1984 Australian federal election

Last updated

1984 Australian federal election
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
  1983 1 December 1984 (1984-12-01) 1987  

All 148 seats in the House of Representatives
75 seats were needed for a majority in the House
46 (of the 76) seats in the Senate
Registered9,869,217 Increase2.svg 5.30%
Turnout9,295,421 (94.19%)
(Decrease2.svg0.45 pp)
 First partySecond party
  Hawke Bob BANNER.jpg Andrew Peacock.jpg
Leader Bob Hawke Andrew Peacock
Party Labor Liberal/National coalition
Leader since 8 February 1983 (1983-02-08) 11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)
Leader's seat Wills (Vic.) Kooyong (Vic.)
Last election75 seats50 seats
Seats won82 seats66 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 7Increase2.svg 16
First preference  vote4,120,1303,900,042
Percentage47.55%45.01%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.93%Increase2.svg 1.40%
TPP 51.77%48.23%
TPP swingDecrease2.svg 1.46%Increase2.svg 1.46%

1984 Australian federal election.svg
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.

Prime Minister before election

Bob Hawke
Labor

Subsequent Prime Minister

Bob Hawke
Labor

The 1984 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 1 December 1984. All 148 seats in the House of Representatives (24 of them newly created) and 46 of 76 seats in the Senate (12 of them newly created) were up for election. The incumbent Labor Party led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke defeated the opposition Liberal–National coalition, led by Andrew Peacock.

Contents

The election was held in conjunction with two referendum questions, neither of which was carried.

Background and issues

The election had a long campaign and a high rate of informal voting for the House of Representatives, but decreased rate in the Senate (due to the introduction of the Group voting ticket). Although a House election was not due until 1986, Hawke opted to call an election 18 months early in part to bring the elections for the House and Senate back into line following the double dissolution election of 1983.

The legislated increase in the size of the House by 24 seats and the Senate by 12 seats came into effect at the 1984 election. Prior to 1984 the electoral commission did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the previous election were put through this process prior to their destruction – therefore the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.

Results

House of Representatives

Government (82)

.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
Labor (82)

Opposition (66)
Coalition

Liberal (44)

National (21)

CLP (1) Australian House of Representatives elected members, 1984.svg
Government (82)
  Labor (82)

Opposition (66)
Coalition
  Liberal (44)
  National (21)
  CLP (1)
House of Reps (IRV) — 1984–87 – Turnout 94.19% (CV) — Informal 6.78%
1984 Australian House.svg
PartyVotes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 4,120,13047.55−1.9382Increase2.svg 7
   Liberal 2,951,55634.06−0.0644Increase2.svg 11
  National 921,15110.63+1.4221Increase2.svg 4
  Country Liberal 27,3350.32+0.081Increase2.svg 1
Liberal/National Coalition 3,900,04245.01+1.4066Increase2.svg 16
  Democrats 472,2045.45+0.42
 Others172,5761.99
Total8,664,952  148Increase2.svg 23
Two-party-preferred
  Labor 4,484,62251.77−1.4682Increase2.svg 7
  Liberal–National coalition 4,178,57248.23+1.4666Increase2.svg 16
Invalid/blank votes630,4696.8+4.7
Turnout9,295,42194.2
Registered voters9,869,217
Source: Federal Election Results 1949-1993
Popular vote
Labor
47.55%
Liberal
34.06%
National
10.63%
Democrats
5.45%
CLP
0.32%
Other
1.99%
Two-party-preferred vote
Labor
51.77%
Coalition
48.23%
Parliament seats
Labor
55.41%
Coalition
44.59%

Senate

Government (34)

Labor (34)

Opposition (33)
Coalition

Liberal (27)

National (5)

CLP (1)

Crossbench (9)

Democrats (7)

NDP (1)

Independent (1) Australian Senate elected members, 1984.svg
Government (34)
  Labor (34)

Opposition (33)
Coalition
  Liberal (27)
  National (5)
  CLP (1)

Crossbench (9)
  Democrats (7)
  NDP (1)
  Independent (1)
Senate (STV GV) — 1984–87 – Turnout 94.55% (CV) — Informal 4.68%
1984 Australian Senate.svg
PartyVotes %SwingSeats wonTotal seatsChange
  Australian Labor Party 3,750,78942.17−3.322034Increase2.svg 4
  Liberal/National joint ticket1,130,60112.71−11.493**
  Liberal Party of Australia 1,831,00620.59+8.581427Increase2.svg4
  National Party of Australia 527,2785.93+0.8725Increase2.svg1
  Country Liberal Party 27,9720.31+0.0411Steady2.svg
Liberal/National Coalition 3,516,85739.54–0.412033Increase2.svg 5
  Australian Democrats 677,9707.62−2.3257Increase2.svg 2
  Nuclear Disarmament Party 643,0617.23*11Increase2.svg 1
  Harradine Group 22,9920.26−0.321Steady2.svg
 Others282,4313.18+0.73
Total8,894,1004676Increase2.svg12
Invalid/blank votes437,0654.7–5.2
Turnout9,331,16594.5
Registered voters9,869,217
Source: Federal Election Results 1949-1993

