1978 New South Wales state election

none August 2019 August 2019 1978 New South Wales state election New South Wales parliamentary no 1976 New South Wales state election 1976 1981 New South Wales state election 1981 All 99 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and 15 (of 44) seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council50 Assembly seats needed for a majority yes 1978 10 07 175x175px Neville Wran 3 December 1973 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) Bass Hill 1,615,949 57.77% 8.02 50 seats 63 13 Peter Coleman, June 2012, His Home (cropped).jpg 175 140 175 0 20 center Peter Coleman 16 December 1977 Liberal/National coalition Liberal/National coalition Fuller(lost seat) 1,031,780 36.88% 9.18 48 seats 35 13 TPP TPP swing 60.70% 9.10 39.30% 9.10 1978 New South Wales state election.svg 350px Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate Premier Neville Wran Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) Neville Wran Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) The 1978 New South Wales state election was held on 7 October 1978 to elect all 99 members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party Government was returned for a second term, defeating the Opposition Liberal/National coalition in a landslide victory under leader Neville Wran. The election is popularly known as the "Wranslide". It is notable for being so successful for the Labor Party that it tallied 57 percent of the primary vote, the largest primary vote for any party in over a century. Having gone into the election with a razor-thin majority of one seat, Labor scored a 13-seat swing, giving it a strong majority of 63 seats. Labor even managed to defeat the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Coleman, in his own electorate. The seats of many other prominent Shadow Ministers fell to Labor as well. Labor also won many seats in areas long reckoned as Coalition heartland. Among them were four seats that Labor had never won before this election--Willoughby (contested for the Liberal Party by Nick Greiner who later became Premier), Manly, Wakehurst and Cronulla. It also came within striking distance of taking several more. For instance, it pared down the margin in Pittwater, the seat of former premier Bob Askin, to only 1.4 percent. The state's first elections to the New South Wales Legislative Council, the state parliament's upper house, were held simultaneously. Voters had approved a referendum to introduce a directly elected council in June of that year. Starting with this election, Single transferable voting (STV) was used to fill the Council seats up for election.Australian Politics and Elections Archives. https://elections.uwa.edu.au/listelections.lasso?ElectionType=6&State=NSW "Since 1978, the Legislative Council has had from 42 to 45 members with a third or half the membership to be elected at each election. Members have been elected by proportional representation using the single transferable vote method with modifications which have varied over the period since 1978." The election of 15 members in a single contest was the largest District Magnitude seen in a STV election since the 1925 Ireland Senate election. It would be surpassed, again by NSW in 1995 when it began to elect 21 in a single contest.Farrell and McAllister, The Australian Electoral System, p. 50 The election was also the first in the state to be contested by the Australian Democrats. Labor continued to campaign heavily on the strengths of Wran himself, with the slogan "Wran's our man". Key dates Date Event 12 September 1978 The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. 18 September 1978 Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. 7 October 1978 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. 