1977 Queensland state election

1977 Queensland state election

12 November 1977 (1977-11-12)
All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	91.35 ( 1.93 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen Tom Burns Party National–Liberal Coalition Labor Leader since 8 August 1968 19 December 1974 (1974-12-19) Leader's seat Barambah Lytton Last election 69 seats, 58.97% 11 seats, 36.03% Seats won 59 23 Seat change 10 12 Popular vote 569,753 466,021 Percentage 52.37% 42.83% Swing 5.14 6.80
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 12 November 1977 to elect the 82 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

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

Issues

The major issue in the election was law and order. In 1977, the Government had passed a law making it illegal to march in the street without a permit, which were rarely given. The Coalition argued that this prevented traffic disruption and other inconveniences to the people of Brisbane, while the ALP claimed that it was a curtailment of civil liberties. Joh Bjelke-Petersen also no longer had the Whitlam Labor Government (which was unpopular in Queensland) to use as a campaigning tool.

Key dates

Date	Event
10 October 1977	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved.
10 October 1977	Writs were issued by the Governor, James Ramsay, to proceed with an election.
17 October 1977	Close of nominations.
12 November 1977	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
16 December 1977	The Bjelke-Petersen Ministry was reconstituted.
20 December 1977	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
14 January 1978	Deadline for return of the writs.
28 March 1978	Parliament resumed for business.

Result

The Labor Party gained twelve seats from the Coalition and Independents, making something of a recovery from its disastrous 1974 performance. Even so, the Coalition retained a commanding majority in the Legislative Assembly.

For the first time, the National Party won more votes than the Liberal party (an electoral malapportionment had allowed the Nationals to win more seats than the Liberals previously). The Liberal Party had begun to decline.

The Democratic Labor Party had ceased to exist. The Australian Democrats contested their first election in Queensland.

Results

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1977

Queensland state election, 12 November 1977 Legislative Assembly << 1974–1980 >>
Enrolled voters		1,209,494
Votes cast		1,104,898		Turnout	91.35%	+1.93%
Informal votes		16,887		Informal	1.53%	–0.05%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	466,021	42.83%	+6.80%	23	+12
	Nationals	295,355	27.15%	–0.73%	35	– 4
	Liberal	274,398	25.22%	–5.87%	24	– 6
	Democrats	17,571	1.61%	+1.61%	0	± 0
	Progress	16,327	1.50%	+1.50%	0	± 0
	Independent	18,339	1.69%	–1.22%	0	– 2
Total		1,088,011			82

Popular vote Labor   42.83% Nationals   27.15% Liberal   25.22% Democrats   1.61% Progress   1.50% Independents   1.69%

Seats Nationals   42.68% Liberal   29.27% Labor   28.05%

New parties in this election were the Australian Democrats, who stood 12 candidates, and the Progress Party, who stood 27 candidates.

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1977				Swing	Post-1977
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Brisbane Central		Liberal	notional - new seat	2.8	-8.2	5.4	Brian Davis	Labor
Chatsworth		Liberal	Bill Hewitt	5.7	-6.8	1.1	Terry Mackenroth	Labor
Cook		National	Eric Deeral	2.6	-6.5	3.9	Bob Scott	Labor
Everton		Liberal	Brian Lindsay	9.2	-10.2	1.0	Glen Milliner	Labor
Ipswich West		National	Albert Hales	1.1	-5.4	4.3	David Underwood	Labor
Maryborough		Liberal	Gilbert Alison	5.0	-5.2	0.2	Brendan Hansen	Labor
Murrumba		National	Des Frawley	9.7	-11.1	1.4	Joe Kruger	Labor
South Brisbane		Liberal	Colin Lamont	4.1	-7.3	3.2	Jim Fouras	Labor
Southport		National	notional - new seat	19.4	-29.2	9.8	Peter White	Liberal
Surfers Paradise		National	Bruce Small	23.0	-28.7	5.7	Bruce Bishop	Liberal
Townsville South		Independent	Tom Aikens	0.6	-1.6	1.0	Alex Wilson	Labor
Woodridge		Liberal	notional - new seat	7.8	-11.9	4.1	Bill D'Arcy	Labor
Wynnum		National	Bill Lamond	0.1	-4.2	4.1	Eric Shaw	Labor

• Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
• In addition, the Independent member for Mackay, Ed Casey re-joined the Labor party before the election and retained the seat.

Post-election pendulum

Labor seats (23)
Marginal
Maryborough	Brendan Hansen	ALP	0.2% v LIB
Everton	Glen Milliner	ALP	1.0% v LIB
Townsville South	Alex Wilson	ALP	1.0% v IND
Chatsworth	Terry Mackenroth	ALP	1.1% v LIB
Murrumba	Joe Kruger	ALP	1.4%
South Brisbane	Jim Fouras	ALP	3.2% v LIB
Cook	Bob Scott	ALP	3.9%
Woodridge	Bill D'Arcy	ALP	4.1% v LIB
Wynnum	Eric Shaw	ALP	4.1%
Ipswich West	David Underwood	ALP	4.3%
Bundaberg	Jim Blake	ALP	4.4%
Brisbane Central	Brian Davis	ALP	5.4% v LIB
Fairly safe
Sandgate	Nev Warburton	ALP	8.0%
Nudgee	Ken Vaughan	ALP	8.7% v LIB
Bulimba	Jack Houston	ALP	9.8% v LIB
Safe
Wolston	Bob Gibbs	ALP	10.6% v LIB
Cairns	Ray Jones	ALP	11.4%
Port Curtis	Bill Prest	ALP	11.8%
Mackay	Ed Casey	ALP	11.9%
Rockhampton North	Les Yewdale	ALP	16.2% v LIB
Lytton	Tom Burns	ALP	17.0%
Rockhampton	Keith Wright	ALP	17.3% v LIB
Archerfield	Kevin Hooper	ALP	18.4% v LIB

See also

• Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1977
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1974–1977
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1977–1980