Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 17 May 1969 to elect the 78 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.[1]
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All 78 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 40 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 91.77 ( 1.50 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Country-Liberal Coalition won its fifth consecutive victory since it won government in 1957. It was also the Coalition's first victory under new leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen after the brief premierships of Gordon Chalk and Jack Pizzey, who in turn had succeeded Frank Nicklin when he had retired the previous year.
The election campaign was characterised by tension between the governing coalition partners.
Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 8 April 1969 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved and writs were issued.[2] |
| 17 April 1969 | Close of nominations.[3] |
| 17 May 1969 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 29 May 1969 | The Bjelke-Petersen Ministry was reconstituted.[4] |
| 21 June 1969 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared.[5] |
| 30 June 1969 | Deadline for return of the writs. |
| 5 August 1969 | Parliament resumed for business.[6] |
Candidates
By the close of nominations on 17 April, 247 candidates had nominated—two more than at the 1966 election. The Courier-Mail reported the following split of candidates by party:[7]
| Party | Candidates |
|---|---|
| Labor | 77 |
| DLP | 61 |
| Liberal | 44 |
| Country | 39 |
| Social Credit | 3 |
| Communist | 2 |
| NQP (Aikens) | 1 |
| Independent | 20 |
Six of the 78 seats—Albert, Bundaberg, Cairns, South Coast, Toowoomba West and Townsville North—had three-cornered contests between the Labor, Liberal and Country parties.[7]
Results
The election resulted in another win for the Coalition, but a strengthening of the Country Party's position vis-a-vis the Liberal Party. Labor gained back two seats held by ex-Labor ministers who had defected in the 1957 split when both retired, and gained one seat off each of the coalition partners; however, the Country party gained the seat of Burdekin following the conservative independent incumbent's retirement. Labor retained Isis, which it had gained unexpectedly at a November 1968 by-election from the Country Party following Premier Jack Pizzey's death.
Queensland state election, 17 May 1969 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 945,583 | |||||
| Votes cast | 867,743 | Turnout | 91.77% | -1.50% | ||
| Informal votes | 15,566 | Informal | 1.79% | +0.16% | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Labor | 383,388 | 44.99% | +1.15% | 31 | + 4 | |
| Liberal | 201,765 | 23.68% | -1.81% | 19 | – 1 | |
| Country | 179,125 | 21.02% | +1.73% | 26 | ± 0 | |
| Queensland Labor | 61,661 | 7.24% | +0.99% | 1 | ± 0 | |
| Social Credit | 1,295 | 0.15% | +0.15% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Communist | 476 | 0.06% | +0.06% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Independent | 22,497 | 2.64% | -2.12% | 1 | – 3 | |
| Total | 852,177 | 78 | ||||
Seats changing hands
| Seat | Pre-1969 | Swing | Post-1969 | ||||||
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
| Bundaberg | Independent | Ted Walsh | 3.5 v ALP | N/A | 8.1 v CP | Lou Jensen | Labor | ||
| Burdekin | Independent | Arthur Coburn | 8.5 v LIB | N/A | 4.2 v ALP | Val Bird | Country | ||
| Cook | Independent | Bunny Adair | 5.2 v ALP | N/A | 6.1 v CP | Bill Wood | Labor | ||
| Logan | Country | Dick Wood | 3.2 | -4.8 | 1.6 | Ted Baldwin | Labor | ||
| Rockhampton South | Liberal | Rex Pilbeam | 6.7 | -8.9 | 2.2 | Keith Wright | Labor | ||
- Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
- In addition, Labor retained the seat of Isis, which it had won from the Country party at the 1968 by-election.