1974 Queensland state election
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All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 89.42 (![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 7 December 1974[1] to elect the 82 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.[1]
The National-Liberal Coalition won a third consecutive victory under Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and the seventh consecutive victory for the National Party in Queensland, which had renamed itself from the Country Party since the previous election. The Labor Party lost two-thirds of its seats, including that of leader Perc Tucker, its worst showing in an election until 2012 and thus a landslide victory for the Coalition.
Labor was reduced to only 11 seats, leading observers to call Labor's caucus a "cricket team." William Bowe of Crikey wrote that for years, the election stood as "the gold standard for Australian election massacres".[2]
Key dates[edit]
Date | Event |
---|---|
23 October 1974 | Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen announced the early election date at a news conference.[3] |
2 November 1974 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved.[4] |
2 November 1974 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[5] |
8 November 1974 | Close of nominations. |
7 December 1974 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
23 December 1974 | The Bjelke-Petersen Ministry was reconstituted.[6] |
11 January 1975 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared.[7] |
3 February 1975 | Deadline for return of the writs. |
25 February 1975 | Parliament resumed for business.[8] |
Results[edit]
Queensland state election, 7 December 1974 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enrolled voters | 1,186,378 | |||||
Votes cast | 1,060,910 | Turnout | 89.42% | -2.99% | ||
Informal votes | 16,742 | Informal | 1.58% | +0.05% | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
Labor | 376,187 | 36.03% | -10.72% | 11 | -22 | |
Liberal | 324,682 | 31.09% | +8.87% | 30 | +9 | |
Nationals | 291,088 | 27.88% | +7.88% | 39 | +13 | |
Independent | 29,582 | 2.83% | -0.49% | 2 | ±0 | |
Queensland Labor | 19,952 | 1.91% | -5.78% | 0 | ± 0 | |
Australia | 1,929 | 0.18% | +0.18% | 0 | ±0 | |
Australian Advancement | 416 | 0.04% | +0.04% | 0 | ±0 | |
Socialist | 332 | 0.03% | +0.03% | 0 | ±0 | |
Total | 1,044,168 | 82 |
Seats changing hands[edit]
Seat | Pre-1974 | Swing | Post-1974 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
Albert | Labor | Bill D'Arcy | 4.1 | -14.2 | 10.1 | Ivan Gibbs | National | ||
Baroona | Labor | Pat Hanlon | 14.1 | -15.8 | 1.7 | Dennis Young | Liberal | ||
Barron River | Labor | Bill Wood | 3.4 | -4.1 | 0.7 | Martin Tenni | National | ||
Belmont | Labor | Fred Newton | 14.9 | -18.5 | 3.6 | David Byrne | Liberal | ||
Belyando | Labor | Eugene O'Donnell | 1.3 | -8.7 | 7.4 | Vince Lester | National | ||
Brisbane | Labor | Brian Davis | 9.7 | -10.9 | 1.2 | Harold Lowes | Liberal | ||
Cook | Labor | Bob Scott | 4.2 | -6.8 | 2.6 | Eric Deeral | National | ||
Everton | Labor | Gerry Jones | 8.3 | -11.0 | 2.7 | Brian Lindsay | Liberal | ||
Ipswich West | Labor | Vi Jordan | 11.5 | -12.0 | 0.5 | Albert Hales | National | ||
Isis | Labor | Jim Blake | 8.3 | -12.4 | 4.1 | Lin Powell | National | ||
Mount Isa | Labor | Alex Inch | 16.4 | -19.9 | 3.5 | Angelo Bertoni | National | ||
Mourilyan | Labor | Peter Moore | 7.2 | -8.9 | 1.7 | Vicky Kippin | National | ||
Pine Rivers | Labor | Kenneth Leese | 6.8 | -18.7 | 11.9 | Rob Akers | Liberal | ||
Redlands | Labor | Ted Baldwin | 5.1 | -14.8 | 9.7 | John Goleby | National | ||
Salisbury | Labor | Doug Sherrington | 16.7 | -22.1 | 5.4 | Rosemary Kyburz | Liberal | ||
South Brisbane | Labor | Fred Bromley | 11.0 | -16.0 | 5.0 | Colin Lamont | Liberal | ||
Stafford | Labor | Roy Harvey | 11.0 | -16.0 | 5.0 | Terry Gygar | Liberal | ||
Toowoomba North | Labor | Ray Bousen | 14.9 | -17.2 | 2.3 | John Lockwood | Liberal | ||
Toowoomba South | Labor | Peter Wood | 6.9 | -14.6 | 7.7 | John Warner | National | ||
Townsville West | Labor | Perc Tucker | 2.2 | -5.8 | 3.6 | Max Hooper | National | ||
Warrego | Labor | Jack Aiken | 13.4 | -14.4 | 1.0 | Neil Turner | National | ||
Wynnum | Labor | Edward Harris | 14.5 | -14.6 | 0.1 | Bill Lamond | National |
- Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
Post-election pendulum[edit]
Labor seats (11) | |||
Marginal | |||
Bulimba | Jack Houston | ALP | 1.7% |
Wolston | Evan Marginson | ALP | 2.3% |
Bundaberg | Lou Jensen | ALP | 2.5% |
Sandgate | Harold Dean | ALP | 3.5% |
Rockhampton | Keith Wright | ALP | 3.6% |
Nudgee | Jack Melloy | ALP | 4.1% |
Archerfield | Kevin Hooper | ALP | 5.0% |
Fairly safe | |||
Rockhampton North | Les Yewdale | ALP | 6.1% |
Lytton | Tom Burns | ALP | 6.7% |
Cairns | Ray Jones | ALP | 7.3% |
Safe | |||
Port Curtis | Martin Hanson | ALP | 15.7% |
Crossbench seats (2) | |||
Townsville South | Tom Aikens | IND | 5.8 v ALP |
Mackay | Ed Casey | IND | 20.5 v NAT |
See also[edit]
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1972–1974
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1974–1977
- Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1974
- Bjelke-Petersen Ministry
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Parliament of Queensland, Legislative Assembly election results for 7 December 1974". Australian Politics and Elections Archive 1856-2018. University of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ Bowe, William (26 March 2012). "The hole where Queensland Labor used to be". Crikey. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "250 will contest poll: Premier tips a 'smashing win' on December 7". The Courier-Mail. 24 October 1974. p. 1.
- ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 2 November 1974. p. 247:887.
- ^ "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette. 2 November 1974. p. 247:889.
- ^ "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette. 23 December 1974. p. 247:1629–1632.
- ^ "Notices of Results of General Election". Queensland Government Gazette. 11 January 1975. p. 248:37–51.
- ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 23 January 1975. p. 248:249.