Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 15 July 1995 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 89 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 45 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 91.43 ( 0.05 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The top map shows the first party preference by electorate. The bottom map shows the final two-party preferred vote by electorate. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Labor Party, which had been in power since the 1989 election and led by Premier Wayne Goss, was elected to a third term, defeating the National/Liberal Coalition under Rob Borbidge. The Queensland Nationals and Liberals were contesting their first election as a coalition in 15 years, having renewed their agreement midway through Goss' second term. The Coalition actually won a majority of the two-party preferred vote. However, most of that vote was wasted on landslide margins in the Nationals' rural heartland. As a result, while the Coalition scored an overall eight-seat swing, it only won nine seats in greater Brisbane, allowing Labor to hold on to power with a majority of one seat.
On 8 December 1995, the Court of Disputed Returns threw out the results in Mundingburra, which Labor's Ken Davies had won by 16 votes, after it was discovered that 22 overseas military personnel were denied the chance to vote. This forced a by-election, held in February 1996. Liberal Frank Tanti won the by-election, resulting in a hung parliament. With Labor and the Coalition holding 44 seats each, the balance of power rested with Liz Cunningham, the newly elected Independent member for Gladstone. Cunningham threw her support to the Coalition, allowing Borbidge to form a minority government.
Key dates
edit| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 20 June 1995 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[1] |
| 24 June 1995 | Close of electoral rolls. |
| 27 June 1995 | Close of nominations. |
| 15 July 1995 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 31 July 1995 | The Goss Ministry was reconstituted. |
| 25 August 1995 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
Results
edit|
Queensland state election, 15 July 1995[2][3] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 2,007,450 | |||||
| Votes cast | 1,835,510 | Turnout | 91.43% | –0.05% | ||
| Informal votes | 32,030 | Informal | 1.75% | –0.50% | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Labor | 773,585 | 42.89% | –5.84% | 45 | – 9 | |
| Nationals | 473,497 | 26.25% | +2.54% | 29 | + 3 | |
| Liberal | 410,083 | 22.74% | +2.30% | 14 | + 5 | |
| Greens | 51,748 | 2.87% | +2.57% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Democrats | 22,598 | 1.25% | +0.82% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Confederate Action | 9,329 | 0.52% | –0.83% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Independent | 62,640 | 3.47% | –1.94% | 1 | + 1 | |
| Total | 1,803,480 | 89 | ||||
| Two-party-preferred | ||||||
| Labor | 842,766 | 46.73% | –7.0% | |||
| National/Liberal | 960,714 | 53.27% | +7.0% | |||
Seats changing hands
edit| Seat | 1992 Election | Swing | 1995 Election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
| Albert | Labor | John Szczerbanik | 1.64 | -5.54 | 3.89 | Bill Baumann | National | ||
| Barron River | Labor | Lesley Clark | 4.16 | -4.55 | 0.39 | Lyn Warwick | Liberal | ||
| Gladstone | Labor | Neil Bennett | 1.99 | -5.05 | 3.07 | Liz Cunningham | Independent | ||
| Greenslopes | Labor | Gary Fenlon | 7.24 | -7.34 | 0.11 | Ted Radke | Liberal | ||
| Mansfield | Labor | Laurel Power | 2.56 | -9.25 | 6.70 | Frank Carroll | Liberal | ||
| Mount Ommaney | Labor | Peter Pyke | 1.25 | -2.93 | 1.68 | Bob Harper | Liberal | ||
| Mulgrave | Labor | Warren Pitt | 3.17 | -3.64 | 0.47 | Naomi Wilson | National | ||
| Redlands | Labor | John Budd | 5.25 | -9.84 | 4.59 | John Hegarty | National | ||
| Springwood | Labor | Molly Robson | 8.66 | -19.43 | 10.77 | Luke Woolmer | Liberal | ||
Post-election pendulum
editSubsequent changes
edit- On 8 December 1995, the Court of Disputed Returns declared the election in Mundingburra void and ordered a by-election. At the by-election on 3 February 1996, Frank Tanti gained the seat for the Liberal Party. This gave both the Labor Government and the National-Liberal Coalition 44 seats each, with 1 Independent. On 12 February, Independent Liz Cunningham announced her support for a National-Liberal Coalition minority government, and the Labor government resigned on 19 February.
- On 16 May 1996, former Labor Deputy Premier Tom Burns (Lytton) resigned. At the by-election on 5 October 1996, Paul Lucas retained the seat for the Labor Party.
- On 17 March 1997, Labor Party member Margaret Woodgate (Kurwongbah) resigned. At the by-election on 24 May 1997, Linda Lavarch retained the seat for the Labor Party.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Electoral Commission of Queensland (1995). Queensland Election 1995: Statistical Returns. p. 8. ISBN 0-7242-4996-6.
- ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 15 July 1995". Retrieved 22 February 2009.
- ^ Hughes, Colin A. (2002). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1985-1999. Federation Press. pp. 327–328. ISBN 978-1-86287-434-3.