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]
1974 Queensland state election|
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Turnout | 89.42 ( 2.99 pp) |
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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
Date | Event |
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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
Queensland state election, 7 December 1974 Legislative Assembly << 1972–1977 >> |
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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 | |
Popular vote |
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| | | Labor | | 36.03% | Liberal | | 31.09% | Nationals | | 27.88% | Democratic Labor | | 1.91% | Australia | | 0.18% | Independents | | 2.83% | Others | | 0.07% |
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Seats |
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| | | Nationals | | 47.56% | Liberal | | 36.59% | Labor | | 13.41% | Independents | | 2.44% |
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Seats changing hands
- Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
Post-election pendulum
See also
References