1989 Western Australian state election
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All 57 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly and all 34 seats to the Western Australian Legislative Council 29 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1
1
0Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 4 February 1989 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council. The Labor government, led by Premier Peter Dowding, won a third term in office against the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Barry MacKinnon.
The result was a major swing against the Labor Party, coming in the wake of revelations of dealings between Government and business that came to be known as WA Inc. The redistribution that took place in 1988, based upon the Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987 which abolished several country and outer metropolitan electorates while creating new metropolitan ones, makes it difficult to assess how Labor would have performed on the old boundaries—while it lost four seats, it gained one Liberal-held seat and won several of the new seats, so in net terms, it only lost one seat despite the massive swing and the low two-party-preferred result.
Contents
1 Results
1.1 Legislative Assembly
1.2 Legislative Council
2 Seats changing parties
3 Post-election pendulum
4 See also
5 References
Results
Legislative Assembly
Western Australian state election, 4 February 1989 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 957,939 | |||||
| Votes cast | 869,100 | Turnout | 90.73% | –0.71% | ||
| Informal votes | 63,870 | Informal | 7.35% | +4.72% | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| | Labor | 341,931 | 42.46% | –10.54% | 31 | – 1 |
| | Liberal | 344,524 | 42.79% | +1.47% | 20 | + 1 |
| | National | 37,075 | 4.60% | +0.89% | 6 | ± 0 |
| | Grey Power | 41,525 | 5.16% | +5.16% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Democrats | 11,509 | 1.43% | +0.77% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Greens | 4,246 | 0.53% | +0.53% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Other parties | 1,042 | 0.13% | –0.20% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Independent | 23,378 | 2.90% | +1.92% | 0 | ± 0 |
| Total | 805,230 | | | 57 | | |
Two-party-preferred | ||||||
| | Labor | 383,422 | 47.62% | –6.50% | ||
| | Liberal | 421,808 | 52.38% | +6.50% | ||
Legislative Council
Western Australian state election, 4 February 1989 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 957,939 | |||||
| Votes cast | 870,996 | Turnout | 90.92% | –0.50% | ||
| Informal votes | 24,061 | Informal | 2.76% | –0.53% | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| | Labor | 347,675 | 41.05% | –4.08% | 16 | + 1 |
| | Liberal | 350,053 | 41.33% | –0.64% | 15 | ± 0 |
| | National | 42,328 | 5.00% | +0.24% | 3 | – 1 |
| | Grey Power | 34,055 | 4.02% | +4.02% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Democrats | 28,113 | 3.32% | –4.81% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Greens | 27,013 | 3.19% | +3.19% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | One Australia | 7,391 | 0.87% | +0.87% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Independent | 10,307 | 1.22% | +1.21% | 0 | ± 0 |
| Total | 846,935 | | | 34 | | |
Seats changing parties
| Seat | Pre-1989 | Swing | Post-1989 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
Collie | | Labor | Tom Jones | 4.2* | 7.1 | 2.9** | Hilda Turnbull | National | |
Kingsley | | Labor | notional | N/A | N/A | 7.6 | Cheryl Edwardes | Liberal | |
Mandurah | | Labor | John Read | 9.4 | 10.5 | 1.1 | Roger Nicholls | Liberal | |
Melville | | Labor | Barry Hodge | 19.5 | 19.6 | 0.1 | Doug Shave | Liberal | |
