|
Australian federal election, 1984
|
Federal elections were held in Australia on 1 December 1984. All 148 seats in the House of Representatives, and 46 of 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 Andrew Peacock with coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by Ian Sinclair.
Results
House of Reps (IRV) — 1984-87 — Turnout 94.19% (CV) — Informal 6.78%
| |
Party |
Votes |
% |
Swing |
Seats |
Change |
| |
Australian Labor Party |
4,120,130 |
47.55 |
-1.93 |
82 |
+7 |
| |
Liberal Party of Australia |
2,951,556 |
34.06 |
-0.06 |
45 |
+12 |
| |
National Party of Australia |
921,151 |
10.63 |
+1.42 |
21 |
+4 |
| |
Australian Democrats |
472,204 |
5.45 |
+0.41 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Country Liberal Party |
27,335 |
0.32 |
+0.08 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Other |
172,576 |
1.99 |
+0.07 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Total |
8,664,952 |
|
|
148 |
+23 |
| |
Australian Labor Party |
WIN |
51.77 |
-1.46 |
82 |
+7 |
| |
Liberal/National coalition |
|
48.23 |
+1.46 |
66 |
+16 |
Senate (STV GV) — 1984-87 — Turnout 94.55% (CV) — Informal 4.68%
| |
Party |
Votes |
% |
Swing |
Seats Won |
Seats Held |
| |
Australian Labor Party |
3,750,789 |
42.17 |
-3.32 |
20 |
34 |
| |
Liberal Party of Australia |
1,831,006 |
20.59 |
+8.58 |
14 |
27 |
| |
Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) |
1,130,601 |
12.71 |
-11.49 |
3 |
|
| |
Australian Democrats |
677,970 |
7.62 |
-2.32 |
5 |
7 |
| |
Nuclear Disarmament Party |
643,061 |
7.23 |
* |
1 |
1 |
| |
National Party of Australia |
527,278 |
5.93 |
+0.87 |
2 |
5 |
| |
Call to Australia Party |
162,272 |
1.82 |
-0.04 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Country Liberal Party |
27,972 |
0.31 |
+0.04 |
1 |
1 |
| |
Harradine Group |
22,992 |
0.26 |
-0.32 |
0 |
1 |
| |
Other |
120,159 |
1.35 |
-1.37 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Total |
8,894,100 |
|
|
46 |
76 |
Background and issues
The election had a long ten-week campaign and a high rate of informal voting for the House of Representatives, but decreased rate in the Senate (due to the introduction of the Group voting ticket). The election was held 18 months ahead of time, partly in order to bring the elections for the House of Representatives and Senate back into line following the double dissolution election of 1983.
The legislated increase in the size of the House of Representatives by 24 seats and the Senate by 12 seats came into effect at the 1984 election. Prior to 1984 the electoral commission did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the previous election were put through this process prior to their destruction - therefore the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.
The results of the election surprised most analysts;citation needed the expectation had been that Bob Hawke - who had been polling a record ACNielsen approval rating of 75 percent1 earlier in the year - would win by a significantly larger margin. Labor instead suffered a 2% swing against it and had its majority cut from 25 to 16. Hawke blamed the result on the changes to Senate vote cards, which he believed confused people regarding their House of Representatives votes and contributed to the relatively high informal vote, the majority of which apparently was Labor votes.clarify2 Andrew Peacock did well from a good performance in the one leaders' debate, held on 26 November 1984.citation needed
See also
Notes
- ^ "The biggest hammering in history", Sydney Morning Herald (2008-05-20). Retrieved on 20 May 2008.
- ^ Hawke, RJL, The Hawke Memoirs (Port Melbourne: Mandarin 1996), p 276
References
- ^ "The biggest hammering in history", Sydney Morning Herald (2008-05-20). Retrieved on 20 May 2008.
- ^ Hawke, RJL, The Hawke Memoirs (Port Melbourne: Mandarin 1996), p 276
1987 ›