Seats changing hands

SeatPre-1984SwingPost-1984
PartyMemberMarginMarginMemberParty
Farrer, NSW  Liberal Wal Fife 7.4N/A13.0 Tim Fischer National 
Flinders, Vic  Labor Bob Chynoweth 0.31.51.2 Peter Reith Liberal 
Forde, Qld  Labornotional – new seat2.72.70.0 David Watson Liberal 
Gilmore, NSW  Labornotional – new seat0.51.71.2 John Sharp National 
Hinkler, Qld  Labornotional – new seat0.60.80.2 Bryan Conquest National 
Hume, NSW  National Stephen Lusher N/AN/A7.7 Wal Fife Liberal 
Macquarie, NSW  Labor Ross Free 0.51.91.4 Alasdair Webster Liberal 
Northern Territory, NT  Labor John Reeves 1.93.31.4 Paul Everingham Country Liberal 
Petrie, Qld  Labor Dean Wells 1.52.10.6 John Hodges Liberal 
Riverina-Darling, NSW  Labornotional – new seat1.35.94.6 Noel Hicks National 

Analysis

The Gallagher Index result: 7.79 1984 Election Australia Gallagher Index.png
The Gallagher Index result: 7.79

The results of the election surprised most analysts;[ citation needed ] the expectation had been that Bob Hawke – who had been polling a record ACNielsen approval rating of 75 percent [1] on the eve of the election – would win by a significantly larger margin. Labor instead suffered a 2-point swing against it and had its majority cut from 25 to 16. Hawke blamed the result on the changes to Senate vote cards, which he believed confused people regarding their House of Representatives votes and contributed to the relatively high informal vote, the majority of which apparently was Labor votes. [2] However, analysis by the Australian Electoral Commission found that informal voting only slightly reduced Labor's primary vote and did not change the result in any division. [3]

Andrew Peacock did well from a good performance in the one leaders' debate, held on 26 November 1984, [4] which was the first televised leaders' debate in Australia. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Democrats</span> Political party in Australia

The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia's largest minor party from its formation in 1977 through to 2004 and frequently held the balance of power in the Senate during that time.

The electoral system of Australia comprises the laws and processes used for the election of members of the Australian Parliament and is governed primarily by the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. The system presently has a number of distinctive features including compulsory enrolment; compulsory voting; majority-preferential instant-runoff voting in single-member seats to elect the lower house, the House of Representatives; and the use of the single transferable vote proportional representation system to elect the upper house, the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 41st Parliament of Australia

The 2004 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 9 October 2004. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by John Anderson defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Mark Latham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 42nd Parliament of Australia

The 2007 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 24 November 2007. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The election featured a 39-day campaign, with 13.6 million Australians enrolled to vote.

A group voting ticket (GVT) is a shortcut for voters in a preferential voting system, where a voter can indicate support for a list of candidates instead of marking preferences for individual candidates. For multi-member electoral divisions with single transferable voting, a group or party registers a GVT before an election with the electoral commission. When a voter selects a group or party above the line on a ballot paper, their vote is distributed according to the registered GVT for that group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Australian federal election</span> Election

The 1990 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 24 March 1990. All 148 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Bob Hawke, defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia, led by Andrew Peacock, with its coalition partner, the National Party of Australia, led by Charles Blunt, despite losing the nationwide popular and two-party-preferred vote. The result saw the re-election of the Hawke government for a fourth successive term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 Australian federal election</span> Australian election

The 1987 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 11 July 1987, following the granting of a double dissolution on 5 June by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen. Consequently, all 148 seats in the House of Representatives as well as all 76 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke, defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia, led by John Howard and the National Party of Australia led by Ian Sinclair. This was the first, and to date only, time the Labor Party won a third consecutive election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 Australian federal election</span>

The 1983 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election, following a double dissolution. The incumbent Coalition government which had been in power since 1975, led by Malcolm Fraser and Doug Anthony, was defeated in a landslide by the opposition Labor Party led by Bob Hawke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 Australian federal election</span>

The 1980 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 18 October 1980. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–NCP coalition government, led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, was elected to a third term with a much reduced majority, defeating the opposition Labor Party led by Bill Hayden. This was the last federal election victory for the Coalition until the 1996 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Australian federal election</span> Election

