1993 Australian federal election

none February 2018 March 2023 1993 Australian federal election Australia parliamentary no Results of the 1990 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) 1990 Results of the 1996 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) 1996 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1990–1993 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1993–1996 11,384,638 6.12% 10,900,861 (95.75%)(0.44 pp) All 147 seats in the House of Representatives 74 seats were needed for a majority in the House 40 (of the 76) seats in the Senate First preference yes 1993 3 13The election in the seat of Dickson was deferred to 17 April 1993. File:Keating Paul Portrait.jpg 190x190px Paul Keating yes 1991 12 19 Australian Labor Party Blaxland (NSW) 78 seats 80 2 4,751,390 44.92% 5.49% File:John Hewson in 1991.jpg John Hewson yes 1990 4 3 Liberal Party of Australia Liberal–National Coalition Wentworth (NSW) 69 seats 65 4 4,681,822 44.27% 0.81% TPP 51.44% 48.56% TPP swing 1.54% 1.54% 1993 Australian federal election.svg 350px Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory. Prime Minister Paul Keating Australian Labor Party Subsequent Prime Minister Paul Keating Australian Labor Party A federal election was held in Australia on 13 March 1993 to determine the members of the 37th Parliament of Australia. All 147 seats of the Australian House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Australian Senate were up for election. The incumbent government of the centre-left Australian Labor Party led by Paul Keating, the prime minister of Australia, was re-elected to a fifth term, defeating the centre-right Liberal/National Coalition led by Opposition Leader John Hewson of the Liberal Party of Australia, and coalition partner Tim Fischer of the National Party of Australia. This was the first, and to date only, time the Labor Party won a fifth consecutive election. The result was considered an upset, as opinion polls had predicted a Coalition win. In his victory speech, Keating would famously describe the result as "the sweetest victory of all". The Coalition's loss was attributed to the unpopularity of Hewson and his economic policy, popularly known as Fightback!, with the set piece being the divisive Goods and Services Tax (GST). This was the first of two elections fought mainly on the question of the GST, the second being two elections later in 1998. This would be the last time that the Labor Party won a majority at the federal level until the 2007 election as the next four elections would produce Coalition victories. It also remains the only time that the Liberal Party was led by a leader who previously had no experience as a minister. Background thumb|300px|The Gallagher Index result: 8.46 This was the first election after the end of the late 80s and early 90s recession. The opposition Liberal Party was led by John Hewson, a former professor of economics at the University of New South Wales who succeeded Liberal leader Andrew Peacock in 1990. In November 1991 the Liberal Party launched the 650-page Fightback! policy document a radical collection of "dry", economic liberal measures including: the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 15%,2010-06-30 John Kehoe GST: the reform that divided a nation https://www.afr.com/politics/gst-the-reform-that-divided-a-nation-20100630-iv9fo 2023-08-07 The Australian Financial Review Nine Entertainment https://web.archive.org/web/20230807043332/https://www.afr.com/politics/gst-the-reform-that-divided-a-nation-20100630-iv9fo 7 August 2023 live subscription en various changes to Medicare including the abolition of bulk billing for non-concession holders, the introduction of a nine-month limit on unemployment benefits, various changes to industrial relations including the abolition of industrial award, a $13 billion personal income tax cut directed at middle and upper income earners, $10 billion in government spending cuts, the abolition of state payroll taxes and the privatisation of a large number of government-owned enterprises. All of this presented a vision of a very different future direction to the Keynesian economic conservatism practiced by previous Liberal/National Coalition governments. The 15 percent GST was the centrepiece of the policy document. Following the December 1991 Labor leadership spill, where former Treasurer Paul Keating ousted Bob Hawke as leader of the Labor Party and subsequently Prime Minister, Keating mounted a campaign against the Fightback! package, and particularly against the GST throughout 1992. Keating described the GST as an attack on the working-class in that it shifted the tax burden from direct taxation of the wealthy to indirect taxation as a broad-based consumption tax. Pressure group activity, public opinion and Keating himself were highly critical of the GST, which led Hewson to exempt food from the proposed GST. However the exclusions announced by Hewson led to questions surrounding the complexity of what precisely which food items would and would not be exempt from the GST. Hewson's difficulty in explaining this to the electorate was exemplified in the infamous birthday cake interview, considered by some as a turning point in the election campaign. Keating won a record fifth consecutive term for the Labor Party and a record 13 years in government at the 1993 election, a level of political success not previously seen by federal Labor. A number of the proposals were later adopted in to law in some form, to a small extent during the Keating Labor government, and to a larger extent during the John Howard Liberal government (most famously the GST, becoming law on 1 July 2000), while unemployment benefits and bulk billing were re-targeted for a time by the Tony Abbott Liberal government. The Australian Electoral Study conducted after the election showed 70 per cent of respondents had tuned in to the Keating-Hewson televised debates, the highest ever viewership