1999 New South Wales state election

May 2023 May 2023 April 2022 State election for New South Wales, Australia in March 1999 the local government elections held in September 1999 New South Wales local elections June 2020 1999 New South Wales state election New South Wales parliamentary no 1995 New South Wales state election 1995 2003 New South Wales state election 2003 All 93 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assemblyand 21 (of the 42) seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council47 Assembly seats were needed for a majority yes 1999 03 27 Bob Carr.jpg 130 130 170 0 0 center Bob Carr 6 April 1988 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) Maroubra 1,576,886 42.21% 0.94 50 seats 55 5 Kerry Chikarovski.jpg 180 130 170 0 25 center Kerry Chikarovski 8 December 1998 Liberal/National coalition Liberal/National coalition Lane Cove 1,258,711 33.69% 10.25 46 seats 33 13 TPP TPP swing 55.96% 7.0pp 44.04% 7.0pp 1999 New South Wales state election.svg 340px Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate Premier Bob Carr Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) Bob Carr Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) The 1999 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday, 27 March. All seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council was up for election. The Incumbent New South Wales Premier Bob Carr won a second term with a 7% swing of vote against the Liberal National Party led by Kerry Chikarovski. The poll was the first to be held after two key changes to the electoral system. In 1997, the number of electoral districts was reduced from 99 to 93. In 1995, fixed four-year terms were introduced. As of 2026, this is the most recent NSW election in which the leader of the winning party would complete a full term as premier. Background October 2025 Carr government The Labor Party's victory at the 1995 election was built on a number of specific promises, backed by a well directed marginal seat campaign. On taking office, the Carr Government faced difficulties presiding over a public sector that had fundamentally changed during the seven years of the Greiner and Fahey Governments. The major dynamic of the Carr Government's first term was to be the clash between the old fashioned promises that won the 1995 election and the new orthodoxy of public sector financial accountability. This new orthodoxy had its genesis in the election of the Hawke government at the 1983 federal election. The new financial structures applied by Canberra to deal with the nation's trade imbalance created problems that forced change on the States. While the term microeconomic reform was not yet in use when the Greiner Government was elected in 1988, New South Wales became the first State that committed itself to a fundamental examination of the role and activities of the public sector. Focusing initially on the efficiency of service delivery and drawing distinctions between commercial functions and core Government services, the process evolved into using market mechanisms to improve the efficiency of services for which the public sector had previously been the monopoly provider. Later, the Jeff Kennett government in Victoria and the Howard government in Canberra were to take the process further with the wide scale use of privatisation and the outsourcing of services. The Carr Government was always going to face problems because of the financial burden imposed by the building programme associated with the 2000 Olympics. The Government took the responsible course of choosing to fund the programme internally rather than through debt, resulting in the re-direction of Government expenditure. This approach created dilemmas with two key promises made by Labor to win the 1995 election. The first was a promise by Carr and his Health Minister Andrew Refshauge to resign if they did not halve hospital waiting lists within twelve months. Devoting extra resources, persuading the majority of the medical profession to participate and improving hospital processes allowed the Government to meet the commitment. The Federal government cut of funding to hospitals that followed made the waiting list numbers rise again and increased the scepticism of the public to any claim . An attempt to redistribute health infrastructure and resources by merging St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst with St George Hospital in Hurstville was one of several politically damaging attempts by the Government to live within its financial means. The second problem was a promise to abolish the tolls on the privately operated M4 and M5 motorways. Once elected, the Government announced it could not