1992 Victorian state election

Australian state election April 2022 1992 Victorian state election Victoria parliamentary no 1988 Victorian state election 1988 1996 Victorian state election 1996 All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 22 (of the 44) seats in the Victorian Legislative Council45 seats needed for a majority yes 1992 10 03 Jeff Kennett b.jpg 137 130 170 10 7 center Jeff Kennett 23 April 1991 Liberal/National coalition Burwood 1,358,295 51.99% 3.65 42 seats 61 19 56.30% 5.78 Joan kirner.jpg 140 130 170 3 8 center Joan Kirner 10 August 1990 Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) Williamstown 1,003,495 38.41% 8.14 46 seats 27 19 43.70% 5.78 TPP TPP swing 1992 Victorian state election.svg 320px Results in each electorate Premier Joan Kirner Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) Jeff Kennett Liberal/National coalition The 1992 Victorian state election was held on 3 October 1992 to elect the 52nd Parliament of Victoria, including all 88 members of the Legislative Assembly and 22 of the 44 members in the Legislative Council. The Labor government of Premier Joan Kirner, who had replaced John Cain on 10 August 1990, was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal–National Coalition led by Jeff Kennett and Pat McNamara, who had campaigned on comprehensive economic and structural reform as well as changes to industrial relations. It was the largest majority that the Coalition had ever won in Victoria. Background At the 1988 state election, the Labor government had won a third term, gaining 46 of the 88 Legislative Assembly seats, but was sent reeling by a budget crisis. Despite this, polling indicated that the Liberal Opposition had been unable to gain any ground under Alan Brown, who had succeeded Jeff Kennett on 23 May 1989. Brown was, however, able to persuade the Nationals to agree to contest the next election as a Coalition, the first time the two main non-Labor parties in Victoria had fought an election together since 1950. The Liberals had actually won a majority of the two-party vote in 1988, but came up five seats short of achieving government. It was believed that they had lost seats due to a number of three-cornered contests in rural areas. Cain soon realised that Labor would be heavily defeated if he took the party into the next election. He resigned in 1990, and was succeeded by Deputy Premier and Education Minister Joan Kirner. While Kirner was able to win some respect, she was unable to change Labor's fortunes. Prospects for a fourth Labor term became even more remote when Kennett's supporters launched a party room coup that returned him to the leadership on 23 April 1991. Kirner waited as long as she could before calling the election. While she remained more personally popular than Kennett, commentators had almost universally written off Labor by this time. The Coalition had been well ahead in opinion polling for over two years, and it was obvious almost as soon as the writs were dropped that Kennett would be Victoria's next premier. Both the government and opposition had gone through changes during the 1988–1992 term of Parliament. The Labor government, in power since the 1982 election, was dogged in its final term by a series of scandals and major corporate collapses which, like neighbouring South Australia, extended and deepened the early 1990s recession in those states. Unemployment reached 11.6% in Victoria in March 1992, with the manufacturing and textiles sector being particularly affected, while state debt was estimated at A$30 billion. Shamshullah Ardel December 1992 Australian Political Chronicle: January–June 1992: Victoria Australian Journal of Politics and History 38 3 426–427 0004-9522 The State Bank of Victoria, the Victorian Economic Development Corporation (VEDC), Tricontinental and Pyramid Building Society failed, whilst the government-backed WorkCare insurance scheme was not in good shape. Proposed