1974 Queensland state election

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]

1974 Queensland state election
7 December 1974 (1974-12-07)
All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout89.42 ( 2.99 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen Perc Tucker
Party National/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 33 seats
Seats won 69 seats 11 seats
Seat change 22 22
Percentage 58.97% 36.03%
Swing 16.75 10.72
Premier before election

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National/Liberal coalition

 Elected Premier

Joh Bjelke-Petersen
National/Liberal coalition

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.

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

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  
  • Members in italics did not recontest their seats.

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%
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. "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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