1977 Queensland state election

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1977 Queensland state election
← 1974 12 November 1977 (1977-11-12) 1980 →
All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout91.35 (Increase 1.93 pp)
  First party Second party
  Joh Bjelke-Petersen 1968 (cropped).jpg
ALP
Leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen Tom Burns
Party National Labor
Leader since 8 August 1968 19 December 1974 (1974-12-19)
Leader's seat Barambah Lytton
Last election 69 seats 11 seats
Seats won 59 seats 23 seats
Seat change Decrease10 Increase12
Percentage 52.37% 42.83%
Swing Decrease5.14 Increase6.80
Premier before election

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National

Elected Premier

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 12 November 1977 to elect the 82 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

The election resulted in a fourth consecutive victory for the National-Liberal Coalition under Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was the eighth victory of the National Party in Queensland since it first came to office in 1957.

Issues[]

The major issue in the election was law and order. In 1977, the Government had passed a law making it illegal to march in the street without a permit, which were rarely given. The Coalition argued that this prevented traffic disruption and other inconveniences to the people of Brisbane, while the ALP claimed that it was a curtailment of civil liberties. Joh Bjelke-Petersen also no longer had the Whitlam Labor Government (which was unpopular in Queensland) to use as a campaigning tool.

Key dates[]

Date Event
10 October 1977 The Legislative Assembly was dissolved.[1]
10 October 1977 Writs were issued by the Governor, James Ramsay, to proceed with an election.[2]
17 October 1977 Close of nominations.
12 November 1977 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
16 December 1977 The Bjelke-Petersen Ministry was reconstituted.[3]
20 December 1977 The writ was returned and the results formally declared.[4]
14 January 1978 Deadline for return of the writs.
28 March 1978 Parliament resumed for business.[5]

Result[]

The Labor Party gained twelve seats from the Coalition and Independents, making something of a recovery from its disastrous 1974 performance. Even so, the Coalition retained a commanding majority in the Legislative Assembly.

For the first time, the National Party won more votes than the Liberal party (an electoral malapportionment had allowed the Nationals to win more seats than the Liberals previously). The Liberal Party had begun to decline.

The Democratic Labor Party had ceased to exist. The Australian Democrats contested their first election in Queensland.

Results[]

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1977

Queensland state election, 12 November 1977[6][7]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1974–1980 >>

Enrolled voters 1,209,494
Votes cast 1,104,898 Turnout 91.35% +1.93%
Informal votes 16,887 Informal 1.53% –0.05%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 466,021 42.83% +6.80% 23 +12
  Nationals 295,355 27.15% –0.73% 35 – 4
  Liberal 274,398 25.22% –5.87% 24 – 6
  Democrats 17,571 1.61% +1.61% 0 ± 0
  Progress 16,327 1.50% +1.50% 0 ± 0
  Independent 18,339 1.69% –1.22% 0 – 2
Total 1,088,011     82  
Popular vote
Labor
 
 42.83%
Nationals
 
 27.15%
Liberal
 
 25.22%
Democrats
 
 1.61%
Progress
 
 1.50%
Independents
 
 1.69%
Seats
Nationals
 
 42.68%
Liberal
 
 29.27%
Labor
 
 28.05%

New parties in this election were the Australian Democrats, who stood 12 candidates, and the Progress Party, who stood 27 candidates.[8]

Seats changing hands[]

Seat Pre-1977 Swing Post-1977
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Brisbane Central   Liberal notional - new seat 2.8 -8.2 5.4 Brian Davis Labor  
Chatsworth   Liberal Bill Hewitt 5.7 -6.8 1.1 Terry Mackenroth Labor  
Cook   National Eric Deeral 2.6 -6.5 3.9 Bob Scott Labor  
Everton   Liberal Brian Lindsay 9.2 -10.2 1.0 Glen Milliner Labor  
Ipswich West   National Albert Hales 1.1 -5.4 4.3 David Underwood Labor  
Maryborough   Liberal Gilbert Alison 5.0 -5.2 0.2 Brendan Hansen Labor  
Murrumba   National Des Frawley 9.7 -11.1 1.4 Joe Kruger Labor  
South Brisbane   Liberal Colin Lamont 4.1 -7.3 3.2 Jim Fouras Labor  
Southport   National notional - new seat 19.4 -29.2 9.8 Peter White Liberal  
Surfers Paradise   National Bruce Small 23.0 -28.7 5.7 Bruce Bishop Liberal  
Townsville South   Independent Tom Aikens 0.6 -1.6 1.0 Alex Wilson Labor  
Woodridge   Liberal notional - new seat 7.8 -11.9 4.1 Bill D'Arcy Labor  
Wynnum   National Bill Lamond 0.1 -4.2 4.1 Eric Shaw Labor  
  • Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
  • In addition, the Independent member for Mackay, Ed Casey re-joined the Labor party before the election and retained the seat.

