1981 Western Australian Labor Party leadership spill

none May 2022 May 2022 Western Australia Labor Placeholder.png presidential no 18 September 1981 Leadership election yes presidential no Caucus Brian Burke DC241F 20 64.52% Ron Davies DC241F 11 35.48% Seat Balcatta Victoria Park Leader Ron Davies Brian Burke Deputy leadership election yes presidential no Caucus Mal Bryce DC241F 19 61.29% David Evans DC241F 12 38.71% Seat Ascot Warren Deputy Leader David Evans Mal Bryce A leadership spill of the Western Australian Labor Party occurred on 18 September 1981. A motion that all caucus positions be declared vacant was carried 18 votes to 13. Brian Burke defeated party leader Ron Davies 20 votes to 11, making Burke the leader of the party and the leader of the opposition in Western Australia. Mal Bryce defeated deputy party leader David Evans 19 votes to 12, making Bryce the deputy leader of the party and the deputy leader of the opposition in Western Australia. The Labor Party went on to win the 1983 state election, and Burke and Bryce continued in their positions for five years after the election before resigning. Background Over the 1970s, the Western Australian Labor Party failed to come close to defeating the Liberal/National Country Coalition led by Charles Court.Beresford Quentin The Godfather: The life of Brian Burke 2008 Allen & Unwin 1741755565 30–34 Following the 1980 state election, Labor MPs Brian Burke, Arthur Tonkin, Mal Bryce, Jeff Carr and Bob Pearce formed a group to plan for the removal of Ron Davies as party leader and David Evans as deputy party leader. They had to decide between themselves who was going to nominate as leader. Bryce eventually gave way for Burke to nominate instead of himself, reasoning that Burke had better media and fundraising skills, necessary as the party was short on funds. Bryce told his followers to support Burke, who mostly went through with that. There was some trepidation however, with a few people seeing him as a risk. With both of them being supported by one third of Labor MPs each, the combined number was enough to win the leadership.Kennedy Peter Tales from Boom Town: Western Australian premiers from Brand to McGowan 2019 UWA Publishing 9781760800246 Revised and updated 108 Leadership spill On 18 September 1981, at a party room meeting, a motion that all caucus positions be declared vacant was carried 18 votes to 13. Burke defeated Davies for the leadership election 20 votes to 11, and so he became the leader of the opposition. Bryce was elected deputy leader of the Labor Party 19 votes to 12, so became the deputy leader of the opposition.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126846918 In Brief: ALP elects new leaders in WA The Canberra Times 19 September 1981 7 May 2022 2 National Library of AustraliaAustralian Political Chronicle Australian Journal of Politics & History April 1982 28 1 117 10.1111/j.1467-8497.1982.tb00172.x At 34 years old, Burke was the fourth youngest ever opposition leader of Western Australia.Black David David Black (historian) The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/ParliamentaryHandbook/23rd%20Edition%20of%20the%20Parliament%20Handbook%20-%20Final%20Version.pdf Parliament of Western Australia https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183010/http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/ParliamentaryHandbook/23rd%20Edition%20of%20the%20Parliament%20Handbook%20-%20Final%20Version.pdf 3 March 2016 2014 dead 240 Aftermath The Labor Party went on to win the 1983 state election, and Burke served for five years as Premier of Western Australia before resigning.Mr Brian Thomas Burke https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/27233BA3B9773125482577E50028A549 Parliament of Western Australia 7 May 2022 See also Burke shadow ministry References Category:1981 elections in Australia Category:Australian Labor Party leadership spills Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch) leadership election Category:1980s in Western Australia Category:Western Australian leadership spills