The 1972 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, as well as a single Senate seat in Queensland. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister William McMahon, was defeated by the opposition Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Labor's victory ended 23 years of successive Coalition governments that began in 1949 and started the three-year Whitlam Labor Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1958 Australian federal election</span> Election in Australia

The 1958 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives and 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party, led by H. V. Evatt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1955 Australian federal election</span> Election in Australia

The 1955 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 10 December 1955. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives and 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. An early election was called to bring the House and Senate elections back in line; the previous election in 1954 had been House-only. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies increased its majority over the opposition Labor Party, led by H. V. Evatt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1954 Australian federal election</span> Election in Australia

The 1954 Australian federal election were held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, but no Senate election took place. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt, despite losing the two-party preferred vote. Although the ALP won the two-party preferred vote, six Coalition seats were uncontested compared to one ALP seat. The Psephos blog makes clear that if all seats had been contested, the Coalition would have recorded a higher primary vote than the ALP and possibly also a higher two-party preferred vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1949 Australian federal election</span> Australian federal election

The 1949 Australian federal elections was held on Saturday December 10, All 121 seats in the House of Representatives and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley, was defeated by the opposition Liberal–Country coalition under Robert Menzies in a landslide. Menzies became prime minister for a second time, his first period having ended in 1941. This election marked the end of the 8-year Curtin-Chifley Labor government that had been in power since 1941 and started the 23-year Liberal/Country Coalition government. This was the first time the Liberal party won government at the federal level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">How-to-vote card</span> Handed-out leaflets in Australian elections with voting instructions

In Australia, how-to-vote cards (HTV) are small leaflets that are handed out by party supporters during elections. Voting in the Australian lower house uses a preferential voting system. Voters must rank every candidate on the ballot in order for their vote to count. There are often numerous candidates on the ballot, some with little public profile, so voters may find it difficult to decide on all of them. Parties produce how-to-vote cards ostensibly to help voters. They contain details about the candidate or party, as well as instruction on how to cast a ranked vote in the order that the party would prefer the voter follow. The flow of preferences can assist the party dispersing the cards directly and indirectly help allied parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 44th Parliament of Australia

The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of Australia and Coalition partner the National Party of Australia, led by Warren Truss, defeated the incumbent centre-left Labor Party government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a landslide. It was also the third time in history that a party won 90 or more seats at an Australian election. Labor had been in government for six years since being elected in the 2007 election. This election marked the end of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor government and the start of the 9 year long Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Liberal-National Coalition government. Abbott was sworn in by the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, as Australia's new Prime Minister on 18 September 2013, along with the Abbott Ministry. The 44th Parliament of Australia opened on 12 November 2013, with the members of the House of Representatives and territory senators sworn in. The state senators were sworn in by the next Governor-General Peter Cosgrove on 7 July 2014, with their six-year terms commencing on 1 July.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 45th Parliament of Australia

The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the Senate that replaced group voting tickets with optional preferential voting.

On 5 April 2014, an Australian Senate special election in Western Australia was held. The special election was held six months after the 2013 Australian federal election. The result of that 2013 election for the Australian Senate in Western Australia was voided on 20 February 2014 by the High Court of Australia, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, because 1,375 ballot papers were lost during an official recount in November 2013. The High Court ruled that because the number of lost ballots exceeded the margin for the two remaining Senate seats, the only acceptable remedy was to void the results and hold a special election.

Section 13 of the Constitution of Australia provides for three aspects of the terms of members of the Australian Senate: the timing of elections, the commencement date of their terms and for the Senate to allocate long (six-year) and short (three-year) terms following a double dissolution of the Parliament of Australia. While members of the House of Representatives and territory senators have a maximum three-year term, state senators have a fixed six-year term, subject only to the parliament being dissolved by a double dissolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 47th Parliament of Australia

The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth consecutive term in office but was defeated by the opposition Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese. Up for election were all 151 seats in the lower house, the House of Representatives, as well as 40 of the 76 seats in the upper house, the Senate.

References

  1. Coorey, Phil (20 May 2008). "The biggest hammering in history". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  2. Hawke, RJL (1996). The Hawke Memoirs. Port Melbourne: Mandarin. pp. 275–276. "Attracted to the simplicity of the Senate ballot, a number of voters thought they could mark their Lower House ballot in exactly the same way. Unfortunately for both them and us the informal vote for the House of Representatives swelled from 2 per cent to nearly 7 per cent. On the best surmise the bulk of the informals were Labor votes."
  3. Green, Antony (11 January 2013). "Past Research on the Intended Party Vote of Informal Ballot Papers". ABC News. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  4. Fraser, Bryce (1998). The Macquarie Reference Series: Government in Australia. Sydney: The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. p. 44. ISBN   1-876429-02-X.
  5. "1984 Federal Election". AustralianPolitics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2016.