List of Australian Capital Territory elections

Last updated

This article provides a summary of results for elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) that is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Contents

Creation

The Assembly was created by four acts of the Commonwealth Parliament in 1988, including the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988. The first election was held on 4 March 1989 [1] and the assembly first sat on 11 May that year. [2]

Summary of results

The table below shows the total number of seats won by the major political parties at each election. The totals of the winning party or coalition are shown in bold, while other parties in government are shown in bold italic. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row.

List of Australian Capital Territory elections
Election yearGovernment Labor Liberal No Self-Government Party Residents Rally Abolish Self-Govt Michael Moore Independent Group Greens Osbourne Independent Group Democrats Independents
2020 1096
2016 12112
2012 881
2008 764
2004 971
2001 8711
1998 67112
1995 67121
1992 8612
1989 54341

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Capital Territory</span> Federal territory of Australia

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a federal territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory. It is located in southeastern Australian mainland as an enclave completely within the state of New South Wales. Founded after Federation as the seat of government for the new nation, the territory hosts the headquarters of all important institutions of the Australian Government.

Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories are broadly similar to the electoral system used in federal elections in Australia.

The parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Territory Legislative Assembly</span> Legislative house of the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory

The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method for the Assembly is the full-preferential voting system, having previously been optional preferential voting. Elections are on the fourth Saturday in August of the fourth year after the previous election, but can be earlier in the event of a no confidence vote in the Government. The most recent election for the Legislative Assembly was the 2020 election held on 22 August 2020. The next election is scheduled for 24 August 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly</span> Unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory

The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Square, close to the centre of the city of Canberra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Western Australia</span> Legislative body of the Australian state of Western Australia

The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Assembly, an upper house, the Legislative Council and the King, represented by the Governor of Western Australia. The two Houses of Parliament sit in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth.

The history of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) as a separate administrative division began in 1911, when it was transferred from New South Wales to the Australian federal government. The territory contains Australia's capital city Canberra and various smaller settlements. Until 1989, it also administered the Jervis Bay Territory, a small coastal region.

<i>Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988</i> Act of the Parliament of Australia that granted autonomy to the Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of Australia enacted on 6 December 1988, that establishes "a body politic under the Crown by the name of the Australian Capital Territory" and is the constitutional foundation of the Territory's government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Australian Capital Territory general election</span>

The 1989 Australian Capital Territory general election was held on 4 March 1989 to elect the 1st Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. This was the first direct election by voters in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for their power legislative body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Barr</span> Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory

Andrew James Barr is an Australian politician who has been serving as the 7th Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory since 2014. He has been a Labor Party member in the ACT Legislative Assembly since 2006, after being elected on a countback to replace former Treasurer Ted Quinlan, who resigned mid-term. Barr was immediately promoted to Cabinet upon his election. On 11 December 2014 he was elected as Chief Minister after his predecessor, Katy Gallagher, resigned and announced her intention to run for the Senate. In addition to being Chief Minister, he holds the portfolios of Treasurer; Climate Action; Trade, Investment and Economic Development; and Tourism.

Elections to the 1992 Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly was held on Saturday, 15 February, alongside a referendum on an electoral system for future elections. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Trevor Kaine. Candidates were elected to fill seats using the modified d'Hondt electoral system for a multi-member single constituency. The result was another hung parliament. However, Labor, with the largest representation in the 17-member unicameral Assembly, formed Government with the support of Michael Moore and Helen Szuty. Follett was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the second Assembly on 27 March 1992.

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 18 February 1995. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Kate Carnell. For the first time, candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single transferable vote method, known as the Hare-Clark system. The result was another hung parliament. However the Liberals, with the largest representation in the 17-member unicameral Assembly, formed Government with the support of Michael Moore and Paul Osborne. Carnell was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the third Assembly on 9 March 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Australian Capital Territory general election</span>

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 16 October 2004. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Jon Stanhope, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Brendan Smyth. Candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single transferable vote method, known as the Hare-Clark system. The result was a clear majority of nine seats in the 17-member unicameral Assembly for Labor. It marked the first and so far only time in the history of ACT self-government that one party was able to win a majority in its own right. Stanhope was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the sixth Assembly on 4 November 2004. The election was conducted by the ACT Electoral Commission and was the second time in Australia's history that an electronic voting and counting system was used for some, but not all, polling places, expanding on the initial trial of the system at the 2001 ACT election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of the Australian Capital Territory</span> Territory government of the Australian Capital Territory, Australia

The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive branch of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly forms government. Unlike the Australian States and the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly directly elects one of their number to be the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory as the head of the Government, rather than being appointed by a Governor or Administrator.

The Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly was the main elected representative body of the Australian Capital Territory between 1975 and 1986, during which time preparation began for the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Assembly had a largely advisory role, with most of the power over the Territory being in the hands of the relevant federal minister.

Craig John Duby, former Australian politician, was a member of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory between 1989 and 1992, elected to the multi-member single constituency Assembly as a representative of the No Self-Government Party. During his term in office, Duby was a member of the Independents Group and the Hare-Clark Independence Party. Duby was the Minister for Finance and Urban Services and briefly was the Minister for Housing and Community Services in the Kaine ministry. For part of one day, he served as the Leader of the Opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of the Northern Territory</span>

The Parliament of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. It consists of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and the Administrator of the Northern Territory, who represents the Governor-General. It is one of three unicameral parliaments in Australia, along with those of Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The Legislative Assembly replaced the previous Legislative Council in 1974. It sits in Parliament House, Darwin.

The No Self Government Party was a minor Australian Capital Territory political party that experienced limited success in the early years of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. Like Dennis Stevenson's Abolish Self-Government Coalition, it opposed self-government for the ACT. In the first territory election in 1989, three members of the party Party were elected. None were still a member of the party by the 1992 election, by which time it had ceased to exist.

The ACT Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (Australian Capital Territory Branch) and commonly referred to simply as ACT Labor, is the ACT branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The branch is the current ruling party in the Capital Territory and is led by Andrew Barr, who has concurrently served as chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory since 2014. It is one of two major parties in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, and is currently in a coalition with the ACT Greens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Australian Capital Territory general election</span> General election

The 2020 Australian Capital Territory general election was held between 28 September and 17 October 2020 to elect all 25 members of the unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly.

References

  1. ACT government elections Archived 28 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Establishing self-government in the ACT". Legislative Assembly for the ACT. 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.