lift the tolls given the cost and contractual obligations. This was disastrous for the Government's standing, forcing it in October 1996 to announce a toll cash-back scheme for private use in an effort to recover lost support. Dealing with state debt, building the Olympic infrastructure and meeting the cost of normal Government functions caused Cabinet to propose a controversial solution in 1997: sell the State's electricity assets. The Victorian Government had raised billions in this way, and New South Wales had already divided the generating capacity into separate corporations that made privatisation possible. The policy had the additional advantage of removing the financial risk faced by the State since the introduction of a national electricity grid with full competition between suppliers. This was privatisation taken too far for the Labor Party, a State Conference refusing to sanction the sale. Finances remained tight but the Cabinet back-down solved a different problem. The Coalition was still committed to electricity privatisation, allowing the Carr Government to appeal to its own traditional base by warning the only alternative Government would be far harsher. A redistribution was due before the 1999 election. Before starting the process, Labor number crunchers turned to deciding what number of Lower House seats delivered the best advantage for Labor. With an increase in members ruled out by the premier, the eventual strategy adopted was a cut to 93 MPs. Finalised in July 1998, the new boundaries were a disappointment for the Government. Rather than strengthening Labor's hold on office, they removed the Government's majority, with only 46 of the 93 seats notionally held by Labor. The Coalition was still disadvantaged, given that it won more of the vote in 1995 and still needed a bigger swing than Labor to take office. However, the Coalition was relieved that the boundaries were considerably fairer than Labor had tried to arrange. Ten seats were abolished and four created, another six seats adopting new names. A net four seats disappeared in Sydney and one in Newcastle. The far western seats of Broken Hill and Murray were abolished and fashioned into a new notionally National Party seat called Murray-Darling. Several Members were forced to move while three seats, Maitland, Strathfield and the new seat of Ryde, were to see contests between sitting MPs. Retiring former Ministers caused five by-elections in May 1996, Labor receiving a bonus when former Federal MP Harry Woods won the North Coast seat of Clarence from the National Party, increasing the Government's majority to three. Liberal opposition Peter Collins had taken over the Liberal leadership after the 1995 election. Although he had held several senior portfolios in the previous Government, he remained relatively unknown to the electorate. Despite the low profile of Collins, the Coalition remained competitive in opinion polls until the middle of 1998. Collins was deposed by a surprise coup in December 1998 and replaced by Kerry Chikarovski, the first woman to lead a major party in New South Wales. Less experienced at handling the media than Collins, especially television, Chikarovski struggled during the March 1999 campaign. The Coalition's campaign was also hampered by its unpopular proposal to sell the State's electricity assets. The task of selling it became more difficult when polls indicated that the promised cash rebates made voters even more suspicious of privatisation. As a result, Chikarovski bore much of the criticism of the Coalition's performance. Christian Democratic Party The Call to Australia Party changed its name to the Christian Democratic Party in 1998. Results Legislative Assembly Results of the 1999 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly) File:1999 NSW Legislative Assembly.svg 4115059 96000 0.68 3.36 #f00011 Labor 1576886 0.94 55 5 #080cab Liberal 927368 8.02 20 9 #008000 National 331343 2.23 13 4 #f36c21 One Nation 281147 New 0 New Independents 190793 0.41 5 2 #10c25b Greens 145019 1.31 0 Democrats 124520 0.49 0 Christian Democrats 55819 New 0 New Unity 39562 New 0 New Others 63622 1.54 0 y Two-party-preferred #f00011 Labor 1805365 7.14 #05557c Liberal/National Coalition 1420965 7.14 1999 election totals 1999 Totals 4 May 2020 {{bar box|float=right|title=Popular vote| titlebar = var(--background-color-interactive)|width=600px|barwidth=410px|bars= Labor Australian Labor Party 42.21 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 24.82 National National Party of Australia 8.87 One Nation Pauline Hanson's One Nation 7.53 Independents Independent 5.11 Greens Australian Greens 3.88 Democrats Australian Democrats 3.33 