1999 New South Wales state election

Last updated

1999 New South Wales state election
Flag of New South Wales.svg
  1995 27 March 1999 (1999-03-27) 2003  

All 93 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
and 21 (of the 42) seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council
47 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
 
Bob Carr.jpg
Kerry Chikarovski.jpg
Leader Bob Carr Kerry Chikarovski
Party Labor Liberal/National coalition
Leader since6 April 19888 December 1998
Leader's seat Maroubra Lane Cove
Last election50 seats46 seats
Seats won5533
Seat changeIncrease2.svg5Decrease2.svg13
Popular vote1,576,8861,258,711
Percentage42.21%33.69%
SwingIncrease2.svg0.94Decrease2.svg10.25
TPP 55.96%44.04%
TPP swingIncrease2.svg7.0ppDecrease2.svg7.0pp

1999 New South Wales state election.svg
Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate

Premier before election

Bob Carr
Labor

Elected Premier

Bob Carr
Labor

The 1999 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday, 27 March. All seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council was up for election. The Incumbent New South Wales Premier Bob Carr won a second term with a 7% swing of vote against the Liberal National Party led by Kerry Chikarovski. The poll was the first to be held after two key changes to the electoral system. In 1997, the number of electoral districts was reduced from 99 to 93. In 1995, fixed four-year terms were introduced. As of 2025, this is the most recent NSW election in which the leader of the winning party would complete a full term as premier.

Contents

Background

Carr Government

The Labor Party's victory at the 1995 election was built on a number of specific promises, backed by a well directed marginal seat campaign. On taking office, the Carr Government faced difficulties presiding over a public sector that had fundamentally changed during the seven years of the Greiner and Fahey Governments. The major dynamic of the Carr Government's first term was to be the clash between the old fashioned promises that won the 1995 election and the new orthodoxy of public sector financial accountability.

This new orthodoxy had its genesis in the election of the Hawke government at the 1983 Federal election. The new financial structures applied by Canberra to deal with the nation's trade imbalance created problems that forced change on the States. While the term microeconomic reform was not yet in use when the Greiner Government was elected in 1988, New South Wales became the first State that committed itself to a fundamental examination of the role and activities of the public sector. Focusing initially on the efficiency of service delivery and drawing distinctions between commercial functions and core Government services, the process evolved into using market mechanisms to improve the efficiency of services for which the public sector had previously been the monopoly provider. Later, the Jeff Kennett government in Victoria and the Howard government in Canberra were to take the process further with the wide scale use of privatisation and the outsourcing of services.

The Carr Government was always going to face problems because of the financial burden imposed by the building programme associated with the 2000 Olympics. The Government took the responsible course of choosing to fund the programme internally rather than through debt, resulting in the re-direction of Government expenditure. This approach created dilemmas with two key promises made by Labor to win the 1995 election.

The first was a promise by Carr and his Health Minister Andrew Refshauge to resign if they did not halve hospital waiting lists within twelve months. Devoting extra resources, persuading the majority of the medical profession to participate and improving hospital processes allowed the Government to meet the commitment. The Federal government cut of funding to hospitals that followed made the waiting list numbers rise again and increased the scepticism of the public to any claim . An attempt to redistribute health infrastructure and resources by merging St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst with St George Hospital in Hurstville was one of several politically damaging attempts by the Government to live within its financial means.

The second problem was a promise to abolish the tolls on the privately operated M4 and M5 motorways. Once elected, the Government announced it could not lift the tolls given the cost and contractual obligations. This was disastrous for the Government's standing, forcing it in October 1996 to announce a toll cash-back scheme for private use in an effort to recover lost support.

Dealing with state debt, building the Olympic infrastructure and meeting the cost of normal Government functions caused Cabinet to propose a radical solution in 1997: sell the State's electricity assets. The Victorian Government had raised billions in this way, and New South Wales had already divided the generating capacity into separate corporations that made privatisation possible. The policy had the additional advantage of removing the financial risk faced by the State since the introduction of a national electricity grid with full competition between suppliers. This was privatisation taken too far for the Labor Party, a State Conference refusing to sanction the sale. Finances remained tight but the Cabinet back-down solved a different problem. The Coalition was still committed to electricity privatisation, allowing the Carr Government to appeal to its own traditional base by warning the only alternative Government would be far harsher.

A redistribution was due before the 1999 election. Before starting the process, Labor number crunchers turned to deciding what number of Lower House seats delivered the best advantage for Labor. With an increase in members ruled out by the premier, the eventual strategy adopted was a cut to 93 MPs.

