1990 Australian federal election

1990 Australian federal election

24 March 1990(1990-03-24)
All 148 seats in theHouse of Representatives 75 seats were needed for a majority in the House 40 (of the 76) seats in theSenate
Registered	10,728,4353.62%
Turnout	10,225,800 (95.31%) (1.47pp)
First party Second party Leader Bob Hawke Andrew Peacock Party Labor Liberal/National coalition Leader since 8 February 1983 9 May 1989 Leader's seat Wills(Vic.) Kooyong(Vic.) Last election 86 seats 62 seats Seats won 78 seats 69 seats Seat change 8 7 First preferencevote 3,904,138 4,302,127 Percentage 39.44% 43.46% Swing 6.46% 2.44% TPP 49.90% 50.10% TPPswing 0.93 0.93
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Ministerbefore election Bob Hawke Labor Subsequent Prime Minister Bob Hawke Labor

The1990 Australian federal electionwas held in Australia on 24 March 1990. All 148 seats in theHouse of Representativesand 40 seats in the 76-memberSenatewere up for election. The incumbentAustralian Labor Party,led byBob Hawke,defeated the oppositionLiberal Party of Australia,led byAndrew Peacock,with its coalitionpartner, theNational Party of Australia,led byCharles Blunt,despite losing the nationwide popular andtwo-party-preferred vote.The result saw the re-election of the Hawke government for a fourth successive term.

It was the first and, to date, only time the Labor party won four consecutive elections. As of 2023it is the most recent federal election in which leaders of both the largest parties represented divisions outsideNew South Wales,the last to have both major party leaders from the same city other thanSydney,the last to have a rematch justsix years earlierand until2001,thus was the last for the 20th century, which unlike 13 years earlier in1977when it's the last rematch with the same major party leaders appeared consecutively after the previous federal election in the 20th century just2 years earlier,and the last to have both major party leaders born prior toWorld War II.

Background

AfterJohn Howardlost the1987 electionto Hawke,Andrew Peacockwas elected Deputy Leader in a show of party unity. In May 1989, Peacock's supporters mounted a party room coup which returned Peacock to the leadership. Hawke's Treasurer, Keating, ridiculed Peacock by asking: "Can thesoufflérise twice? "and calling him" all feathers and no meat ".

Hawke's government was in political trouble, with high interest rates and a financial crisis in Victoria. The controversy over theMultifunction Polisboiled over during the federal election campaign. Peacock, declared that a future Coalition Government would abandon the project.He shared the Asian "enclave" fears ofRSLpresidentAlf Garlandand others.The following day,The Australiannewspaper ran a headline "Peacock a 'danger in the Lodge'".

Voting intention

Date	Brand	Primary vote
		ALP	L/NP	DEM	OTH
24 March 1990 election		39.44%	43.46	11.26%	5.83%
22 March 1990	Newspoll	41.5%	39.5%	14%	5%
4 March 1990	Newspoll	42%	39%	13%	6%
10 December 1989	Newspoll	44.5%	40%	9.5%	6%
27 March 1988	Newspoll	38%	48%	9%	5%
23 August 1987	Newspoll	49%	41%	8%	2%
18 July 1987 election		45.90%	45.90%	6.00%	2.18%

Results

House of Representatives results

Government(78)
Labor(78)

Opposition(69)
Coalition
Liberal(55)
National(14)

Crossbench(1)
Independent(1)

This section is an excerpt fromResults of the 1990 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) § Australia.[edit]

House of Reps (IRV) — 1990–93 — Turnout 95.32% (CV) — Informal 3.19%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
		Liberal	3,440,902	34.76	+0.44	55	12
		National	833,557	8.42	–3.10	14	5
		Country Liberal	27,668	0.28	+0.05	0
	Liberal–National coalition		4,302,127	43.46	–2.44	69	7
	Labor		3,904,138	39.44	–6.46	78	8
	Democrats		1,114,216	11.26	+5.26
	Greens(state-based)		137,351	1.37
	Independents		257,139	2.60	+0.94	1	1
	Others		184,703	1.86	+1.67
Total			9,899,674			148
Two-party-preferred vote
	Labor		4,930,837	49.90	−0.93	78	8
	Liberal–National coalition		4,950,072	50.10	+0.93	69	7
Invalid/blank votes			326,126	3.19	–1.75
Turnout			10,225,800	95.32
Registered voters			10,728,131
Source:Federal Elections 1990

Popular vote Labor   39.44% Liberal   35.04% Democrats   11.26% National   8.42% Independents   2.55% Other   3.30%

Two-party-preferred vote Coalition   50.10% Labor   49.90%

Parliament seats Labor   52.70% Coalition   46.62% Independents   0.68%

Senate results

Government(32)
Labor(32)

Opposition(34)
Coalition
Liberal(29)
National(4)
CLP(1)

Crossbench(10)
Democrats(8)
WA Greens(1)
Independent(1)

This section is an excerpt from1990 Australian Senate election § Australia.[edit]

Senate (STVGV) — 1990–93 — Turnout 95.81% (CV) — Informal 3.40%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
		Liberal–National joint ticket	2,429,552	24.47	+10.71	5	N/A	N/A
		Liberal	1,445,872	14.56	–6.41	12	29	2
		National	258,164	2.60	−4.49	1	4	2
		Country Liberal	29,045	0.29	+0.08	1	1
	Liberal–National coalition		4,162,633	41.92	–0.12	19	34
	Labor		3,813,547	38.41	−4.42	15	32
	Democrats		1,253,807	12.63	+4.15	5	8	1
	Greens		208,157	2.10	+1.66	1	1	1
	Nuclear Disarmament		38,079	0.38	–0.71			1
	Independents		29,974	0.30	–1.59		1	1
	Others		423,568	4.25	+2.07
Total			9,929,765			40	76
Invalid/blank votes			349,065	3.40	–0.64
Turnout			10,728,830	95.81
Registered voters			10,728,131
Source:Federal Elections 1990

Seats changing hands

Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. Where redistributions occurred, the pre-1990 margin represents the redistributed margin.

