1983 Australian federal election

none April 2024 August 2021 1983 Australian federal election Australia parliamentary no 1980 Australian federal election 1980 1984 Australian federal election 1984 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1980–1983 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1983–1984 9,372,064 3.86% 8,870,175 (94.64%)(0.29 pp) All 125 seats in the House of Representatives 63 seats were needed for a majority in the House All 64 seats in the Senate 5 March 1983 First preference Image:Hawke Bob BANNER.jpg 190x190px Bob Hawke 8 February 1983 Australian Labor Party Wills (Vic.) 51 seats 75 seats 24 4,297,392 49.48% 4.34% Image:MalcolmFraser1982.JPEG Malcolm Fraser 21 March 1975 Liberal Party of Australia Liberal–National Coalition Wannon (Vic.) 74 seats 50 seats 24 3,787,151 43.61% 2.79% TPP 53.23% 46.77% TPP swing 3.63% 3.63% 1983 Australian federal election.svg 350px Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser Liberal/National coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Bob Hawke Australian Labor Party A federal election was held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election, following a double dissolution. The incumbent Coalition government which had been in power since 1975, led by Malcolm Fraser (Liberal Party) and Doug Anthony (National Party), was defeated in a landslide by the opposition Labor Party led by Bob Hawke.Butler David 1983 The Australian general election of 1983 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0261379483900586 Electoral Studies 2 2 155–157 10.1016/0261-3794(83)90058-6 0261-3794 subscription This election marked the end of the seven year Liberal–National Coalition Fraser government and the start of the 13 year Hawke-Keating Labor government. The Coalition would spend its longest ever period in opposition and the Labor party would spend its longest ever period of government at a federal level. The Coalition would not return to government until the 1996 election. Hawke became the second Labor leader after World War II to lead the party to victory from opposition, after Gough Whitlam in 1972 and before Kevin Rudd in 2007 and Anthony Albanese in 2022. Background and issues At the time of the election, the economy suffered from high inflation and high unemployment, alongside increases in industrial disputation and drought across much of the rural areas. The coalition government had been led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser since 1975. Fraser had fought off a leadership challenge from Andrew Peacock, who had resigned from the Cabinet citing Fraser's "manic determination to get his own way", a phrase Fraser had himself used when he resigned from John Gorton's government in 1971. The Liberal government had to contend with the early-1980s recession. They unexpectedly won the December 1982 Flinders by-election, after having lost the March 1982 Lowe by-election with a large swing. right|thumb|300px|The Gallagher Index result: 10.54 Hawke had entered Parliament at the 1980 federal election following a decade as leader of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Labor factions began to push for the deposition of Bill Hayden from the party leadership in favour of Hawke. Fraser was well aware of the ructions in Labor, and originally planned to call an election for 1982, more than a year before it was due. However, he was forced to scrap those plans after suffering a severe back injury. On 3 February 1983 at a meeting in Brisbane held in conjunction with the state funeral of former Labor Prime Minister Frank Forde, Hayden resigned on the advice of his closest supporters such as Senator John Button. An election was not due for seven more months; however, Fraser, emboldened by the unexpected retention of Flinders, had caught wind of the impending change and attempted to immediately call an election (for 5 March), which would have put Parliament into "caretaker mode" and essentially frozen Labor into contesting the election with Hayden as leader. However, Fraser could not secure a swift dissolution of parliament as paperwork for the double dissolution had to be