Australian federal election, 1993

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Federal election major party leaders
< 1990 1993 1996 >

Labor
Paul Keating
Prime Minister
Parliament: 24 years
Leader since: 1991
Division: Blaxland

WIN


Liberal
John Hewson
Opposition leader
Parliament: 6 years
Leader since: 1990
Division: Wentworth

Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 March 1993. All 147 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 Prime Minister of Australia Paul Keating defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by John Hewson with coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by Tim Fischer.

House of Reps (IRV) — 1993-96 — Turnout 95.75% (CV) — Informal 2.97%
  Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Australian Labor Party 4,751,390 44.92 +5.49 80 +2
  Liberal Party of Australia 3,923,786 37.10 +2.06 49 -6
  National Party of Australia 758,036 7.17 -1.25 16 +2
  Australian Democrats 397,060 3.75 -7.51 0 0
  Australian Greens 196,702 1.86 * 0 0
  Independents 328,084 3.10 +0.56 2 +1
  Other 221,721 2.10 -1.21 0 0
  Total 10,576,779     147 -1
  Australian Labor Party WIN 51.44 +1.54 80 +2
  Liberal/National coalition   48.56 -1.54 65 -4

Independents: Ted Mack, Phil Cleary

Senate (STV GV) — 1993-96 — Turnout 96.22% (CV) — Informal 2.55%
  Party Votes % Swing Seats Won Seats Held
  Australian Labor Party 4,643,871 43.50 +5.10 17 30
  Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) 2,605,157 24.40 -0.06 6  
  Liberal Party of Australia 1,664,204 15.59 +1.03 11 29
  Australian Democrats 566,944 5.31 -7.32 2 7
  National Party of Australia 290,382 2.72 +0.12 1 6
  Australian Greens 263,106 2.46 +0.43 0 0
  WA Greens 53,757 0.50 -0.27 1 2
  Country Liberal Party 35,405 0.33 +0.04 1 1
  Harradine Group 32,202 0.30 -0.10 1 1
  Other 519,777 4.87 +0.62 0 0
  Total 10,674,805     40 76


This was the first election after the full totality of the late 80s/early 90s recession. The opposition Liberal Party, under John Hewson, launched Fightback!, a radical prescription of tough, economically "dry" measures, including a radical overhaul of Medicare and Industrial Relations. But the contentious 15% Goods and Services Tax was the centrepiece of the campaign. Hewson had been forced by pressure group activity and public opinion to exempt food from the proposed GST, but this was not enough against the formidable campaigning skills of Paul Keating. The complexity surrounding what food was and wasn't to be exempt from the GST, and John Hewson's subsequent difficulty in explaining this to the Australian electorate was exemplified in the famous Birthday Cake Interview, considered by some as a turning point in the whole campaign.

For the first time since 1966, this election saw the incumbent government obtain both an increased share of the vote and an increased majority in the House of Representatives.

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