Seat	Pre-1990				Swing	Post-1990
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Adelaide, SA		Liberal	Mike Pratt	6.5*	N/A	3.7	Bob Catley	Labor
Aston, Vic		Labor	John Saunderson	2.6	7.2	4.6	Peter Nugent	Liberal
Ballarat, Vic		Labor	John Mildren	2.1	4.0	1.9	Michael Ronaldson	Liberal
Bendigo, Vic		Labor	John Brumby	4.0	5.1	1.1	Bruce Reid	Liberal
Corinella, Vic		Labor	notional – new seat	5.3	6.0	0.7	Russell Broadbent	Liberal
Dunkley, Vic		Labor	Bob Chynoweth	5.6	6.8	1.2	Frank Ford	Liberal
Fairfax, Qld		National	Evan Adermann	N/A	N/A	7.5	Alex Somlyay	Liberal
Hawker, SA		Labor	Elizabeth Harvey	1.2	1.2	0.0	Chris Gallus	Liberal
Kennedy, Qld		National	Bob Katter	3.0	4.4	1.4	Rob Hulls	Labor
La Trobe, Vic		Labor	Peter Milton	4.2	4.6	1.4	Bob Charles	Liberal
McEwen, Vic		Labor	Peter Cleeland	2.9	6.1	3.2	Fran Bailey	Liberal
McMillan, Vic		Labor	Barry Cunningham	3.0	7.4	4.4	John Riggall	Liberal
Moreton, Qld		Liberal	Don Cameron	0.7	3.0	2.3	Garrie Gibson	Labor
North Sydney, NSW		Liberal	John Spender	N/A	N/A	7.7	Ted Mack	Independent
Page, NSW		National	Ian Robinson	4.5	5.2	0.7	Harry Woods	Labor
Richmond, NSW		National	Charles Blunt	6.6	7.1	0.5	Neville Newell	Labor

Notes

• Adelaide, SA,won by Labor at the previous election, was won by Liberal in a by-election. The margin listed above is the by-election margin.
• Deakin, Vic,won by Liberal at the previous election, was made notionally Labor in the redistribution and is considered a Liberal gain.
• Isaacs, VicandMoore, WA,won by Labor at the previous election, were made notionally Liberal in the redistribution and are considered Liberal retains.
• Henty, VicandStreeton, Vic,won by Labor at the previous election, were abolished.

Outcome

TheGallagher Indexresult: 12.7

The 1990 election resulted in a modest swing to the opposition Coalition. Though Labor had to contend with thelate 80s/early 90s recession,they won a record fourth successive election and a record 10 years in government withBob Hawkeas leader, a level of political success not previously seen by federal Labor. The election was to be Hawke's last as Prime Minister and Labor leader, he was replaced byPaul Keatingon 20 December 1991 who would go on to lead Labor to win a record fifth successive election and a record 13 years (to the day) in government resulting from the1993 election.

At the election, the Coalition won a slim majority of the two-party vote, and slashed Labor's majority from 24 seats to nine, most of the gains made in Victoria.However, it only managed a two-party swing of 0.9 percent, which was not nearly enough to deliver the additional seven seats the Coalition needed to make Peacock Prime Minister. Despite having regained much of what the non-Labor forces had lost three years earlier, Peacock was forced to resign after the election.

This election saw the peak of theAustralian Democrats' popularity underJanine Haines,and aWA Greenscandidate won a seat in theAustralian Senatefor the first time – although the successful candidate,Jo Vallentine,was already a two-term senator, having previously won a seat for theNuclear Disarmament Partyat the1984 election,and the Vallentine Peace Group at the 1987 election. Until 2010, this was the only post-war election where a third party (excluding splinter state parties and the Nationals) has won more than 10% of the primary vote for elections to the Australian House of Representatives.

After the1918 Swan by-election,which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote, a predecessor of the Liberals, theNationalist Party of Australia,changed the federal lower house voting system fromfirst-past-the-postto full-preferencepreferential votingfor the subsequent1919 election,and it has remained in place since, allowing theCoalitionparties to safely contest the same seats. Full-preference preferential voting re-elected the Hawke government, the first time in federal history that Labor had obtained a net benefit from preferential voting.

It also saw the Nationals' leader,Charles Blunt,defeated in his own seat ofRichmondby Labor challengerNeville Newell—only the second time that a major party leader had lost his own seat. Newell benefited from the presence of independent and anti-nuclear activistHelen Caldicott.Her preferences flowed overwhelmingly to Newell on the third count, allowing Newell to win despite having been second on the primary vote.

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1990
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1990–1993
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1990–1993

References

• University of WAArchived18 January 2015 at theWayback Machineelection results in Australia since 1890
• AEC 2PP vote
• AustralianPolitics.com election details

External links

• 'Give a Damn: Vote Democrat 1' – 1990 commercial with Janine Haines