1998 Australian Capital Territory general election
Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 21 February 1998. The incumbent Liberal Party, led by Kate Carnell, was challenged by the Labor Party, led by Wayne Berry. Candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single transferable vote method, known as the Hare-Clark system. The result was another hung parliament. However the Liberals, with the largest representation in the 17-member unicameral Assembly, formed Government with the support of independents Michael Moore, Paul Osborne, and Dave Rugendyke. Carnell was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the fourth Assembly on 19 March 1998.[1]
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All 17 seats of the unicameral Legislative Assembly 9 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 91.8 ( 2.3 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subsequent to the election and during the life of the fourth Assembly, on 18 October 2000, Carnell stepped down as Chief Minister and was replaced by Gary Humphries.
This would be the last time the Liberal Party (or the Coalition) would form government at a state or territory level after an election until the 2008 Western Australian state election. Also, this is the last time the Liberal Party has formed government after an election in the ACT.
Key dates
- Close of party registration: 15 January 1998
- Pre-election period commenced/nominations opened: 16 January 1998
- Rolls closed: 23 January 1998
- Nominations closed: 29 January 1998
- Nominations declared/ballot paper order determined: 30 January 1998
- Pre-poll voting commenced: 2 February 1998
- Polling day: 21 February 1998
- Poll declared: 17 March 1998
Candidates
Sitting members at the time of the election are in bold. Tickets that elected at least one MLA are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are indicated by an asterisk (*).
Greens
Brindabella
Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Paul Osborne Independent Group was defending one seat.
| Labor Candidates | Liberal Candidates | Greens Candidates | Democrats Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
|
John Hargreaves* |
Geoff Didier |
Sue Ellerman |
Charlie Bell |
| Osborne Candidates | CDP Candidates | Ungrouped | |
|
Linda Moore |
Stephen Carter |
Tom Cornwell (Ind) |
Ginninderra
Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Greens were defending one seat.
| Labor Candidates | Liberal Candidates | Greens Candidates | Democrats Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wayne Berry* |
Terry Birtles |
Jennifer Palma |
Alex Allars |
| Osborne Candidates | CDP Candidates | PLP Candidates | Ungrouped |
|
Hilary Back |
John Richard Miller |
Renee Brooks |
Alice Chu (Ind) |
Molonglo
Seven seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending three seats. The Greens were defending one seat. The Moore Independents were defending one seat.
| Labor Candidates | Liberal Candidates | Greens Candidates | Democrats Candidates | Moore Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Simon Corbell* |
Greg Aouad |
Miko Kirschbaum |
John Davey |
Joan Kellett |
| Osborne Candidates | CDP Candidates | PLP Candidates | DSP Candidates | Ungrouped |
|
Chris Carlile |
Terry Craig |
Robin Bartrum |
Sue Bull |
Pamela Ayson (Ind) |
Results
|
Australian Capital Territory general election, 21 February 1998 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 205,248 | |||||
| Votes cast | 188,484 | Turnout | 91.8% | +2.3 | ||
| Informal votes | 8,134 | Informal | 4.3% | -1.9 | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Liberal | 68,221 | 37.8 | -2.7 | 7 | ±0 | |
| Labor | 49,798 | 27.6 | -4.0 | 6 | ±0 | |
| Osborne Independent Group | 16,426 | 9.1 | +9.1 | 2 | +2 | |
| Greens | 16,417 | 9.1 | +0.0 | 1 | -1 | |
| Democrats | 10,786 | 6.0 | +2.1 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent | 9,232 | 5.1 | -0.5 | 0 | -1 | |
| Moore Independents | 5,261 | 2.9 | -4.1 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Christian Democrats | 3,027 | 1.7 | +1.7 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Democratic Socialist | 745 | 0.4 | +0.4 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Progressive Labour | 437 | 0.2 | +0.2 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Total | 180,350 | 17 | ||||
| Results by electorate | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brindabella | Ginninderra | Molonglo | ||||||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |
| Liberal | 20,110 | 37.1 | 2 | 16,741 | 33.2 | 2 | 31,370 | 41.5 | 3 | |
| Labor | 15,463 | 28.5 | 2 | 14,931 | 29.6 | 2 | 19,404 | 25.6 | 2 | |
| Osborne Independent Group | 8,804 | 16.2 | 1 | 4,856 | 9.6 | 1 | 2,766 | 3.7 | 0 | |
| Greens | 4,383 | 8.1 | 0 | 4,384 | 8.7 | 0 | 7,650 | 10.1 | 1 | |
| Democrats | 3,336 | 6.2 | 0 | 3,614 | 7.2 | 0 | 3,836 | 5.1 | 0 | |
| Independent | 1,244 | 2.3 | 0 | 4,745 | 9.4 | 0 | 3,243 | 4.3 | 0 | |
| Moore Independents | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5,261 | 7.0 | 1 | |
| Christian Democrats | 911 | 1.7 | 0 | 922 | 1.8 | 0 | 1,194 | 1.6 | 0 | |
| Democratic Socialist | — | — | — | — | — | — | 745 | 1.0 | 0 | |
| Progressive Labour | — | — | — | 240 | 0.5 | 0 | 197 | 0.3 | 0 | |
| Distribution of seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electorate | Seats held | ||||||
| Brindabella | O | ||||||
| Ginninderra | O | ||||||
| Molonglo | M | ||||||
M - Moore Independents
O - Osborne Independent Group
See also
References
- "Legislative Assembly for the ACT - Week 1". ACT Hansard. ACT Legislative Assembly. 19 March 1998. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
- "Election timetable". ACT Legislative Assembly election - 1998. ACT Electoral Commission. 1998. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- "Voting data". 1998 Election. ACT Electoral Commission. 1998. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
