1964 Tasmanian state election

The 1964 Tasmanian state election was held on 2 May 1964 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system — seven members were elected from each of five electorates.

1964 Tasmanian state election

2 May 1964
All 35 seats to the House of Assembly
First party Second party   Leader Eric Reece Angus Bethune Party Labor Liberal Leader since 26 August 1958 19 March 1960 Leader's seat Braddon Wilmot Last election 17 seats 16 seats Seats won 19 seats 16 seats Seat change 2 0 Percentage 51.32% 38.49% Swing 6.82 2.57
Results of the election
Premier before election Eric Reece Labor Elected Premier Eric Reece Labor

The Labor Party, in power since 1934, was seeking a tenth term in office, and Premier Eric Reece was contesting his second election in that role, this time against Leader of the Opposition Angus Bethune of the Liberal Party. Despite its longevity, the peculiarities of the Tasmanian Hare-Clark system meant it had served as a minority government with the support of independents since the 1946 election.

This is to date the last time that a sitting Premier, in Reece, has won back to back elections and was the first and only time that a Tasmanian Government won a tenth consecutive term in office.

Results

See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1964

Labor won a majority in the House of Assembly with 19 of the 35 seats. Dr Reg Turnbull, the former Labor treasurer who had won 27.9% as an independent in Bass in 1959 (equal to 5.64% of the statewide vote) departed in 1961 for the Australian Senate, with most of his vote returning to his former party.

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labor	90,631	51.32	6.82	19	2
	Liberal	67,971	38.49	2.57	16
	Country	9,280	5.26	5.26	0
	Independents	5,462	3.09	5.96	0	2
	Democratic Labor	3,155	1.79	3.50	0
	Communist	92	0.05	0.04	0
Total		176,591	100.00	–	35	–
Valid votes		176,591	95.68
Invalid/blank votes		7,980	4.32	1.44
Total votes		184,571	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		193,418	95.43	0.86

Popular vote Labor   51.32% Liberal   38.49% Country   5.26% DLP   1.79% Communist   0.05% Independents   3.09%

Seats Labor   54.29% Liberal   45.71%

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

	Bass	Braddon	Denison	Franklin	Wilmot
Labor Party	49.9%	56.6%	44.0%	53.2%	52.3%
Liberal Party	41.2%	32.9%	44.9%	36.5%	37.5%
Other	9.0%	10.5%	11.1%	10.4%	10.3%

Distribution of seats

Electorate	Seats won
Bass
Braddon
Denison
Franklin
Wilmot

	Labor
	Liberal

See also

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1964–1969
• Candidates of the 1964 Tasmanian state election

External links

• Assembly Election Results, 1964, Parliament of Tasmania.
• Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1964, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.