Finalised in July 1998, the new boundaries were a disappointment for the Government. Rather than strengthening Labor's hold on office, they removed the Government's majority, with only 46 of the 93 seats notionally held by Labor. The Coalition was still disadvantaged, given that it won more of the vote in 1995 and still needed a bigger swing than Labor to take office. However, the Coalition was relieved that the boundaries were considerably fairer than Labor had tried to arrange.

Ten seats were abolished and four created, another six seats adopting new names. A net four seats disappeared in Sydney and one in Newcastle. The far western seats of Broken Hill and Murray were abolished and fashioned into a new notionally National Party seat called Murray-Darling. Several Members were forced to move while three seats, Maitland, Strathfield and the new seat of Ryde, were to see contests between sitting MPs.

Retiring former Ministers caused five by-elections in May 1996, Labor receiving a bonus when former Federal MP Harry Woods won the North Coast seat of Clarence from the National Party, increasing the Government's majority to three.

Liberal Opposition

Peter Collins had taken over the Liberal leadership after the 1995 election. Although he had held several senior portfolios in the previous Government, he remained relatively unknown to the electorate. Despite the low profile of Collins, the Coalition remained competitive in opinion polls until the middle of 1998. Collins was deposed by a surprise coup in December 1998 and replaced by Kerry Chikarovski, the first woman to lead a major party in New South Wales. Less experienced at handling the media than Collins, especially television, Chikarovski struggled during the March 1999 campaign. The Coalition's campaign was also hampered by its unpopular proposal to sell the State's electricity assets. The task of selling it became more difficult when polls indicated that the promised cash rebates made voters even more suspicious of privatisation. As a result, Chikarovski bore much of the criticism of the Coalition's performance.

Christian Democratic Party

The Call to Australia Party changed its name to the Christian Democratic Party in 1998.

Results

Legislative Assembly

1999 NSW Legislative Assembly.svg
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Labor 1,576,88642.21Increase2.svg 0.9455Increase2.svg 5
Liberal 927,36824.82Decrease2.svg 8.0220Decrease2.svg 9
National 331,3438.87Decrease2.svg 2.2313Decrease2.svg 4
One Nation 281,1477.53New0New
Independents 190,7935.11Increase2.svg 0.415Increase2.svg 2
Greens 145,0193.88Increase2.svg 1.310Steady2.svg
Democrats 124,5203.33Increase2.svg 0.490Steady2.svg
Christian Democrats 55,8191.49New0New
Unity 39,5621.06New0New
Others63,6221.70Decrease2.svg 1.540Steady2.svg
Total3,736,079100.0093
Valid votes3,736,07997.49
Invalid/blank votes96,0002.51Decrease2.svg 3.36
Total votes3,832,079100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,115,05993.12Decrease2.svg 0.68
Source: [1]
Two-party-preferred
Labor 1,805,36555.96Increase2.svg 7.14
Liberal/National Coalition 1,420,96544.04Decrease2.svg 7.14
Total3,226,330100.00

Popular vote
Labor
42.21%
Liberal
24.82%
National
8.87%
One Nation
7.53%
Independents
5.11%
Greens
3.88%
Democrats
3.33%
Christian Democrats
1.49%
Unity
1.06%
Others
1.70%
Two-party-preferred vote
Labor
55.96%
Coalition
44.04%
Parliamentary seats
Labor
55
Liberal
20
National
13
Independents
5

The Legislative Assembly (lower house) election was a landslide. Labor's historic hold on the city of Broken Hill was maintained when Labor won Murray-Darling. Labor also won the head-to-head contests between sitting MPs in the notionally Liberal seats of Maitland, Ryde and Strathfield. Labor also gained Georges River, Menai and Miranda in southern Sydney and the far North Coast seat of Tweed. It retained Clarence and gained South Coast. Optional preferential voting was responsible for Labor holding Clarence, with the failure of Liberal voters to direct preferences denying the National candidate victory.

The two-party swing to Labor was 7.2%, winning 56.0% of the two-party preferred vote. However, Labor's primary vote had barely risen while the combined Coalition vote was down 10%. A new arrival, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, fresh from success at the 1998 Queensland and Federal elections, polled 7.5% of the vote. Exhausted One Nation preferences played their part in creating the swing against the Coalition. Worse for the National Party, both Dubbo and Northern Tablelands were lost to Independents, bringing to three the number of Independents in safe National Party seats.