Christian Democrats Christian Democratic Party (Australia) 1.49 Unity #cd5700 1.06 Others #777777 1.70 #ddd Two-party-preferred vote Labor Australian Labor Party 55.96 Coalition Coalition (Australia) 44.04 #ddd Parliamentary seats Labor Australian Labor Party 59.14 55 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 21.51 20 National National Party of Australia 13.98 13 Independents Independent 5.38 5 }} The Legislative Assembly (lower house) election was a landslide. Labor's historic hold on the city of Broken Hill was maintained when Labor won Murray-Darling. Labor also won the head-to-head contests between sitting MPs in the notionally Liberal seats of Maitland, Ryde and Strathfield. Labor also gained Georges River, Menai and Miranda in southern Sydney and the far North Coast seat of Tweed. It retained Clarence and gained South Coast. Optional preferential voting was responsible for Labor holding Clarence, with the failure of Liberal voters to direct preferences denying the National candidate victory. The two-party swing to Labor was 7.2%, winning 56.0% of the two-party preferred vote. However, Labor's primary vote had barely risen while the combined Coalition vote was down 10%. A new arrival, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, fresh from success at the 1998 Queensland and Federal elections, polled 7.5% of the vote. Exhausted One Nation preferences played their part in creating the swing against the Coalition. Worse for the National Party, both Dubbo and Northern Tablelands were lost to Independents, bringing to three the number of Independents in safe National Party seats. Legislative Council Results of the 1999 New South Wales state election (Legislative Council) File:1999 NSW Legislative Council.svg 4115059 274594 0.67 1.06 Seats Won Not Up Total Seats Seat Change #f00011 Labor 1325819 2.02 8 8 16 1 #05557c Liberal/National Coalition 974352 11.02 6 8 14 4 #f36c21 One Nation 225668 New 1 0 1 New Democrats 142768 0.80 1 1 2 Christian Democrats 112699 0.16 1 1 2 #10c25b Greens 103463 0.84 1 1 2 1 #e52b50 Shooters 59295 1.17 0 1 1 #b7410e Progressive Labour 56037 New 0 0 0 New Marijuana Smokers Rights 43991 New 0 0 0 New Legal System Reform 35712 New 1 0 1 New Unity 34785 New 1 0 1 New Country Summit Alliance 31771 New 0 0 0 New Registered Clubs Party 27564 New 0 0 0 New Gun Owners & Sporting Hunters 25106 New 0 0 0 New Country NSW Party 19819 0.04 0 0 0 What's Doing? 18318 New 0 0 0 New ABFFOC 15800 0.84 0 1 1 #5f9ea0 Outdoor Recreation 7264 New 1 0 1 New Others 297530 * 0 0 0 This election was known derogatively as the "Tablecloth Election", due to the unprecedented number of candidates contesting the Upper House, totalling 264 candidates for 81 parties. This meant that each of the 4 million ballot papers issued measured approximately 70x100cm, the size of a small tablecloth. A number of party names on the ballot were noted by election analyst Antony Green to be "clearly misleading in intent", such as the Gay and Lesbian Party, founded by heterosexual campaigners advocating for four-wheel drive access to the state's national parks.Green Antony Ricky Muir's Strange Path to the Senate https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-07/ricky-muirs-strange-path-to-the-senate/9388474 21 August 2025 Antony Green's Election Blog ABC News 7 August 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20250821004507/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-07/ricky-muirs-strange-path-to-the-senate/9388474 21 August 2025 In the 1999 NSW Legislative Council election, this extended to party names that were clearly misleading in intent. For example, the Gay and Lesbian Party, formed by heterosexual activists campaigning for four-wheel drive access to national parks, helped elect Malcolm Jones. live The rules for nominating candidates to the Legislative Council were tightened to prevent this from happening again, as well as the abolition of group ticket preferences in response to Malcolm Jones of the Outdoor Recreation Party being elected with 0.2% of the vote.