1960 Queensland state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 28 May 1960 to elect the 78 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election followed the enactment of the Electoral Districts Act 1958 which increased the Assembly from 75 to 78 seats and modified the zonal system first established by Labor ahead of the 1950 election.

1960 Queensland state election

← 1957 28 May 1960 1963 →

All 78 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
40 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered813,584 Increase8.9%
Turnout752,927 (92.54%)
(Decrease2.04 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Frank Nicklin Jack Duggan
Party Country Labor
Leader since 21 May 1941 18 August 1958
Leader's seat Landsborough Toowoomba West
Last election 24 seats 20 seats
Seats before 23 seats[a] 20 seats
Seats won 26 seats 25 seats
Seat change Increase 3 Increase 5
Popular vote 139,720 296,430
Percentage 19.50% 39.89%
Swing Decrease 0.49 pp Increase 10.99 pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Kenneth Morris Vince Gair
Party Liberal Queensland Labor
Leader since 17 August 1954 26 April 1957
Leader's seat Mount Coot-tha South Brisbane
(lost seat)
Last election 18 seats 11 seats
Seats before 18 seats 11 seats
Seats won 20 seats 4 seats
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 7
Popular vote 178,567 91,212
Percentage 24.03% 12.28%
Swing Increase 0.8 pp Decrease 11.12 pp

Legislative Assembly after the election

Premier before election

Frank Nicklin
Country

Elected Premier

Frank Nicklin
Country

The major parties contesting the election were the Country Party led by Premier Frank Nicklin, the Liberal Party led by Kenneth Morris, the Labor Party led by Jack Duggan and the Queensland Labor Party led by Vince Gair. The Country and Liberal parties had formed a coalition.

The Country-Liberal coalition won a second term in office at the election, although the Labor Party recovered 5 seats and 11% of its vote from the 1957 election. Still, it was the first time since 1912 that a non-Labor government had been re-elected in Queensland.

Key dates

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Date Event
13 April 1960 The Parliament was dissolved.[1]
19 April 1960 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2]
26 April 1960 Close of nominations.
28 May 1960 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
9 June 1960 The Nicklin Ministry was reconstituted.
8 July 1960 The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
23 August 1960 Parliament resumed for business.[3]

Results

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Queensland state election, 28 May 1960[4]
Legislative Assembly
<< 19571963 >>

Enrolled voters 813,584[1]
Votes cast 752,927 Turnout 92.54 –2.04
Informal votes 9,897 Informal 1.31 +0.17
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 296,430 39.89 +11.00 25 + 5
  Liberal 178,567 24.03 +0.80 20 + 2
  Country 144,865 19.50 –0.49 26 + 2
  Queensland Labor 91,212 12.28 –11.12 4 – 7
  Independent 30,897 4.16 3 + 2
  Other 1,059 0.14 0 ± 0
Total 743,030     78  
Popular vote
Labor
39.89%
Liberal
24.03%
Country
19.50%
Queensland Labor
12.28%
Independents
4.16%
Others
0.14%
Seats
Country
33.33%
Labor
32.05%
Liberal
25.64%
Queensland Labor
5.13%
Independents
3.85%
1 831,398 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but two Country seats representing 17,814 enrolled voters were unopposed.

Seats changing party representation

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There was an extensive redistribution across Queensland prior to this election, increasing the amount of seats from 75 to 78. The seat changes are as follows.

Abolished seats

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Seat Incumbent member Party
Belyando Tom Foley   Queensland Labor
Bremer Jim Donald   Labor
Buranda Keith Hooper   Liberal
Carpentaria Norm Smith   Queensland Labor
Charters Towers Arthur Jones   Queensland Labor
Chermside Alex Dewar   Liberal
Coorparoo Thomas Hiley   Liberal
Fitzroy Jim Clark   Labor
Fortitude Valley Bob Windsor   Liberal
Haughton Colin McCathie   Queensland Labor
Ipswich Ivor Marsden   Labor
Kelvin Grove Douglas Tooth   Liberal
Keppel Merv Thackeray   Labor
Marodian James Heading   Country
Mundingburra Tom Aikens   NQ Labor
Nash Max Hodges   Country
North Toowoomba Jack Duggan   Labor
Rockhampton Mick Gardner   Queensland Labor
Southport Eric Gaven   Country
Toowoomba Mervyn Anderson   Liberal
Townsville George Keyatta   Labor
  • Members listed in italics retired at this election.

New seats

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Seat Party Elected member
Albert   Country Cec Carey
Ashgrove   Liberal Douglas Tooth
Aspley   Liberal Fred Campbell
Belmont   Labor Fred Newton
Bowen   Liberal Peter Delamothe
Burke   Labor Alec Inch
Burnett   Country Claude Wharton
Chatsworth   Liberal Thomas Hiley
Greenslopes   Liberal Keith Hooper
Gympie   Country Max Hodges
Hawthorne   Labor Bill Baxter
Ipswich East   Labor Jim Donald
Ipswich West   Labor Ivor Marsden
Nudgee   Labor Jack Melloy
Redcliffe   Independent Jim Houghton
Rockhampton North   Labor Merv Thackeray
Rockhampton South   Liberal Rex Pilbeam
Salisbury   Labor Doug Sherrington
South Coast   Country Eric Gaven
Toowoomba East   Liberal Mervyn Anderson
Toowoomba West   Labor Jack Duggan
Townsville North   Labor Perc Tucker
Townsville South   NQ Labor Tom Aikens
Wavell   Liberal Alex Dewar

Seats changing hands

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Seat Incumbent member Party New member Party
Aubigny Jim Sparkes   Country Les Diplock   Queensland Labor
Baroona Bill Power   Queensland Labor Pat Hanlon   Labor
Condamine Les Diplock   Queensland Labor Vic Sullivan   Country
Hinchinbrook Cecil Jesson   Labor John Row   Country
Ithaca Pat Hanlon   Labor Bob Windsor   Liberal
Sandgate Thomas Ahearn   Liberal Harry Dean   Labor
South Brisbane Vince Gair   Queensland Labor Col Bennett   Labor
  • Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Carlisle Wordsworth of Mulgrave died on 7 May 1960, reducing the number of Country MPs by one before the state election three weeks in advance.

References

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  1. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 13 April 1960. p. 203:1855.
  2. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 19 April 1960. p. 203:1923.
  3. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 21 July 1960. p. 204:1629.
  4. ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 28 May 1960". Retrieved 12 February 2010.