Legislative Council

1999 NSW Legislative Council.svg
PartyVotes%+/–Seats
Seats WonNot UpTotal SeatsSeat Change
Labor 1,325,81937.27Increase2.svg 2.028816Decrease2.svg 1
Liberal/National Coalition 974,35227.39Decrease2.svg 11.026814Decrease2.svg 4
One Nation 225,6686.34New101New
Democrats 142,7684.01Increase2.svg 0.80112Steady2.svg
Christian Democrats 112,6993.17Increase2.svg 0.16112Steady2.svg
Greens 103,4632.91Decrease2.svg 0.84112Increase2.svg 1
Shooters 59,2951.67Decrease2.svg 1.17011Steady2.svg
Progressive Labour 56,0371.58New000New
Marijuana Smokers Rights43,9911.24New000New
Legal System Reform 35,7121.00New101New
Unity 34,7850.98New101New
Country Summit Alliance31,7710.89New000New
Registered Clubs Party27,5640.77New000New
Gun Owners & Sporting Hunters25,1060.71New000New
Country NSW Party19,8190.56Decrease2.svg 0.04000Steady2.svg
What's Doing?18,3180.51New000New
ABFFOC 15,8000.44Decrease2.svg 0.84011Steady2.svg
Outdoor Recreation 7,2640.20New101New
Others297,5308.36*000Steady2.svg
Total3,557,761100.00212142
Valid votes3,557,76192.83
Invalid/blank votes274,5947.17Increase2.svg 1.06
Total votes3,832,355100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,115,05993.13Decrease2.svg 0.67

This election was known derogatively as the "Tablecloth Election", due to the unprecedented number of candidates contesting the Upper House, totalling 264 candidates for 81 parties. This meant that each of the 4 million ballot papers issued measured approximately 70x100cm, the size of a small tablecloth. A number of party names on the ballot were noted by election analyst Antony Green to be "clearly misleading in intent", such as the Gay and Lesbian Party, founded by heterosexual campaigners advocating for four-wheel drive access to the state's national parks. [2]

The rules for nominating candidates to the Legislative Council were tightened to prevent this from happening again, as well as the abolition of group ticket preferences in response to Malcolm Jones of the Outdoor Recreation Party being elected with 0.2% of the vote.

Overview

In the New South Wales Legislative Assembly:

Elections were held for half the seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council:

Seats changing hands

SeatPre-1999SwingPost-1999
PartyMemberMarginMarginMemberParty
Burrinjuck  Liberal Alby Schultz 9.9-11.11.2 Katrina Hodgkinson National 
Dubbo  National Gerry Peacocke 18.0-18.00.02 Tony McGrane Independent 
Georges River  Liberal Marie Ficarra 2.0-8.36.3 Kevin Greene Labor 
Maitland  Liberal Peter Blackmore 0.9-1.91.0 John Price Labor 
Menai  LiberalNotional - New seat1.9-6.14.2 Alison Megarrity Labor 
Miranda  Liberal Ron Phillips 5.2-7.52.3 Barry Collier Labor 
Murray-Darling  NationalNotional - New seat3.5-7.74.2 Peter Black Labor 
Northern Tablelands  National Ray Chappell 14.6-24.09.4 Richard Torbay Independent 
Ryde  LiberalNotional - New seat4.2-10.86.6 John Watkins Labor 
South Coast  Liberal Eric Ellis 4.6-5.10.5 Wayne Smith Labor 
Strathfield  Liberal Bruce MacCarthy 2.8-11.28.4 Paul Whelan Labor 
Tweed  NationalNotional - New seat2.2-4.82.6 Neville Newell Labor 

