1979 Tasmanian state election

The 1979 Tasmanian state election was held on 28 July 1979 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — seven members were elected from each of five electorates. The quota required for election was 12.5% in each division.

1979 Tasmanian state election

← 1976 28 July 1979 1982 →

All 35 seats to the House of Assembly
  First party Second party
 
Leader Doug Lowe Max Bingham
Party Labor Liberal
Leader since 1 December 1977 4 May 1972
Leader's seat Franklin Denison
Last election 18 seats 17 seats
Seats won 20 15
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 2
Percentage 54.32% 41.31%
Swing Increase 1.84 Decrease 3.18

Results of the election

Premier before election

Doug Lowe
Labor

Elected Premier

Doug Lowe
Labor

The incumbent Labor Party, led by Doug Lowe, won a third term in office against the opposition Liberal Party, led by Max Bingham.

Background

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Bill Neilson, leader of the Labor Party and Premier of Tasmania, had retired on 1 December 1977 and been replaced by Doug Lowe.

The United Tasmania Group, which had contested the two previous elections, did not field any candidates for the 1979 election. Instead a new party, the Australian Democrats, founded by Don Chipp in 1977, emerged as the most significant minor party.

Results

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The Labor Party won the election, increasing its majority in the House of Assembly from one seat to five.

Doug Lowe received the highest personal vote ever in the House of Assembly: 24,971 or 51.2% of the vote in the seat of Franklin.[2]

 
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Labor129,97354.32+1.8420  2
Liberal98,84541.31-3.1815  2
Democrats6,8582.87New0New
Independents3,6081.51+0.680 
Total239,284100.0035
Valid votes239,28496.15
Invalid/blank votes9,5823.85+0.05
Total votes248,866100.00
Registered voters/turnout265,42893.76-0.78
Popular vote
Labor
54.32%
Liberal
41.31%
Democrats
2.87%
Independents
1.51%
Seats
Labor
57.14%
Liberal
42.86%

Distribution of votes

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Primary vote by division

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Bass Braddon Denison Franklin Wilmot
Labor Party 50.3% 54.2% 50.7% 60.8% 55.6%
Liberal Party 44.7% 42.7% 42.0% 33.9% 43.5%
Other 5.0% 3.1% 7.4% 5.4% 0.9%

Distribution of seats

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Aftermath

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Max Bingham resigned as opposition leader after losing his second election, and was replaced by Geoff Pearsall.

The election of three Labor MPs for Denison (Julian Amos, John Devine and John Green) was ruled invalid, due to the enforcement of a previously ignored rule limiting campaign expenditure to $1,500. A by-election was arranged for Denison in February 1980. The placement of the Labor candidates on the ballot paper, which placed Deputy Premier Neil Batt fourth, was believed to have led to the introduction of the Robson Rotation method of randomising ballot ordering.[3]

See also

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References

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  • "House of Assembly Election Results 18 July 1979". Tasmanian Parliamentary Library.