1993 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill

Last updated

Liberal Party of Australia
Leadership spill, 1993
Liberal-Party-of-Australia-stub.svg
  1990 23 March 1993 1994  
  John Hewson 2016 01.jpg John howard.jpg
LIB
Candidate John Hewson John Howard Bruce Reid
Caucus vote47301
Percentage60.2%38.4%1.4%
Seat Wentworth (NSW) Bennelong (NSW) Bendigo (Vic.)

Leader before election

John Hewson

Elected Leader

John Hewson

A spill of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on March 23, 1993, following the 1993 federal election. The spill was won by incumbent leader John Hewson over former leader John Howard by 47 votes to 30 while backbencher Bruce Reid attracted only one sole vote, presumably his own. For the Deputy leadership Michael Wooldridge won against Peter Costello. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

After John Hewson was blamed for losing the 1993 "unloseable election" because of his staunch promotion of a Goods and Services Tax and an inability to sell his policies to voters, Hewson initially stated he would not recontest but was convinced to do so to block John Howard from winning.

Candidates

Results

Liberal Party of Australia
deputy leadership ballot, 1993
Liberal-Party-of-Australia-stub.svg
  1990
1994  
 
LIB
Peter Costello.jpg
Candidate Michael Wooldridge Peter Costello
Final ballot45 (57.1%)33 (42.9%)
Seat Casey (Vic.) Higgins (Vic.)

Deputy Leader before election

Peter Reith

Elected Deputy Leader

Michael Wooldridge

The following tables gives the ballot results:

Leadership ballot

NameVotesPercentage
John Hewson 4760.2
John Howard 3038.4
Bruce Reid 11.4

Deputy leadership ballot

CandidateFinal ballot%
Michael Wooldridge 4557.1
Peter Costello 3342.9

Other candidates in order of elimination: [3]

Aftermath

Over the following year Hewson's leadership was undermined by the likes of Peter Costello [4] and Bronwyn Bishop. This led to his defeat in May 1994 by Alexander Downer.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Peacock</span> Australian politician (1939–2021)

Andrew Sharp Peacock was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions, leading the party to defeat at the 1984 and 1990 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Downer</span> Australian politician

Alexander John Gosse Downer is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Costello</span> Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician

Peter Howard Costello is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia's history. Costello was a member of parliament (MP) of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing the Division of Higgins. He also served as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hewson</span> Former Australian politician

John Robert Hewson AM is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 Australian federal election</span> Federal election to the 38th Parliament of Australia

The 1996 Australian federal election was held to determine the members of the 38th Parliament of Australia. It was held on 2 March 1996. All 148 seats of the House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Senate were up for election. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition led by Opposition Leader John Howard of the Liberal Party and coalition partner Tim Fischer of the National Party defeated the incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party government led by Prime Minister Paul Keating in a landslide victory. The Coalition won 94 seats in the House of Representatives, which is the largest number of seats held by a federal government to date and the second time a party won over 90 seats at a federal election.

Petro Georgiou AO is a Greek Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 1994 to July 2010, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 Australian federal election</span> Election in Australia

The 1993 Australian federal election was held to determine the members of the 37th Parliament of Australia. It was held on 13 March 1993. All 147 seats of the Australian House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Australian Senate were up for election. The incumbent government of the centre-left Australian Labor Party led by Paul Keating, the Prime Minister of Australia, was re-elected to a fifth term, defeating the centre-right Liberal/National Coalition led by Opposition Leader John Hewson of the Liberal Party of Australia, and coalition partner Tim Fischer of the National Party of Australia. This was the first, and to date only, time the Labor Party won a fifth consecutive election.

The following lists events that happened during 1994 in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Howard</span> Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007

John Winston Howard is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia, from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the second-longest in Australian history, behind only Sir Robert Menzies. Howard previously served as the 29th treasurer of Australia from 1977 to 1983 under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. He has also been the oldest living Australian prime minister since the death of Bob Hawke in May 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Staley</span> Australian politician and businessman (1939–2023)

Anthony Allan Staley was an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he held the Victorian seat of Chisholm from 1970 to 1980 and served as Minister for the Capital Territory (1976–1977) and Minister for Posts and Telecommunications (1977–1980) in the Fraser government. He later served as national president of the Liberal Party from 1993 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election</span>

A spill of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 29 November 2007, following the defeat of the Howard government at the federal election five days earlier. The resulting ballot was an open race as outgoing Prime Minister John Howard had lost his own seat at the election, and his preferred successor Peter Costello refused to stand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 Wentworth by-election</span>

The 1995 Wentworth by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Wentworth in New South Wales on 8 April 1995. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, former Liberal Party of Australia leader Dr John Hewson on 28 February 1995. The writ for the by-election was issued on 3 March 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

A spill of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 15 September 2008. At a ballot on 16 September, Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull defeated the incumbent leader Brendan Nelson 45 votes to 41.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

A leadership spill of the federal parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party of Australia was held on 23 May 1994. The incumbent, John Hewson, was defeated by Alexander Downer in a vote of Liberal Party Members of Parliament (MPs) by 43 votes to 36 votes. Downer thus became the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election</span>

A spill of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 3 April 1990, following the defeat of the Liberal Party at the federal election five days earlier. The spill was won by John Hewson over Peter Reith by 62 votes to 13. Reith was then elected deputy leader of the Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

A leadership spill of the federal parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party of Australia was held on 30 January 1995 after the resignation of Alexander Downer following several months of poor personal ratings for him. John Howard was elected unopposed in a vote of Liberal Party Members of Parliament. Howard thus became the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Australia. Peter Costello remained deputy leader. Howard became the first Liberal leader to be elected unopposed since Harold Holt in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

A spill of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 9 May 1989, following internal maneuverings by supporters of John Howard's long-time rival, Andrew Peacock. The spill was won by Andrew Peacock over John Howard by 44 votes to 27.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1985 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

There was a change of leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia on 5 September 1985 with John Howard replacing Andrew Peacock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

A spill of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 18 July 1987, following John Howard's loss in the 1987 federal election by previous leader Andrew Peacock. The spill was won by Howard against Peacock by 41 votes to 28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1969 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

The Liberal Party of Australia held a leadership spill on 7 November 1969, following the party's poor performance at the federal election on 25 October. Prime Minister John Gorton was re-elected as the party's leader, defeating challengers William McMahon and David Fairbairn.

References

  1. "Politics will get you". The Liberals. Episode 5. 1995.
  2. The Canberra Times , March 24, 1993
  3. "Hewson pledges change, but still hails Fightback". Canberra Times (Act : 1926 - 1995). 24 March 1993. p. 1.
  4. "Out of the rough: Kennett and Kroger end feud". The Age. 22 June 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2013.