1973 Victorian state election

The 1973 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 19 May 1973, was for the 46th Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect the 73 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 18 members of the 36-member Legislative Council.

1973 Victorian state election

19 May 1973 (1973-05-19)
All 73 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 18 (of the 36) seats in the Victorian Legislative Council 37 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Rupert Hamer Clyde Holding Peter Ross-Edwards Party Liberal Labor Country Leader since 23 August 1972 15 May 1967 17 June 1970 Leader's seat Kew Richmond Shepparton Last election 42 seats 22 seats 8 seats Seats won 46 seats 18 seats 8 seats Seat change 4 4 0 Popular vote 803,382 789,561 144,818 Percentage 42.34% 41.61% 5.96% Swing 5.64 0.19 0.44 TPP 55.24% 44.76% TPP swing 1.09 1.09
Results in each electorate.
Premier before election Rupert Hamer Liberal Elected Premier Rupert Hamer Liberal

Rupert Hamer succeeded Henry Bolte as Premier of Victoria on 23 August 1972. In 1972 a federal Labor government was elected, the first Labor government in 23 years. The incumbent Liberal government in Victoria led by Hamer was returned at the election with an increased vote of about 5%, largely at the expense of the Democratic Labor Party.

Results

Legislative Assembly

See also: Results of the 1973 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly)

Victorian state election, 19 May 1973 Legislative Assembly << 1970–1976 >>
Enrolled voters		2,088,984
Votes cast		1,954,005		Turnout	93.54	-1.03
Informal votes		56,691		Informal	2.90	-0.29
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal	803,382	42.34	+5.64	46	+4
	Labor	789,561	41.61	+0.19	18	-4
	Democratic Labor	147,890	7.79	-5.51	0	±0
	Country	144,818	5.96	-0.44	8	±0
	Australia	30,701	1.62	+1.62	0	±0
	Independent	10,349	0.55	-1.17	1	±0
	Defence of Government Schools	2,004	0.11	-0.35	0	±0
	Communist	398	0.02	+0.02	0	±0
Total		1,897,314			73
Two-party-preferred
	Liberal	1,048,100	55.2	+1.0
	Labor	849,214	44.8	–1.0

Legislative Council

See also: Results of the 1973 Victorian state election (Legislative Council)

Victorian state election, 19 May 1973 Legislative Council << 1970–1976 >>
Enrolled voters		2,088,984
Votes cast		1,953,462		Turnout	93.5	–1.3
Informal votes		74,354		Informal	3.8	–0.2
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held
	Liberal	810,807	43.1	+5.5	11	21
	Labor	766,181	40.8	–1.8	4	9
	Democratic Labor	163,008	8.7	–5.4	0	0
	Country	120,604	6.4	+0.3	3	6
	Australia	18,508	1.0	+1.0	0	0
Total		1,879,108			18	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1973				Swing	Post-1973
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Dundas		Labor	Edward Lewis	3.8	-7.4	3.6	Bruce Chamberlain	Liberal
Gippsland South		Liberal	James Taylor	6.4	-6.4	0.03	Neil McInnes	Country
Greensborough		Labor	Bob Fell	2.0	-2.0	0.01*	Monte Vale	Liberal
Midlands		Labor	Leslie Shilton	2.8	-6.2	3.4	Bill Ebery	Liberal
Portland		Labor	Bill Lewis	2.8	-7.4	4.6	Don McKellar	Liberal
Swan Hill		Country	Henry Broad	20.3	-21.6	1.3	Alan Wood	Liberal

• The result for Greensborough was overturned by the Court of Disputed Returns and a by-election was called.

Post-election pendulum

Labor seats (18)
Marginal
Kara Kara	Esmond Curnow	ALP	1.9%
Dandenong	Alan Lind	ALP	2.2%
Brunswick West	Tom Roper	ALP	3.9%
Moonee Ponds	Tom Edmunds	ALP	5.8%
Fairly safe
Preston	Carl Kirkwood	ALP	7.6%
Morwell	Derek Amos	ALP	8.3%
Reservoir	Jim Simmonds	ALP	8.7%
Safe
Northcote	Frank Wilkes	ALP	10.3%
Broadmeadows	John Wilton	ALP	10.7%
Geelong North	Neil Trezise	ALP	10.7%
Williamstown	Gordon Stirling	ALP	11.0%
Deer Park	Jack Ginifer	ALP	11.3%
Melbourne	Barry Jones	ALP	12.4%
Footscray	Robert Fordham	ALP	13.9%
Sunshine	Bill Fogarty	ALP	14.0%
Brunswick East	David Bornstein	ALP	15.0%
Albert Park	Val Doube	ALP	16.4%
Richmond	Clyde Holding	ALP	16.4%
Country seats (8)
Gippsland South	Neil McInnes	CP	0.03% v LIB
Mildura	Milton Whiting	CP	14.3%
Gippsland East	Bruce Evans	CP	17.3%
Murray Valley	Bill Baxter	CP	19.3%
Benambra	Tom Mitchell	CP	19.4%
Shepparton	Peter Ross-Edwards	CP	22.6%
Benalla	Tom Trewin	CP	24.5%
Rodney	Eddie Hann	CP	27.0%
Crossbench seats (1)
Coburg	Jack Mutton	IND	7.9% v ALP

See also

• Candidates of the 1973 Victorian state election