Murray | | Liberal | notional | N/A | N/A | 0.9 | Keith Read | Labor | |
Riverton | | Labor | notional | N/A | N/A | 4.5 | Graham Kierath | Liberal | |
Roe | | Liberal | notional | N/A | N/A | 1.0*** | Ross Ainsworth | National | |
Roleystone | | Labor | notional | N/A | N/A | 1.7 | Fred Tubby | Liberal | |
Scarborough | | Labor | Graham Burkett | 10.3 | 11.9 | 1.6 | George Strickland | Liberal | |
Warren | | Labor | David Evans | –1.0 | 9.8 | 10.8 | Paul Omodei | Liberal | |
- A redistribution prior to the election had made the Labor-held seat of Warren notionally Liberal
- Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
- * figure is vs. National
- ** figure is vs. Labor
- *** figure is vs. Liberal
Post-election pendulum
LABOR SEATS (31) | |||
Marginal | |||
Geraldton | Jeff Carr | ALP | 0.2% |
Northern Rivers | Kevin Leahy | ALP | 0.6% |
Murray | Keith Read | ALP | 0.9% |
Dianella | Keith Wilson | ALP | 1.1% |
Perth | Ian Alexander | ALP | 1.2% |
Bunbury | Phil Smith | ALP | 1.5% |
Swan Hills | Gavan Troy | ALP | 1.5% |
Wanneroo | Jackie Watkins | ALP | 1.6% |
Whitford | Pam Beggs | ALP | 1.7% |
Helena | Gordon Hill | ALP | 2.6% |
Armadale | Bob Pearce | ALP | 3.1% |
Nollamara | John Kobelke | ALP | 3.7% |
Balcatta | Nick Catania | ALP | 4.0% |
Rockingham | Mike Barnett | ALP | 4.1% |
Glendalough | Carmen Lawrence | ALP | 4.8% |
Fairly safe | |||
Kenwick | Judyth Watson | ALP | 6.9% |
Mitchell | David Smith | ALP | 7.4% |
Thornlie | Yvonne Henderson | ALP | 7.4% |
Victoria Park | Geoff Gallop | ALP | 7.4% |
Ashburton | Pam Buchanan | ALP | 7.9% |
Peel | Norm Marlborough | ALP | 9.4% |
Safe | |||
Maylands | Peter Dowding | ALP | 10.1% |
Belmont | Eric Ripper | ALP | 10.5% |
Eyre | Julian Grill | ALP | 11.2% |
Kalgoorlie | Ian Taylor | ALP | 11.4% |
Pilbara | Larry Graham | ALP | 11.5% |
Fremantle | David Parker | ALP | 12.4% |
Marangaroo | Ted Cunningham | ALP | 12.4% |
Morley | Frank Donovan | ALP | 12.4% |
Cockburn | Bill Thomas | ALP | 14.6% |
Kimberley | Ernie Bridge | ALP | 19.6% |
LIBERAL/NATIONAL SEATS (26) | |||
Marginal | |||
Melville | Doug Shave | LIB | 0.1% |
Roe | Ross Ainsworth | NAT | 1.0% v LIB |
Mandurah | Roger Nicholls | LIB | 1.1% |
Scarborough | George Strickland | LIB | 1.6% |
Roleystone | Fred Tubby | LIB | 1.7% |
Moore | Bill McNee | LIB | 2.5% v NAT |
Collie | Hilda Turnbull | NAT | 2.9% |
Riverton | Graham Kierath | LIB | 4.5% |
Fairly safe | |||
Kingsley | Cheryl Edwardes | LIB | 7.6% |
Safe | |||
Albany | Leon Watt | LIB | 10.1% |
Warren | Paul Omodei | LIB | 10.8% |
South Perth | Bill Grayden | LIB | 11.3% |
Marmion | Jim Clarko | LIB | 14.3% |
Jandakot | Barry MacKinnon | LIB | 14.6% |
Stirling | Monty House | NAT | 15.1% v LIB |
Avon | Max Trenorden | NAT | 16.0% |
Cottesloe | Bill Hassell | LIB | 16.8% |
Nedlands | Richard Court | LIB | 17.3% |
Wellington | John Bradshaw | LIB | 17.5% |
Darling Range | Ian Thompson | LIB | 17.7% |
Wagin | Bob Wiese | NAT | 18.1% v LIB |
Vasse | Barry Blaikie | LIB | 18.7% |
Applecross | Richard Lewis | LIB | 19.1% |
Floreat | Andrew Mensaros | LIB | 20.3% |
Greenough | Kevin Minson | LIB | 21.3% |
Merredin | Hendy Cowan | NAT | 31.2% |
See also
- Candidates of the Western Australian state election, 1989
- Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1986–1989
- Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1989–1993
References
 Elections and referendums in Western Australia | |
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| General elections |
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| Legislative Council elections |
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| Referendums |
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