19 October 1978 The second Wran ministry was constituted. 3 November 1978 The writ was returned and the results formally declared. 7 November 1978 Parliament resumed for business. Results Legislative Assembly Results of the 1978 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly) {{Australian elections/Title row | table style = float:right;clear:right;margin-left:1em; | title = New South Wales state election, 7 October 1978Antony Green Antony Green 1978 election totals https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/electionresults18562007/1978/Totals.htm New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007 Parliament of New South Wales 14 August 2019http://elections.uwa.edu.au/elecdetail.lasso?keyvalue=759 Parliament of New South Wales, Assembly election, 7 October 1978 Australian Government and Politics Database 6 February 2010Hughes 1986 191 | house = Legislative Assembly | series = New South Wales state election | back = 1976 | forward = 1981 | enrolled = 3,085,661 | total_votes = 2,862,616 | turnout % = 92.77 | turnout chg = –0.52 | informal = 65,274 | informal % = 2.28 | informal chg = +0.52 }} yes Labor NSW 1,615,949 57.77 +8.02 63 +13 Liberal NSW 754,796 26.98 –9.31 18 –12 National Country NSW 276,984 9.90 –0.13 17 – 1 Democrats 74,019 2.65 +2.65 0 ± 0 Communist 8,472 0.30 +0.22 0 ± 0 Socialist Workers 4,467 0.16 +0.07 0 ± 0 Independent 62,655 2.24 –0.58 1 ± 0 2,797,342 99 |} {{ bar box |float=right| title=Popular vote | titlebar=#ddd | width=600px | barwidth=410px | bars= Labor Australian Labor Party 57.77 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 26.98 National Country National Party of Australia – NSW 9.90 Democrats Australian Democrats 2.65 Independents Independent 2.24 Others #777777 0.46 #ddd Parliamentary seats Labor Australian Labor Party 63.64 63 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 18.18 18 National Country National Party of Australia – NSW 17.17 17 Independents Independent 1.01 1 }} Legislative Council Results of the 1978 New South Wales state election (Legislative Council) This election was held using STV for at-large election of members of Legislative Council. {{Australian elections/Title row | table style = float:right;clear:right;margin-left:1em; | title = New South Wales state election, 7 October 1978Hughes 1986 192 | house = Legislative Council | staggered = yes | enrolled = 3,085,661 | total_votes = 2,862,616 | turnout % = 92.77 | turnout chg =   | informal = 115,995 | informal % = 4.05 | informal chg =   }} Labor NSW 1,508,078 54.91   9 23 LibNat Coalition NSW 996,463 36.28   6 20 Communist 79,794 2.91   0   Democrats 76,369 2.78   0   Call to Australia Family Action Movement 36,076 1.31   0   Marijuana 25,055 0.91   0   Independent 24,786 0.90   0   2,746,621 15 |} The final 2 party preferred result was 60.7% for Labor and 39.3% for the Coalition, making it one of the biggest landslide victories in New South Wales's electoral history. In 2PP terms it was a 9.1% swing to Labor from the Coalition. This was beaten by the Coalition's result of 64.2% and 35.8% for Labor in the 2011 election. However, Labor's record primary vote of 57.7 percent still stands today. Seats changing hands Seat 1976 election Swing 1978 election Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Albury  Liberal NSW Gordon Mackie politician 8.1 8.8 0.7 Harold Mair Labor NSW  Armidale  National Country NSW David Leitch politician 6.6 7.2 0.6 Bill McCarthy politician Burwood  Liberal NSW John Jackett politician 8.4 10.0 1.6 Phil O'Neill Cronulla Ian Griffith 3.8 12.4 8.6 Michael Egan Australian politician EarlwoodEarlwood Liberal MLA Eric Willis resigned on 16 June 1978. Labor candidate Ken Gabb won the resulting by-election on 15 July. 5.5 16.1 10.6 Ken Gabb Fuller Peter Coleman 3.4 8.7 5.3 Rodney Cavalier Manly Douglas Darby 7.7 11.5 3.8 Alan Stewart Australian politician Miranda Tim Walker politician 4.0 10.5 6.5 Bill Robb Nepean Ron Rofe 2.3 10.8 8.5 Peter Anderson politician Wakehurst Allan Viney 7.8 14.0 6.2 Tom Webster politician Willoughby Laurie McGintyThe sitting member for Willoughby, Laurie McGinty, lost preselection as the Liberal candidate and contested the election as an Independent. Margin is Liberal vs. Labor at the 1976 election. 