Australian general election, 1987
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Federal elections were held in Australia on July 11, 1987. 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 of Australia Bob Hawke defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by John Howard and the National Party of Australia led by Ian Sinclair.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Australian Labor Party | 4,222,431 | 45.76 | -1.79 | 86 | +4 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 3,175,262 | 34.41 | +0.35 | 43 | -2 | |
| National Party of Australia | 1,060,976 | 11.50 | +0.87 | 19 | -2 | |
| Australian Democrats | 554,017 | 6.00 | +0.55 | 0 | 0 | |
| Country Liberal Party | 21,668 | 0.23 | -0.09 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other | 189,975 | 2.06 | +0.07 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 9,227,772 | 148 | ||||
| Australian Labor Party | WIN | 50.83 | -0.94 | 86 | +4 | |
| LPA/NAT coalition | 49.17 | +0.94 | 62 | -4 |
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 4,013,860 | 42.83 | +0.66 | 32 | 32 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 1,965,180 | 20.97 | +0.38 | 23 | 26 | |
| Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) | 1,289,888 | 13.76 | +1.05 | 5 | ||
| Australian Democrats | 794,107 | 8.47 | +0.85 | 7 | 7 | |
| National Party of Australia | 664,394 | 7.09 | +1.16 | 5 | 7 | |
| Call to Australia Party | 136,825 | 1.46 | -0.36 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nuclear Disarmament Party | 102,480 | 1.09 | -6.14 | 1 | 1 | |
| Vallentine Peace Group | 40,048 | 0.43 | +0.43 | 1 | 1 | |
| Harradine Group | 37,037 | 0.40 | +0.14 | 1 | 1 | |
| Country Liberal Party | 19,970 | 0.21 | -0.10 | 1 | 1 | |
| Other | 307,892 | 3.29 | +1.93 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 9,371,681 | 76 | 76 |
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Note: As this was a Double Dissolution election no Senate seats were heldover from the previous Senate.
The 1987 Federal election was called 6 months early by Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, to capitalise on the disunity in the Opposition. The trigger for the Double Dissolution was legislation for the Australia Card, although it did not figure prominently in the campaign. The double dissolution election was called to capitalise on the disunity in the Federal Opposition, led by John Howard. Former Liberal leader, Andrew Peacock, was dismissed from the Shadow Ministry by Howard in March, following Peacock's comments to Victorian Opposition Leader, Jeff Kennett, in an infamous car phone conversation.
John Howard, new to the position since succeeding Andrew Peacock in 1985 following a botched attempt by Peacock to remove Howard as his deputy, was fighting a war on two fronts. It was the origin of Howard's oft-repeated remark that in politics "disunity is death".
This election was the last time the Liberal Party of Australia and National Party of Australia competed directly against each other in a federal election. This was due to the abortive Joh for Canberra campaign of Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson. Although Bjelke-Peterson did not run, the resulting schism between the Nationals and Liberals led to several three-cornered contests. Labor campaigned strongly on the disunity among the opposition parties.
[edit] References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- AEC 2PP vote
- AustralianPolitics.com election details
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Australian general elections
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