The 1979 Tasmanian state election was held on 28 July 1979 in the

Australian state The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

to elect 35 members of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

. The election used the Hare-Clark

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

system — seven members were elected from each of five electorates. The quota required for election was 12.5% in each division. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Doug Lowe, won a third term in office against the opposition

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, led by Max Bingham.

Background

Bill Neilson William Arthur Neilson AC (27 August 1925 – 9 November 1989) was Premier of Tasmania from 1975 to 1977. Born in Hobart, and educated at Ogilvie High School, Neilson became a postman before entering politics. He married Jill Benjamin, daugh ...

, leader of the Labor Party and

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

, had retired on 1 December 1977 and been replaced by Doug Lowe. The

United Tasmania Group The United Tasmania Group (UTG) was an Australian political party based in the state of Tasmania, which is generally acknowledged as the world's first green party to contest elections. The party was formed on 23 March 1972, during a meeting o ...

, which had contested the two previous elections, did not field any candidates for the 1979 election. Instead a new party, the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

, founded by

Don Chipp Donald Leslie Chipp, AO (21 August 1925 – 28 August 2006) was an Australian politician who was the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats, leading the party from 1977 to 1986. He began his career as a member of the Liberal Party, winnin ...

in 1977, emerged as the most significant minor party.

Results

The Labor Party won the election, increasing its majority in the House of Assembly from one seat to five. Doug Lowe received the highest personal vote ever in the House of Assembly: 24,971 or 51.2% of the vote in the seat of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

Distribution of seats

Aftermath

Max Bingham resigned as opposition leader after losing his second election, and was replaced by

Geoff Pearsall Geoffrey Alan "Geoff" Pearsall (born 15 September 1946) is a former Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1969 until 1988 and as Leader of the Opposition (1979–1 ...

. The election of three Labor MPs for Denison ( Julian Amos, John Devine and

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is one of the List of best-selling books#Bet ...

) was ruled invalid, due to the enforcement of a previously ignored rule limiting campaign expenditure to $1,500. A

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was arranged for Denison in February 1980. The placement of the Labor candidates on the ballot paper, which placed Deputy Premier Neil Batt fourth, was believed to have led to the introduction of the

Robson Rotation Robson Rotation is an Australian term for the practice of rotating the order of candidates' names during the printing of the ballot papers for an election, so that the advantage of being listed near the start of the ballot is spread equally amo ...

method of randomising ballot ordering.Bowe, William
Tasmanian election: Denison form guide
Crikey.com.au, 13 March 2006.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tasmanian state election 1979 1970s in Tasmania Tasmanian state election Elections in Tasmania Tasmanian state election