Post-election pendulum

Labor seats (55)
Marginal
Clarence Harry Woods ALP0.2%
South Coast Wayne Smith ALP0.5%
Maitland John Price ALP1.0%
Miranda Barry Collier ALP2.3%
Tweed Neville Newell ALP2.6%
Menai Alison Megarrity ALP4.2%
Murray-Darling Peter Black ALP4.2%
Fairly safe
Georges River Kevin Greene ALP6.3%
Ryde John Watkins ALP6.6%
Kogarah Cherie Burton ALP7.5%
Keira David Campbell ALP7.9% v IND
Strathfield Paul Whelan ALP8.4%
Drummoyne John Murray ALP9.4%
The Entrance Grant McBride ALP9.7%
Safe
Heathcote Ian McManus ALP10.4%
Peats Marie Andrews ALP11.3%
Blue Mountains Bob Debus ALP11.8%
Coogee Ernie Page ALP12.3%
Port Stephens John Bartlett ALP12.3%
Parramatta Gabrielle Harrison ALP14.5%
Granville Kim Yeadon ALP14.6%
Londonderry Jim Anderson ALP14.9%
Wentworthville Pam Allan ALP15.4%
Wyong Paul Crittenden ALP15.5%
Rockdale George Thompson ALP16.5%
Swansea Milton Orkopoulos ALP16.6%
Penrith Faye Lo Po' ALP16.7%
Riverstone John Aquilina ALP17.2%
Mulgoa Diane Beamer ALP17.6%
Kiama Matt Brown ALP17.7%
Bathurst Gerard Martin ALP17.8%
East Hills Alan Ashton ALP18.3%
Cabramatta Reba Meagher ALP18.9% v IND
Lake Macquarie Jeff Hunter ALP19.2%
Charlestown Richard Face ALP19.3%
Blacktown Paul Gibson ALP19.4%
Campbelltown Michael Knight ALP19.9%
Maroubra Bob Carr ALP19.9%
Marrickville Andrew Refshauge ALP21.5% v GRN
Newcastle Bryce Gaudry ALP22.4%
Wallsend John Mills ALP22.6%
Cessnock Kerry Hickey ALP22.6% v ONP
Illawarra Marianne Saliba ALP22.8%
Smithfield Carl Scully ALP22.8%
Macquarie Fields Craig Knowles ALP23.5%
Auburn Peter Nagle ALP24.3%
Lakemba Morris Iemma ALP24.7%
Port Jackson Sandra Nori ALP25.1%
Canterbury Kevin Moss ALP25.2%
Mount Druitt Richard Amery ALP25.8%
Heffron Deirdre Grusovin ALP26.1%
Fairfield Joe Tripodi ALP28.3%
Liverpool Paul Lynch ALP28.6%
Wollongong Col Markham ALP28.7%
Bankstown Tony Stewart ALP30.2%
Liberal/National seats (33)
Marginal
Monaro Peter Webb NAT0.2%
Albury Ian Glachan LIB1.0% v IND
Burrinjuck Katrina Hodgkinson NAT1.2%
Gosford Chris Hartcher LIB2.3%
Hornsby Stephen O'Doherty LIB2.7%
Camden Liz Kernohan LIB3.5%
Cronulla Malcolm Kerr LIB5.1%
Southern Highlands Peta Seaton LIB5.7%
Fairly safe
Orange Russell Turner NAT6.3%
Epping Andrew Tink LIB7.1%
Bega Russell Smith LIB7.1%
Lane Cove Kerry Chikarovski LIB7.4%
Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire LIB7.5%
Oxley Andrew Stoner NAT8.0%
Baulkham Hills Wayne Merton LIB8.1%
Coffs Harbour Andrew Fraser NAT8.3%
Lismore Thomas George NAT8.5%
Safe
Upper Hunter George Souris NAT10.5%
Wakehurst Brad Hazzard LIB10.8%
Willoughby Peter Collins LIB11.1%
Murrumbidgee Adrian Piccoli NAT12.0%
Ballina Don Page NAT12.0%
North Shore Jillian Skinner LIB12.3%
Vaucluse Peter Debnam LIB12.5%
Myall Lakes John Turner NAT12.9%
Hawkesbury Kevin Rozzoli LIB13.3%
The Hills Michael Richardson LIB14.7%
Lachlan Ian Armstrong NAT16.3%
Port Macquarie Rob Oakeshott NAT16.6%
Barwon Ian Slack-Smith NAT17.2%
Pittwater John Brogden LIB18.8%
Ku-ring-gai Barry O'Farrell LIB20.0%
Davidson Andrew Humpherson LIB21.1%
Crossbench seats (5)
Dubbo Tony McGrane IND0.02% v NAT
Manly David Barr IND1.3% v LIB
Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay IND9.4% v NAT
Bligh Clover Moore IND9.8% v ALP
Tamworth Tony Windsor IND35.2% v ALP

See also

References

  1. Green, Antony. "1999 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  2. Green, Antony (7 August 2014). "Ricky Muir's Strange Path to the Senate". Antony Green's Election Blog. ABC News. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025. In the 1999 NSW Legislative Council election, this extended to party names that were clearly misleading in intent. For example, the Gay and Lesbian Party, formed by heterosexual activists campaigning for four-wheel drive access to national parks, helped elect Malcolm Jones.