changes to the system were rejected by trade unions, leading to a state wide strike which saw gas supplies, electricity generators, public transport, most schools and government offices inoperative.Victoria Stopped by Strike 27 July 1989 https://www.afr.com/politics/victoria-stopped-by-strike-19890727-k3ier A disastrous rollout of a 'scratch ticket system'Search collections https://victoriancollections.net.au/collections?q=%20scratch%20tickets for metropolitan trains and trams did not help their fortunes. The Liberal party commenced an advertising campaign in January 1992 with the slogan "Labor: the Guilty Party". The 1990 federal election was the first major sign that all was not well for Victorian Labor, with the Coalition gaining nine seats at Labor's expense. Ultimately, John Cain resigned on 7 August 1990, and on 10 August, Joan Kirner was elected leader. Despite her own personal popularity, support for the government had fallen to 22% by December, with analysts citing concerns over the state debt, lack of confidence in Victorian financial institutions, industrial relations problems and the severity of the recession's effects in the state as the primary reasons for the low ratings. Shamshullah Ardel June 1991 Australian Political Chronicle: July–December 1990: Victoria Australian Journal of Politics and History 37 2 308–312 0004-9522Costar B.J & Economou N., 'Elections and Electoral Change 1982-92' in Considine M. & Costar B.J (eds) Trials in Power: Cain, Kirner and Victoria 1982-1992, Melbourne University Press, 1992 p. 261 Meanwhile, on 23 May 1989, Jeff Kennett was dumped as leader of the Liberal Party by his colleagues in favour of Alan Brown; Brown led the party until 23 April 1991 when he was himself dumped in a party room spill. During Brown's period as Opposition Leader, the Liberals negotiated the first coalition agreement with the Nationals in over forty years, in part due to a belief by some (in spite of what political scientist Brian Costar called a "lack of psephological evidence to support this assertion") that had the parties been in coalition at the election, they would have won.B. J. Costar, 'Coalition Government: An Unequal Partnership' in B. J. Costar & N. Economou (eds) The Kennett Revolution: Victorian Politics in the 1990s, UNSW Press, Sydney, 1998, p. 89 Key dates Date Event 14 August 1992 The Legislative Council was prorogued and the Legislative Assembly was dissolved.1992 S45 (Special) Proroguing the Legislative Council and dissolving the Legislative Assembly: Proclamation 14 August 1992 http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/view.cgi?year=1992&class=S&page_num=1&classNum=S45 21 August 1992 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. 28 August 1992 The electoral rolls were closed. 4 September 1992 Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. 3 October 1992 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. 6 October 1992 The Kirner Ministry resigned and the Kennett Ministry was constituted.1992 S53 (Special) 9 October 1992 Ministers of the Crown http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/view.cgi?year=1992&class=S&page_num=1&classNum=S53 19 October 1992 The writ was returned and the results formally declared. 27 October 1992 Parliament resumed for business.1992 3107 21 October 1992 Fixing the time for holding the first session of the Fifty-second Parliament of Victoria Results Post-election pendulum for the 1992 Victorian state election Legislative Assembly Results of the 1992 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly) Victorian state election, 3 October 1992Hughes Colin A. Colin Hughes A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1985-1999 Federation Press Sydney 2002 316http://www.abc.net.au/elections/archive/vic/VIC1992_ResultsBook.pdf#page=33 1992 Victorian State Election - Summary of Results Antony Green Australian Broadcasting Corporation Antony Green September 1995 5 July 2013 