for Australian election debates. Nine Network debates saw the infamous "worm" being introduced for the first time to its screens during the debate. The "worm" wriggled along the bottom of the screen, rising and falling away on the reactions of a chosen audience. It was reported that Keating scored big-time with the worm when he savaged Hewson over his plans for a GST during the debate.Wright Tony The worm has turned: Whatever happened to the great election debates? https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/the-great-debate-once-a-milestone-of-mass-theatre-is-now-more-of-an-afterthought-20190507-p51kyl.html live 19 January 2025 https://archive.today/20250119021447/https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/the-great-debate-once-a-milestone-of-mass-theatre-is-now-more-of-an-afterthought-20190507-p51kyl.html 11 February 2022 The Sydney Morning Herald 7 May 2019 en-AU The election-eve Newspoll reported the Liberal Party and National Party Coalition on a 50.5 percent two-party-preferred vote, with Paul Keating's personal ratings being significantly negative.https://infogram.com/federal-newspoll-archive-1gv4m7ejjndop18 Federal Newspoll Archive - Infogram infogram.com 8 April 2023 For the first time since the 1966 election, an incumbent government had increased their two-party-preferred vote. There was an unusual circumstance in the division of Dickson (QLD). One of the candidates, an independent, died very shortly before the election, making it necessary to hold a supplementary election on 17 April.https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/supplementary_by_elections/ By-elections and supplementary elections Australian Electoral Commission 17 January 2023 live 19 January 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250119020504/https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/supplementary_by_elections/ Following the return of the Labor Party to government, Keating announced the makeup of the Second Keating Ministry to be sworn in on 24 March, but kept the portfolio of Attorney-General of Australia open for Michael Lavarch subject to him winning Dickson on 17 April. He won the seat, and was appointed to the ministry on 27 April. Results House of Representatives results Post-election pendulum for the 1993 Australian federal election right|thumb|250px|Government (80) Labor darkgray Labor (80) Opposition (65) Coalition Liberal darkgray Liberal (49) National darkgray National (16) Crossbench (2) Independent darkgray Independent (2) Results of the 1993 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) Australia yes Post-election pendulum for the 1993 Australian federal election Popular vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 44.92 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 37.10 National National Party of Australia 7.17 Democrats #F4940D 3.75 Greens #10C25B 1.86 Independents Independent (politician) 3.10 Other #777777 2.10 Two-party-preferred vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 51.44 Coalition Coalition (Australia) 48.56 Parliament seats var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 54.42 Coalition Coalition (Australia) 44.22 Independents Independent (politician) 1.36 Senate results thumb|250px|Government (30) Labor darkgray Labor (30) Opposition (36) Coalition Liberal darkgray Liberal (29) National darkgray National (6) Country Liberal Party darkgray CLP (1) Crossbench (10) Democrats darkgray Democrats (7) Greens darkgray Greens (2) Independent darkgray Independent (1) Results of the 1993 Australian federal election (Senate) Australia yes Seats changing hands Seat Pre-1993 Swing Post-1993 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Adelaide, SA  Labor Bob Catley 1.84 3.15 1.31 Trish Worth Liberal  Bass, Tas  Liberal Warwick Smith 4.51 4.54 0.03 Silvia Smith Labor  Corinella, Vic  Liberal Russell Broadbent 0.73 4.47 3.74 Alan Griffin Labor  Cowan, WA  Labor Carolyn Jakobsen 0.85 1.78 0.93 Richard Evans Liberal  Dunkley, Vic  Liberal Frank Ford 1.20 1.81 0.61 Bob Chynoweth Labor  Fisher, Qld  Labor Michael Lavarch 1.90 7.26 5.36 Peter Slipper Liberal  Franklin, Tas  Liberal Bruce Goodluck 2.21 9.64 7.43 Harry Quick Labor  Grey, SA  Labor Lloyd O'Neil 2.03 4.11 2.08 Barry Wakelin Liberal  Hindmarsh, SA  Labor John Scott 0.97 2.61 1.64 Chris Gallus Liberal  Hinkler, Qld  Labor Brian Courtice 4.40 4.62 0.22 Paul Neville National  Hume, NSW  Liberal Wal Fife 8.14 N/A 3.70 John Sharp National  Kennedy, Qld  Labor Rob Hulls 1.90 4.78 2.88 Bob Katter National  Lowe, NSW  Liberal Bob Woods 0.6 4.5 5.0 Mary Easson Labor  Lyons, Tas  Liberal Max Burr 1.94 5.72 3.78 Dick Adams Labor  Macquarie, NSW  Liberal Alasdair Webster 1.78 1.90 0.12 Maggie Deahm Labor  McEwen, Vic  Liberal Fran Bailey 3.21 3.90 0.69 Peter Cleeland Labor  McMillan, Vic  Liberal John Riggall 4.44 4.84 0.40 Barry Cunningham Labor  Stirling, WA  Labor Ron Edwards 0.18 1.65 1.47 Eoin Cameron Liberal  The Labor Party won the seat of Lowe (NSW) which was made notionally Labor-held in the redistribution. The Liberal Party won the seat of Fisher (Qld) which was made notionally Liberal-held in the redistribution. The National Party won the seat of Hume (NSW) which was made notionally National-held in the redistribution. Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election See also Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1993 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1993–1996 Members of the Australian Senate, 1993–1996 Birthday cake interview – Hewson's difficulty in explaining how GST would apply to a birthday cake during a news interview said to have contributed to Hewson's defeat. Notes Greens NSW The Greens total in New South Wales includes the local groups for Lowe, Page, Reid, Robertson and Wentworth. 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 AEC 2PP vote AustralianPolitics.com election details Federal Federal election Category:Federal elections in Australia