</noinclude> Overview In the New South Wales Legislative Assembly: the Labor Party won 55 seats the Liberal Party won 20 seats the National Party won 13 seats independent candidates won 5 seats Elections were held for half the seats in the New South Wales Legislative Council: the Labor Party won 8 seats for a total of 16 the Liberal Party won 4 seats for a total of 10 (although Helen Sham-Ho was sitting as an independent) the National Party won 2 seats for a total of 4 the Greens won 1 seat for a total of 2 the Christian Democratic Party won 1 seat for a total of 2 the Australian Democrats won 1 seat for a total of 2 (although Richard Jones was sitting as an independent) One Nation won 1 seat for a total of 1 the Unity Party won 1 seat for a total of 1 the Outdoor Recreation Party won 1 seat for a total of 1 Reform the Legal System won 1 seat for a total of 1 the Shooters Party won 0 seats for a total of 1 A Better Future for Our Children won 0 seats for a total of 1 Seats changing hands Seat Pre-1999 Swing Post-1999 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Burrinjuck  Liberal Alby Schultz 9.9 -11.1 1.2 Katrina Hodgkinson National  Dubbo  National Gerry Peacocke 18.0 -18.0 0.02 Tony McGrane Independent  Georges River  Liberal Marie Ficarra 2.0 -8.3 6.3 Kevin Greene Labor  Maitland  Liberal Peter Blackmore 0.9 -1.9 1.0 John Price Labor  Menai  Liberal Notional - New seat 1.9 -6.1 4.2 Alison Megarrity Labor  Miranda  Liberal Ron Phillips 5.2 -7.5 2.3 Barry Collier Labor  Murray-Darling  National Notional - New seat 3.5 -7.7 4.2 Peter Black Labor  Northern Tablelands  National Ray Chappell 14.6 -24.0 9.4 Richard Torbay Independent  Ryde  Liberal Notional - New seat 4.2 -10.8 6.6 John Watkins Labor  South Coast  Liberal Eric Ellis 4.6 -5.1 0.5 Wayne Smith Labor  Strathfield  Liberal Bruce MacCarthy 2.8 -11.2 8.4 Paul Whelan Labor  Tweed  National Notional - New seat 2.2 -4.8 2.6 Neville Newell Labor  Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats. In addition, Labor retained the seat of Clarence, which it had gained from the National Party in the previous by-election. Post-election pendulum Labor seats (55)Marginal ClarenceHarry WoodsALP0.2% South CoastWayne SmithALP0.5% MaitlandJohn PriceALP1.0% MirandaBarry CollierALP2.3% TweedNeville NewellALP2.6% MenaiAlison MegarrityALP4.2% Murray-DarlingPeter BlackALP4.2%Fairly safe Georges RiverKevin GreeneALP6.3% RydeJohn WatkinsALP6.6% KogarahCherie BurtonALP7.5% KeiraDavid CampbellALP7.9% v IND StrathfieldPaul WhelanALP8.4% DrummoyneJohn MurrayALP9.4% The EntranceGrant McBrideALP9.7%Safe HeathcoteIan McManusALP10.4% PeatsMarie AndrewsALP11.3% Blue MountainsBob DebusALP11.8% CoogeeErnie PageALP12.3% Port StephensJohn BartlettALP12.3% ParramattaGabrielle HarrisonALP14.5% GranvilleKim YeadonALP14.6% LondonderryJim AndersonALP14.9% WentworthvillePam AllanALP15.4% WyongPaul CrittendenALP15.5% RockdaleGeorge ThompsonALP16.5% SwanseaMilton OrkopoulosALP16.6% PenrithFaye Lo Po'ALP16.7% RiverstoneJohn AquilinaALP17.2% MulgoaDiane BeamerALP17.6% KiamaMatt BrownALP17.7% BathurstGerard MartinALP17.8% East HillsAlan AshtonALP18.3% CabramattaReba MeagherALP18.9% v IND Lake MacquarieJeff HunterALP19.2% CharlestownRichard FaceALP19.3% BlacktownPaul GibsonALP19.4% CampbelltownMichael KnightALP19.9% MaroubraBob CarrALP19.9% MarrickvilleAndrew RefshaugeALP21.5% v GRNNewcastleBryce GaudryALP22.4%WallsendJohn MillsALP22.6%CessnockKerry HickeyALP 22.6% v ONPIllawarraMarianne SalibaALP22.8%SmithfieldCarl ScullyALP22.8%Macquarie FieldsCraig KnowlesALP23.5%AuburnPeter NagleALP24.3%LakembaMorris IemmaALP24.7%Port JacksonSandra NoriALP25.1%CanterburyKevin MossALP25.2%Mount DruittRichard AmeryALP25.8%HeffronDeirdre GrusovinALP26.1%FairfieldJoe TripodiALP28.3%LiverpoolPaul LynchALP28.6%WollongongCol MarkhamALP28.7%BankstownTony StewartALP30.2% Liberal/National seats (33)MarginalMonaroPeter WebbNAT0.2%AlburyIan GlachanLIB1.0% v INDBurrinjuckKatrina HodgkinsonNAT1.2%GosfordChris HartcherLIB2.3%HornsbyStephen O'DohertyLIB2.7%CamdenLiz KernohanLIB3.5%CronullaMalcolm KerrLIB5.1%Southern HighlandsPeta SeatonLIB5.7%Fairly safeOrangeRussell TurnerNAT6.3%EppingAndrew TinkLIB7.1%BegaRussell SmithLIB7.1%Lane CoveKerry ChikarovskiLIB7.4%Wagga WaggaDaryl MaguireLIB7.5%OxleyAndrew StonerNAT8.0%Baulkham HillsWayne MertonLIB8.1%Coffs HarbourAndrew FraserNAT8.3%LismoreThomas GeorgeNAT8.5%SafeUpper HunterGeorge SourisNAT10.5%WakehurstBrad HazzardLIB10.8%WilloughbyPeter CollinsLIB11.1%MurrumbidgeeAdrian PiccoliNAT12.0%BallinaDon PageNAT12.0%North ShoreJillian SkinnerLIB12.3%VauclusePeter DebnamLIB12.5%Myall LakesJohn TurnerNAT12.9%HawkesburyKevin RozzoliLIB13.3%The HillsMichael RichardsonLIB14.7%LachlanIan ArmstrongNAT16.3%Port MacquarieRob OakeshottNAT16.6%BarwonIan Slack-SmithNAT17.2%PittwaterJohn BrogdenLIB18.8%Ku-ring-gaiBarry O'FarrellLIB20.0%DavidsonAndrew HumphersonLIB21.1%Crossbench seats (5)DubboTony McGraneIND0.02% v NATManlyDavid BarrIND1.3% v LIBNorthern TablelandsRichard TorbayIND9.4% v NATBlighClover MooreIND9.8% v ALPTamworthTony WindsorIND35.2% v ALP See also Candidates of the 1999 New South Wales state election References Psephos: Election of 27 March 1999, Legislative Assembly (Statewide summary) New South Wales state election Category:Elections in New South Wales Category:1999 in New South Wales New South Wales state election