Queensland state election, 1983
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Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 22 October 1983 to elect the 82 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.
The election resulted in a sixth consecutive term of office for the National Party under Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was the tenth election win for the National Party in Queensland since it first came to office in 1957.
Background
The election was triggered when a number of Liberal MLAs, including a cabinet minister, crossed the floor of the Parliament in order to support a Labor motion to create an Expenditure Review Committee. As a result, the coalition between the Liberal and National Parties was dissolved, and the Liberal Party elected Terry White as its new leader. Labor was also led by a new leader, Keith Wright.
Labor hoped to make use of the division between the conservative parties to make gains, while the Liberals hoped to win enough seats to force the Nationals back into coalition under more favourable terms. The Nationals sought to gain enough seats to form a majority government in their own right.
Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 13 September 1983 | The Parliament was dissolved.[1] |
| 13 September 1983 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2] |
| 22 September 1983 | Close of nominations. |
| 22 October 1983 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 7 November 1983 | The Bjelke-Petersen Ministry was reconstituted. |
| 18 November 1983 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
| 22 November 1983 | Parliament resumed for business.[3] |
Results
The National Party was returned to office, one seat short of a majority. Labor also made gains, although not enough to challenge the continuing dominance of the Bjelke-Petersen Government. The Liberals lost fourteen seats, including most of the members who crossed the floor of Parliament.
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Queensland state election, 22 October 1983[4][5] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 1,458,205 | |||||
| Votes cast | 1,336,985 | Turnout | 91.69% | +2.76% | ||
| Informal votes | 19,591 | Informal | 1.47% | –0.04% | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Labor | 579,363 | 43.98% | +2.49% | 32 | + 7 | |
| National | 512,890 | 38.93% | +10.99% | 41 | + 6 | |
| Liberal | 196,072 | 14.88% | –12.04% | 8 | –14 | |
| Democrats | 10,926 | 0.83% | –0.55% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Progress | 741 | 0.06% | –0.31% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Independent | 16,994 | 1.29% | –0.49% | 1 | + 1 | |
| Others | 408 | 0.03% | –0.09% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Total | 1,317,394 | 82 | ||||
Seats changing hands
| Seat | Pre-1983 | Swing | Post-1983 | ||||||
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
| Ashgrove | Liberal | John Greenwood | 0.4 | -2.0 | 1.6 | Tom Veivers | Labor | ||
| Aspley | Liberal | Beryce Nelson | 13.9 | -24.4 | 10.4 | Brian Cahill | National | ||
| Callide | National | Lindsay Hartwig | 15.8 | N/A | 9.3 | Lindsay Hartwig | Independent | ||
| Greenslopes | Liberal | Bill Hewitt | 12.3 | -16.6 | 4.3 | Leisha Harvey | National | ||
| Ipswich | Liberal | Llewellyn Edwards | 5.1 | -14.8 | 9.7 | David Hamill | Labor | ||
| Kurilpa | Liberal | Sam Doumany | 2.7 | -4.7 | 2.0 | Anne Warner | Labor | ||
| Mansfield | Liberal | Bill Kaus | 8.3 | N/A | 6.1 | Bill Kaus | National | ||
| Maryborough | Labor | Brendan Hansen | 0.6 | -0.6 | 0.03 | Gilbert Alison | National | ||
| Mount Gravatt | Liberal | Guelfi Scassola | 15.7 | -23.6 | 7.9 | Ian Henderson | National | ||
| Mount Isa | National | Angelo Bertoni | 0.9 | -3.7 | 2.8 | Bill Price | Labor | ||
| Pine Rivers | Liberal | Rob Akers | 7.5 | -7.9 | 0.4 | Yvonne Chapman | National | ||
| Salisbury | Liberal | Rosemary Kyburz | 2.3 | -3.4 | 1.1 | Wayne Goss | Labor | ||
| Stafford | Liberal | Terry Gygar | 0.7 | -0.8 | 0.1 | Denis Murphy | Labor | ||
| Toowong | Liberal | Ian Prentice | 13.1 | -18.3 | 5.2 | Earle Bailey | National | ||
| Toowoomba North | Liberal | John Lockwood | 5.5 | -9.1 | 3.6 | Sandy McPhie | National | ||
| Townsville | Liberal | Norman Scott-Young | 6.0 | -7.5 | 1.5 | Ken McElligott | Labor | ||
| Windsor | National | Bob Moore* | 1.3 | -3.4 | 2.1 | Pat Comben | Labor | ||
- Members in italics did not recontest their seats.
- Bob Moore was elected as a Liberal in the previous election, but changed to the National party in 1983.
Post-election pendulum
Aftermath
On 25 October, following the election, two Liberal MLAs, Brian Austin (Wavell) and Don Lane (Merthyr) defected to the National Party. This left only six Liberals, and marked the end of Terry White’s leadership and Angus Innes’ deputy leadership. Sir William Knox (Nundah) was returned as the new leader of the party.
Labor had performed well, but not well enough, especially in North Queensland. Still, Labor strategists hoped that they had recovered enough seats to make a win in 1986 possible.
The addition of Austin and Lane gave the Government 43 seats. The National Party had formed a majority government for the first time in Australian history. The coalition was not reformed and Joh Bjelke-Petersen continued as Premier.
References
- ↑ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 13 September 1983. p. 274:187.
- ↑ Queensland Government Gazette. 13 September 1983. p. 274:189. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Queensland Government Gazette. 10 November 1983. p. 274:1011. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 22 October 1983". Retrieved 22 February 2009.
- ↑ Hughes, Colin A. (1986). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1975-1984. ANU Press. pp. 206–207. ISBN 978-0-08-033038-9.
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