIB12.4%
South Perth Bill Grayden LIB12.8%
Albany Leon Watt LIB12.9%
Moore Bert Crane NCP13.3% v LIB
Murchison-Eyre Peter Coyne LIB13.8%
Darling Range George Spriggs LIB14.0%
Subiaco Tom Dadour LIB14.1%
East Melville Des O'Neil LIB15.5%
Kalamunda Ian Thompson LIB18.6%
Mount Marshall Ray McPharlin NCP19.8% v LIB
Stirling Matt Stephens NCP21.3% v LIB
Gascoyne Ian Laurance LIB21.6%
Vasse Barry Blaikie LIB21.6%
Floreat Andrew Mensaros LIB23.6%
Nedlands Charles Court LIB24.0%
Stirling Hendy Cowan NCP24.5%
Greenough Reg Tubby LIB27.2%
Narrogin Peter Jones NCP28.8% v LIB
Roe Geoff Grewar LIB30.8%
Katanning Dick Old NCP34.8%
Labor seats (22)
Marginal
Gosnells Bob Pearce ALP0.9%
Canning Tom Bateman ALP3.1%
Avon Ken McIver ALP3.8%
Rockingham Mike Barnett ALP4.0%
Dianella Keith Wilson ALP4.3%
Maylands John Harman ALP4.6%
Geraldton Jeff Carr ALP5.6%
Warren Hywel Evans ALP5.8%
Swan Jack Skidmore ALP6.0%
Fairly safe
Welshpool Colin Jamieson ALP6.2%
Mount Hawthorn Ronald Bertram ALP7.5%
Morley Arthur Tonkin ALP8.3%
Ascot Mal Bryce ALP9.0%
Victoria Park Ron Davies ALP9.6%
Perth Terry Burke ALP9.7%
Melville Barry Hodge ALP9.8%
Safe
Collie Tom Jones ALP11.1%
Balcatta Brian Burke ALP11.3%
Yilgarn-Dundas Julian Grill ALP12.7%
Kalgoorlie Tom Evans ALP13.6%
Fremantle John Troy ALP14.3%
Cockburn Don Taylor ALP17.5%

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wood, Michael (December 1977). "Australian Political Chronicle: January–June 1977 (Western Australia)". Australian Journal of Politics and History. 23 (3): 448–453. ISSN   0004-9522.
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