13.1 13.9 0.8 Eddie Britt politician Wollondilly Tom Lewis Australian politician 7.6 8.0 0.4 Bill Knott politician Yaralla Lerryn Mutton 4.4 12.6 8.2 Garry McIlwaine Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats. Post-election pendulum Labor seats (63)Marginal WollondillyBill KnottALP0.4% ArmidaleBill McCarthyALP0.6% AlburyHarold MairALP0.7% WilloughbyEddie BrittALP0.8% BurwoodPhil O'NeillALP1.6% ManlyAlan StewartALP3.8% FullerRodney CavalierALP5.3%Fairly safe WakehurstTom WebsterALP6.2% MirandaBill RobbALP6.5% CastlereaghJack RenshawALP6.9% YarallaGarry McIlwaineALP8.2% NepeanPeter AndersonALP8.5% CronullaMichael EganALP8.6% MonaroJohn AkisterALP9.3% GosfordBrian McGowanALP9.6% MurrumbidgeeLin GordonALP9.6% CasinoDon DayALP9.7%Safe EarlwoodKen GabbALP11.6% HurstvilleKevin RyanALP13.7% Blue MountainsMick CloughALP14.5% v IND CoogeeMichael ClearyALP16.4% BurrinjuckTerry SheahanALP16.9% Georges RiverFrank WalkerALP17.0% CharlestownRichard FaceALP17.4% KogarahBill CrabtreeALP17.9% AshfieldPaul WhelanALP18.1% WaverleySyd EinfeldALP18.8% DrummoyneMichael MaherALP18.9% ParramattaBarry WildeALP19.0%PeatsKeith O'ConnellALP20.8%WoronoraMaurie KeaneALP20.8%CampbelltownCliff MallamALP21.5%NewcastleArthur WadeALP22.3%CorrimalLaurie KellyALP22.5%MaroubraBill HaighALP22.5%Lake MacquarieMerv HunterALP23.5%WollongongEric RamsayALP23.8%WentworthvilleErnie QuinnALP24.2%HeathcoteRex JacksonALP25.2%East HillsPat RoganALP25.6%WaratahSam JonesALP25.6%BankstownNick KearnsALP25.8%CanterburyKevin StewartALP26.0%PenrithRon MulockALP26.2%LakembaVince DurickALP27.0%Broken HillLew JohnstoneALP27.1%BlacktownGordon BarnierALP27.2%MunmorahHarry JensenALP27.3%IllawarraGeorge PetersenALP28.2%AuburnPeter CoxALP28.4%FairfieldEric BedfordALP28.4%GranvillePat FlahertyALP28.6%MerrylandsJack FergusonALP28.6% CessnockBob BrownALP29.1%WallsendKen BoothALP29.3%Bass HillNeville WranALP29.7%PhillipPat HillsALP29.7%RockdaleBrian BannonALP29.7%MarrickvilleTom CahillALP29.8%HeffronLaurie BreretonALP30.0%LiverpoolGeorge PaciulloALP30.8%Mount DruittTony JohnsonALP31.1%BalmainRoger DegenALP34.2% Liberal/Country seats (35)MarginalHornsbyNeil PickardLIB0.8%GoulburnRon BrewerCP0.9%PittwaterMax SmithLIB1.4%OrangeGarry WestCP1.7%BathurstClive OsborneCP2.7%YoungGeorge FreudensteinCP3.0%TamworthNoel ParkCP3.3%DubboJohn MasonLIB3.4%ByronJack BoydCP3.6%KirribilliBruce McDonaldLIB3.8%Wagga WaggaJoe SchippLIB3.8%MaitlandMilton MorrisLIB4.3%Upper HunterCol FisherCP4.4%EastwoodJim CloughLIB4.5%VaucluseRosemary FootLIB4.5%The HillsFred CatersonLIB4.6%HawkesburyKevin RozzoliLIB5.2%RaleighJim BrownCP5.3%Fairly safeDavidsonDick HealeyLIB7.4%NorthcottJim CameronLIB7.4%Lane CoveJohn DowdLIB7.5%BarwonWal MurrayCP8.3%BurrendongRoger WottonCP8.3%BlighJohn BarracloughLIB8.4%GloucesterLeon PunchCP9.2%TenterfieldTim BruxnerCP9.4%SafeMurrayMary MeillonLIB10.1%ClarenceMatt SingletonCP10.9%MosmanDavid ArblasterLIB11.8%OxleyBruce CowanCP12.5%LismoreBruce DuncanCP13.8%Ku-ring-gaiJohn MaddisonLIB15.5%SturtTim FischerCP16.0%TemoraJim TaylorCP17.6%GordonTim MooreLIB24.0%Crossbench seats (1)South CoastJohn HattonIND20.5 v LIB See also Candidates of the 1978 New South Wales state election Notes References Sources cited A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1975-1984 Hughes Colin A. 1986 ANU Press 0-08-033038-X Category:Elections in New South Wales New South Wales state election State election, 1978 New South Wales state election