Queensland state election, 1986 Information & Queensland state election, 1986 Links at HealthHaven.com

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 1 November 1986 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

The election resulted in a seventh consecutive victory for the National Party under Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was the eleventh victory of the National Party in Queensland since it first came to office in 1957.

[edit] Overview

All three parties had high hopes for the election. The Nationals knew that they needed to increase their number of seats in order to hang onto Government (they had held a majority of one in the last Parliament, which had been increased from 82 seats to 89 for the 1986 election). The Liberals desperately needed to win back some of their losses from their disastrous performance in 1983, and Labor hoped to exploit disunity between the conservative parties to make gains.

The election was held under malapportionment boundaries, which had been redrawn earlier in the year in a manner which further advantaged the National Party.^[1]

[edit] Result

The Bjelke-Petersen Government won a commanding victory, winning an extra eight seats and thus increasing its majority. The Liberals gained two seats, but were still nowhere near making up for their 1983 losses. Labor lost two seats.

Queensland state election, 1 November 1986^[2] Legislative Assembly << 1983 — 1989 >>
Enrolled Voters		1,563,294
Votes Cast		1,426,478		Turnout	91.25%	–0.44%
Informal Votes		30,903		Informal	2.17%	+0.70%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	577,062	41.35%	–2.63%	30	– 2
	National	553,197	39.64%	+0.71%	49	+ 8
	Liberal	230,310	16.50%	+1.62%	10	+ 2
	Independent	26,259	1.88%	+0.59%	0	– 1
	Others	8,747	0.63%	–0.29%	0	± 0
Total		1,426,478			89

[edit] Significance

The 1986 election is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, it saw the National Party retain a majority of seats in the Parliament. This was only the second election in Australian history (the other being the 1983 Queensland election) in which the National Party won enough seats to form Government in its own right.

More importantly, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s victory gave him the confidence to launch the ‘Joh for PM’ campaign, which would play a major part in the 1987 federal election, and would later be a major factor in his undoing.

[edit] References

^ "Australian Political Chronicle: January-June 1986". Australian Journal of Politics and History 32 (3): 468–469. December 1986. ISSN 0004-9522.
^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 1 November 1986". http://elections.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

[0] "Australian Political Chronicle: January-June 1986". Australian Journal of Politics and History 32 (3): 468–469. December 1986. ISSN 0004-9522.

[1] Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 1 November 1986". http://elections.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

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Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Result

[edit] Significance

[edit] References