Legislative Assembly Victorian state election 1988 1996 2,855,471 2,716,298 95.13 +2.78 103,401 3.81 –0.08 yes Liberal VIC 1,153,770 44.16 +3.59 52 +19 Labor VIC 1,003,495 38.41 –8.14 27 –19 yes Nationals VIC 204,525 7.83 +0.06 9 ± 0 Natural Law 34,616 1.32 +1.32 0 ± 0 Geelong Community Alliance 12,247 0.47 +0.47 0 ± 0 Democrats 5,080 0.19 –0.86 0 ± 0 Pensioner and Citizen Initiated Referendum Alliance 3,844 0.15 +0.15 0 ± 0 Greens VIC 1,863 0.07 +0.07 0 ± 0 Call to Australia 1,143 0.04 –1.01 0 ± 0 Independent 192,314 7.36 +4.58 0 ± 0 2,612,897 88 Liberal VIC Liberal/National 1,467,990 56.30 +5.78 Labor VIC 1,139,635 43.70 –5.78 |} Legislative Council Results of the 1992 Victorian state election (Legislative Council) thumb|300px|Results for the Legislative Council. Victorian state election, 3 October 1992Hughes (2002) p.317. Legislative Council yes 2,855,471 2,718,936 95.22 +2.89 111,627 4.11 –0.22 Liberal VIC 1,133,951 43.49 –0.01 14 24 Labor VIC 1,005,454 38.56 –9.57 5 14 Nationals VIC 227,850 8.74 +1.26 3 6 DLP 118,244 4.54 +4.54 0 0 Natural Law 16,216 0.62 +0.62 0 0 Geelong Community Alliance 14,586 0.56 +0.56 0 0 Democrats 8,197 0.31 +0.31 0 0 Call to Australia 2,168 0.08 –0.14 0 0 Independent 80,643 3.09 +2.42 0 0 2,419,991 22 44 Liberal VIC Liberal/National 1,475,004 56.65 +6.10 Labor VIC 1,128,503 43.35 –6.10 |} The Labor government was defeated by the Coalition, with the latter winning 61 seats of 88 contested in the Assembly on an 8% swing against the Government, and 17 of 22 in the council with a swing of over 9%. It was the second-largest defeat that a sitting government has ever suffered in Victoria. This did, however, represent a considerable improvement in the Government's stocks from the 22-25% indicated in opinion polls in 1990 and 1991. The Liberals made gains primarily in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne as well as provincial Victoria. Eight members of Kirner's cabinet were defeated. The Liberals actually won 52 seats, enough for a majority in their own right. Although Kennett thus had no need for National support, the Coalition was retained. Maps Results of the 1992 Victorian state election, Rural districts Results of the 1992 Victorian state election, Metropolitan districts Seats changing hands Seat Pre−1992 Swing Post−1992 Party Member Margin Margin Member PartyBallarat East LaborFrank Sheehan −0.6* −1.1 1.6Barry TraynorLiberal Bayswater LaborKay Setches 3.0 −10.1 7.1Gordon AshleyLiberal Bellarine LaborGraham Ernst −1.1 −6.8 7.9Garry SpryLiberal Bendigo West LaborDavid Kennedy 1.6 −2.7 1.1Max TurnerLiberal Bentleigh LaborAnn Barker 1.5 −9.7 8.2Inga PeulichLiberal Box Hill LaborMargaret Ray −7.0 −6.2 13.2Robert ClarkLiberal Cranbourne Labornotional – new seat 1.4 −6.1 4.7Gary RoweLiberal Eltham Labornotional – new seat 4.6 −14.6 10.0Wayne PhillipsLiberal Essendon LaborBarry Rowe 5.5 −6.7 1.2Ian DavisLiberal Frankston East LaborJane Hill 6.5 −6.7 0.2Peter McLellanLiberal Geelong LaborHayden Shell 2.6 −3.3 0.7Ann HendersonLiberal Knox LaborCarolyn Hirsh 5.0 −11.1 6.1Hurtle LuptonLiberal Mitcham LaborJohn Harrowfield 2.3 −10.8 8.5Roger PescottLiberal Monbulk LaborNeil Pope 4.3 −9.6 5.3Steve McArthurLiberal Mooroolbark Labornotional – new seat 1.9 −12.0 10.1Lorraine ElliottLiberal Mordialloc LaborPeter Spyker 2.2 −9.5 7.3Geoff LeighLiberal Oakleigh LaborRace Mathews 5.7 −8.6 2.9Denise McGillLiberal Tullamarine LaborPeter Gavin 4.9 −6.4 1.5Bernie FinnLiberal Wantirna LaborPeter Lockwood 0.1 −14.2 14.1Kim WellsLiberal  Ballarat East was the new name for the abolished district of Ballarat South, of which Labor MP Frank Sheehan was the sitting member. It was a notional Liberal seat. Bellarine and Box Hill became notional Liberal seats in the redistribution. See also Candidates of the 1992 Victorian state election References Category:Elections in Victoria (state) Category:1992 elections in Australia Category:1990s in Victoria (state) Category:October 1992 in Australia