1974 Queensland state election
← 1972 7 December 1974 (1974-12-07) 1977 →
All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout89.42 (Decrease 2.99 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen Perc Tucker
Party Country–Liberal Coalition Labor
Leader since 8 August 1968 1 July 1974 (1974-07-01)
Leader's seat Barambah Townsville West
(lost seat)
Last election 47 seats, 42.23% 33 seats, 46.75%
Seats won 69 11
Seat change Increase 22 Decrease 22
Popular vote 615,770 376,187
Percentage 58.97% 36.03%
Swing Increase 16.75 Decrease 10.72
Premier before election

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National/Liberal coalition

Elected Premier

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National/Liberal coalition

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]

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
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

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1974

Queensland state election, 7 December 1974
Legislative Assembly
<< 1972–1977 >>

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
Labor
 
 36.03%
Liberal
 
 31.09%
Nationals
 
 27.88%
Democratic Labor
 
 1.91%
Australia
 
 0.18%
Independents
 
 2.83%
Others
 
 0.07%
Seats
Nationals
 
 47.56%
Liberal
 
 36.59%
Labor
 
 13.41%
Independents
 
 2.44%

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1974 Swing Post-1974
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Albert   Labor Bill D'Arcy 4.1 -14.2 10.1 Ivan Gibbs National  
Baroona   Labor Pat Hanlon 14.1 -15.8 1.7 Dennis Young Liberal  
Barron River   Labor Bill Wood 3.4 -4.1 0.7 Martin Tenni National  
Belmont   Labor Fred Newton 14.9 -18.5 3.6 David Byrne Liberal  
Belyando   Labor Eugene O'Donnell 1.3 -8.7 7.4 Vince Lester National  
Brisbane   Labor Brian Davis 9.7 -10.9 1.2 Harold Lowes Liberal  
Cook   Labor Bob Scott 4.2 -6.8 2.6 Eric Deeral National  
Everton   Labor Gerry Jones 8.3 -11.0 2.7 Brian Lindsay Liberal  
Ipswich West   Labor Vi Jordan 11.5 -12.0 0.5 Albert Hales National  
Isis   Labor Jim Blake 8.3 -12.4 4.1 Lin Powell National  
Mount Isa   Labor Alex Inch 16.4 -19.9 3.5 Angelo Bertoni National  
Mourilyan   Labor Peter Moore 7.2 -8.9 1.7 Vicky Kippin National  
Pine Rivers   Labor Kenneth Leese 6.8 -18.7 11.9 Rob Akers Liberal  
Redlands   Labor Ted Baldwin 5.1 -14.8 9.7 John Goleby National  
Salisbury   Labor Doug Sherrington 16.7 -22.1 5.4 Rosemary Kyburz Liberal  
South Brisbane   Labor Fred Bromley 11.0 -16.0 5.0 Colin Lamont Liberal  
Stafford   Labor Roy Harvey 11.0 -16.0 5.0 Terry Gygar Liberal  
Toowoomba North   Labor Ray Bousen 14.9 -17.2 2.3 John Lockwood Liberal  
Toowoomba South   Labor Peter Wood 6.9 -14.6 7.7 John Warner National  
Townsville West   Labor Perc Tucker 2.2 -5.8 3.6 Max Hooper National  
Warrego   Labor Jack Aiken 13.4 -14.4 1.0 Neil Turner National  
Wynnum   Labor Edward Harris 14.5 -14.6 0.1 Bill Lamond National  