prepared, delaying the official proclamation by Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen by a few hours. Fraser had hoped to do this before the announcement of the change in Labor leadership. Unfortunately for Fraser, Hayden had resigned two hours before Fraser travelled to Government House. He only learned Hayden had resigned after the writs formally issued. Richard de Crespigny (future Captain of Qantas flight 32 which was crippled on a flight from Singapore to Sydney), who was serving at this time as aide de camp to Governor-General Stephen, details this event in his book. The actual double dissolution of the parliament occurred the following day on 4 February.House of Representatives Practice, 6th Ed, Appendix 12: GENERAL ELECTIONS—SIGNIFICANT DATES FROM 19TH TO 44TH PARLIAMENTS Fraser also hoped to gain control of the Senate, where the Australian Democrats had held the balance of power since 1 July 1981. Five days later on 8 February, the ALP formally elected Hawke as party leader. Fraser was intensely unpopular at the time, and now faced the prospect of going into an election facing a Labor Party led by the popular Hawke. In response to his abrupt removal, Hayden made his famous claim that a "drover's dog" could lead the ALP to victory. Fraser's campaign used the slogan "We're Not Waiting for the World", while Hawke's campaign theme was based around his favoured leadership philosophy of consensus, using the slogan "Bringing Australia Together". The Ash Wednesday bushfires that devastated areas of Victoria and South Australia on 16 February disrupted the Prime Minister's re-election campaign which was unofficially put on hold while he toured the affected areas. Fraser tried to brand Hawke as a union organiser who was too friendly towards Communism. On the security of the banking system to protect people's savings, he asserted that ordinary people's money was safer under their beds than in a bank under Labor. In response to an attack, Hawke laughed and said "you can't keep your money under the bed because that's where the Commies are!"Hawke Swoops into Power, TIME, 14 March 1983 As counting progressed on election night, it was obvious early on that the ALP had won with a massive swing. Hawke with wife Hazel claimed victory and a tearful Fraser conceded defeat. Ultimately, Labor achieved a 24-seat swing —- the largest defeat of a sitting government since 1949 and the worst defeat a sitting non-Labor government has ever suffered. Fraser soon resigned from Parliament, leaving the Liberal leadership to his long-term foe Andrew Peacock, who would later have a fierce leadership battle himself with the future Liberal Prime Minister John Howard. The Labor Party would spend 13 years in government, with both Hawke and Paul Keating as leaders—the longest period of continuous federal government in the party's history. Voting intention The bulletin. 5 April 1983 103 5359 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1248743470 5 March 2021 John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues). 105 volumes : illustrations (chiefly coloured), portraits (chiefly coloured) ; 30-40 cm. Sydney, N.S.W John Haynes and J.F. Archibald 0007-4039 nla.obj-1248743470 Trove Date Brand Firm Interview mode Primary vote L/NP ALP DEM OTH5 March 1983 election43.61%49.48%5.03%1.88%3 March 1983GallupMorganTelephone43%50%6%1%2 March 1983SpectrumAustralianTelephone42%52%5%1%27 – 28 February 1983ANOPNational TimesTelephone42%51.5%5%1.5%19 – 20 February 1983Gallup MorganTelephone42%52%4%2%12 – 13 February 1983Gallup MorganTelephone41%52%5%2%5 – 6 February 1983Gallup MorganTelephone41%52%5%2%22 – 29 January 1983Gallup MorganTelephone43%48%7%2%18 October 1980 election46.40%45.15%6.57%1.88% Results House of Representatives Post-election pendulum for the 1983 Australian federal election Results of the 1983 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) Overall yes Popular vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 49.48 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 34.36 National National Party of Australia 9.25 Democrats #F4940D 5.03 Other #777777 1.88 Two-party-preferred vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 53.23 Coalition Coalition (Australia) 46.77 Parliament seats var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 60.00 Coalition Coalition (Australia) 40.00 Senate Results of the 1983 Australian federal election (Senate) right|thumb|250px|Government (30) Labor darkgray Labor (30) Opposition (28) Coalition Liberal darkgray Liberal (23) National darkgray National (4) Country Liberal Party darkgray CLP (1) Crossbench (6) Democrats darkgray Democrats (5) Independent darkgray Independent (1) + Senate (STV) – 1983–84—Turnout 94.64% (CV) – Informal 9.87%alt=|center|300x300px Party Votes % Swing Seats won Total seats Change   Labor 3,637,316 45.49 +3.24 30 30 +3   Liberal–National coalition 3,195,397 39.97 –3.51 28 28 –3   Liberal–National joint ticket 1,861,618 23.28 −2.35 8 * *   Liberal (separate ticket) 923,571 11.55 −1.59 16 23 –4   National (separate ticket) 388,802 4.86 +0.41 3 4 +1   Country Liberal 21,406 0.27 +0.02 1 1 0   Democrats 764,911 9.57 +0.31 5 5 0   Call to Australia 96,065 0   Progress Party 1,905 0   White Australia 1,025 0   Independents 193,454 2.42 +1.29 1 1 0   Other 203,967 2.55 −1.34 0 0 0   Total 7,995,045     64 64 Notes In New South Wales and Victoria, the coalition parties ran a joint ticket. Of the eight senators elected on a joint ticket, seven were members of the Liberal Party and one was a member of the National Party. In Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia, the coalition parties ran on separate tickets. In the ACT and Tasmania, only the Liberal Party ran a ticket. In the Northern Territory, only the Country Liberal Party ran a ticket. The sole independent elected was Brian Harradine of Tasmania. Seats changing hands Seat Pre-1983 Swing Post-1983 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Barton, NSW  Liberal Jim Bradfield 0.4 4.4 4.0 Gary Punch Labor  Bendigo, Vic  Liberal John Bourchier 1.3 4.1 2.8 John Brumby Labor  Bowman, Qld  Liberal David Jull 1.2 3.4 2.2 Len Keogh Labor  Calare, NSW  National Sandy Mackenzie 1.5 4.4 2.9 David Simmons Labor  Canning, WA  Liberal Mel Bungey 1.8 9.2 7.4 Wendy Fatin Labor  Casey, Vic  Liberal Peter Falconer 1.9 2.6 0.7 Peter Steedman Labor  Chisholm, Vic  Liberal Graham Harris 2.2 4.4 2.2 Helen Mayer Labor  Deakin, Vic  Liberal Alan Jarman 2.3 4.4 2.1 John Saunderson Labor  Diamond Valley, Vic  Liberal Neil Brown 3.7 4.1 0.4 Peter Staples Labor  Eden-Monaro, NSW  Liberal Murray Sainsbury 2.8 4.6 1.8 Jim Snow Labor  Fadden, Qld  Liberal Don Cameron 1.5 3.1 1.7 David Beddall Labor  Flinders, Vic  Liberal Peter Reith 2.3 5.6 1.0 Bob Chynoweth Labor  Herbert, Qld  Liberal Gordon Dean 0.9 3.7 2.8 Ted Lindsay Labor  Kingston, SA  Liberal Grant Chapman 0.2 3.3 3.1 Gordon Bilney Labor  Leichhardt, Qld  National David Thomson 1.1 3.2 2.1 John Gayler Labor  Macarthur, NSW  Liberal Michael Baume 3.2 5.3 2.1 Colin Hollis Labor  Moore, WA  Liberal John Hyde 2.8 10.0 7.2 Allen Blanchard Labor  Northern Territory, NT  Country Liberal Grant Tambling 1.2 3.1 1.9 John Reeves Labor  Perth, WA  Liberal Ross McLean 1.0 7.4 6.4 Ric Charlesworth Labor  Petrie, Qld  Liberal John Hodges 3.4 3.9 0.5 Dean Wells Labor  Phillip, NSW  Liberal Jack Birney 0.6 2.5 1.9 Jeannette McHugh Labor  Stirling, WA  Liberal Ian Viner 2.0 9.0 7.0 Ron Edwards Labor  Tangney, WA  Liberal Peter Shack 4.6 7.8 3.2 George Gear Labor  Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. See also Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1983 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1983–1984 Members of the Australian Senate, 1983–1985 Notes Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore, the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences. The 1983 swing of approximately 3.6 points is based on a pure deduction of one result from the other. References External links University of WA https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ 18 January 2015 election results in Australia since 1890 AustralianPolitics.com election details AEC 2PP vote Federal Federal election Category:Federal elections in Australia Category:Bob Hawke Category:Malcolm Fraser