Post-election pendulum[]

National / Liberal seats (59)
Marginal
Barron River Martin Tenni NAT 0.2%
Mourilyan Vicky Kippin NAT 0.3%
Stafford Terry Gygar LIB 0.5%
Mount Isa Angelo Bertoni NAT 0.6%
Salisbury Rosemary Kyburz LIB 0.7%
Townsville West Max Hooper NAT 0.9%
Toowoomba North John Lockwood LIB 1.6%
Wavell Brian Austin LIB 2.8%
Kurilpa Sam Doumany LIB 3.0%
Warrego Neil Turner NAT 3.0%
Hinchinbrook Ted Row NAT 3.1%
Pine Rivers Rob Akers LIB 3.4%
Ipswich Llewellyn Edwards LIB 4.1%
Windsor Bob Moore LIB 4.5%
Ashgrove John Greenwood LIB 4.9%
Toowoomba South John Warner NAT 4.9%
Albert Ivan Gibbs NAT 5.0%
Redlands John Goleby NAT 5.4%
Whitsunday Ron Camm NAT 5.5%
Surfers Paradise Bruce Bishop LIB 5.7%
Fairly safe
Ithaca Col Miller LIB 6.0%
Redcliffe Jim Houghton NAT 6.2%
Townsville Norman Scott-Young LIB 6.3%
Merthyr Don Lane LIB 6.4%
Gregory Bill Glasson NAT 6.8%
Flinders Bob Katter NAT 7.1%
Peak Downs Vince Lester NAT 7.8%
Nundah William Knox LIB 8.1%
Yeronga Norm Lee LIB 8.1%
Mulgrave Roy Armstrong NAT 8.4%
Toowong Charles Porter LIB 8.7%
Caboolture Des Frawley NAT 9.0%
Isis Lin Powell NAT 9.2%
South Coast Russ Hinze NAT 9.3%
Southport Peter White LIB 9.8% v NAT
Safe
Burdekin Val Bird NAT 10.3%
Mount Gravatt Guelfi Scassola LIB 10.4%
Fassifern Selwyn Muller NAT 11.4%
Aspley Fred Campbell LIB 11.5% v NAT
Mirani Tom Newbery NAT 11.5%
Greenslopes Bill Hewitt LIB 12.4%
Mansfield Bill Kaus LIB 12.6%
Sherwood Angus Innes LIB 12.9%
Carnarvon Peter McKechnie NAT 13.5%
Callide Lindsay Hartwig NAT 15.3%
Roma Ken Tomkins NAT 16.0%
Somerset Bill Gunn NAT 17.9%
Cooroora Gordon Simpson NAT 18.1%
Landsborough Mike Ahern NAT 18.2%
Gympie Max Hodges NAT 18.8%
Warwick Des Booth NAT 18.9%
Burnett Claude Wharton NAT 19.3%
Mount Coot-tha Bill Lickiss LIB 19.8%
Condamine Vic Sullivan NAT 21.4%
Balonne Don Neal NAT 21.9%
Auburn Neville Hewitt NAT 22.3%
Lockyer Tony Bourke LIB 22.5%
Barambah Joh Bjelke-Petersen NAT 28.3%
Cunningham Tony Elliott NAT 30.6%
Labor seats (23)
Marginal
Maryborough Brendan Hansen ALP 0.2% v LIB
Everton Glen Milliner ALP 1.0% v LIB
Townsville South Alex Wilson ALP 1.0% v IND
Chatsworth Terry Mackenroth ALP 1.1% v LIB
Murrumba Joe Kruger ALP 1.4%
South Brisbane Jim Fouras ALP 3.2% v LIB
Cook Bob Scott ALP 3.9%
Woodridge Bill D'Arcy ALP 4.1% v LIB
Wynnum Eric Shaw ALP 4.1%
Ipswich West David Underwood ALP 4.3%
Bundaberg Jim Blake ALP 4.4%
Brisbane Central Brian Davis ALP 5.4% v LIB
Fairly safe
Sandgate Nev Warburton ALP 8.0%
Nudgee Ken Vaughan ALP 8.7% v LIB
Bulimba Jack Houston ALP 9.8% v LIB
Safe
Wolston Bob Gibbs ALP 10.6% v LIB
Cairns Ray Jones ALP 11.4%
Port Curtis Bill Prest ALP 11.8%
Mackay Ed Casey ALP 11.9%
Rockhampton North Les Yewdale ALP 16.2% v LIB
Lytton Tom Burns ALP 17.0%
Rockhampton Keith Wright ALP 17.3% v LIB
Archerfield Kevin Hooper ALP 18.4% v LIB

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 October 1977. p. 256:517.
  2. ^ "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 October 1977. p. 256:519.
  3. ^ "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette. 16 December 1977. p. 256:1533–1536.
  4. ^ "Notices of Results of General Election". Queensland Government Gazette. 20 December 1977. p. 256:1641–1655.
  5. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 23 February 1978. p. 257:701.
  6. ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 12 November 1977". Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  7. ^ Hughes, Colin A. (1986). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1975-1984. ANU Press. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-08-033038-9.
  8. ^ Cribb, M.N.B. (April 1978). "Australian Political Chronicle: July–December 1977". Australian Journal of Politics and History. 24 (1): 92. ISSN 0004-9522.
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