Post-election pendulum

National/Liberal seats (69)
Marginal
Wynnum Bill Lamond NAT 0.1%
Ipswich West Albert Hales NAT 0.5%
Barron River Martin Tenni NAT 0.7%
Warrego Neil Turner NAT 1.0%
Brisbane Harold Lowes LIB 1.2%
Baroona Dennis Young LIB 1.7%
Mourilyan Vicky Kippin NAT 1.7%
Cooroora Gordon Simpson NAT 2.1% v LIB
Toowoomba North John Lockwood LIB 2.3%
Cook Eric Deeral NAT 2.6%
Everton Brian Lindsay LIB 2.7%
Mount Isa Angelo Bertoni NAT 3.5%
Belmont David Byrne LIB 3.6%
Townsville West Max Hooper NAT 3.6%
Isis Lin Powell NAT 4.1%
South Brisbane Colin Lamont LIB 5.0%
Salisbury Rosemary Kyburz LIB 5.4%
Maryborough Gilbert Alison LIB 5.9%
Fairly safe
Belyando Vince Lester NAT 7.4%
Toowoomba South John Warner NAT 7.7%
Redlands John Goleby NAT 9.7%
Safe
Albert Ivan Gibbs NAT 10.1%
Hinchinbrook Ted Row NAT 10.4%
Kurilpa Sam Doumany LIB 11.0%
Stafford Terry Gygar LIB 11.7%
Pine Rivers Rob Akers LIB 11.9%
Gregory Bill Glasson NAT 12.0%
Redcliffe Jim Houghton NAT 12.1%
Whitsunday Ron Camm NAT 12.2%
Murrumba Des Frawley NAT 13.7%
Flinders Bob Katter NAT 13.8%
Nundah William Knox LIB 13.8%
Mulgrave Roy Armstrong NAT 14.8%
Ithaca Col Miller LIB 15.4%
Wavell Arthur Crawford LIB 15.4%
Windsor Bob Moore LIB 15.7%
Merthyr Don Lane LIB 16.6%
Townsville Norman Scott-Young LIB 17.0%
Chatsworth Bill Hewitt LIB 17.7%
South Coast Russ Hinze NAT 17.7%
Yeronga Norm Lee LIB 17.9%
Ashgrove John Greenwood LIB 18.5%
Clayfield John Murray LIB 18.5%
Mount Gravatt Geoff Chinchen LIB 19.0%
Ipswich Llewellyn Edwards LIB 19.1%
Mirani Tom Newbery NAT 19.6%
Very safe
Greenslopes Keith Hooper LIB 20.2%
Burdekin Val Bird NAT 20.3%
Callide Lindsay Hartwig NAT 20.8%
Carnarvon Peter McKechnie NAT 21.6%
Toowong Charles Porter LIB 21.6%
Mansfield Bill Kaus LIB 22.2%
Surfers Paradise Bruce Small NAT 22.5%
Landsborough Mike Ahern NAT 22.6%
Roma Ken Tomkins NAT 22.6%
Sherwood John Herbert LIB 22.7%
Fassifern Selwyn Muller NAT 23.0%
Aspley Fred Campbell LIB 23.1%
Gympie Max Hodges NAT 23.6%
Burnett Claude Wharton NAT 24.1%
Warwick David Cory NAT 24.8%
Balonne Don Neal NAT 25.4%
Lockyer Gordon Chalk LIB 25.6%
Mount Coot-tha Bill Lickiss LIB 26.9%
Auburn Neville Hewitt NAT 27.9%
Somerset Bill Gunn NAT 28.3%
Condamine Vic Sullivan NAT 29.3%
Barambah Joh Bjelke-Petersen NAT 33.4%
Cunningham Tony Elliott NAT 36.5%
Labor seats (11)
Marginal
Bulimba Jack Houston ALP 1.7%
Wolston Evan Marginson ALP 2.3%
Bundaberg Lou Jensen ALP 2.5%
Sandgate Harold Dean ALP 3.5%
Rockhampton Keith Wright ALP 3.6%
Nudgee Jack Melloy ALP 4.1%
Archerfield Kevin Hooper ALP 5.0%
Fairly safe
Rockhampton North Les Yewdale ALP 6.1%
Lytton Tom Burns ALP 6.7%
Cairns Ray Jones ALP 7.3%
Safe
Port Curtis Martin Hanson ALP 15.7%
Crossbench seats (2)
Townsville South Tom Aikens IND 5.8 v ALP
Mackay Ed Casey IND 20.5 v NAT

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Parliament of Queensland, Legislative Assembly election results for 7 December 1974". Australian Politics and Elections Archive 1856-2018. University of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. ^ Bowe, William (26 March 2012). "The hole where Queensland Labor used to be". Crikey. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  3. ^ "250 will contest poll: Premier tips a 'smashing win' on December 7". The Courier-Mail. 24 October 1974. p. 1.
  4. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 2 November 1974. p. 247:887.
  5. ^ "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette. 2 November 1974. p. 247:889.
  6. ^ "Extraordinary". Queensland Government Gazette. 23 December 1974. p. 247:1629–1632.
  7. ^ "Notices of Results of General Election". Queensland Government Gazette. 11 January 1975. p. 248:37–51.
  8. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 23 January 1975. p. 248:249.
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