1996 Victorian state election

The 1996 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 30 March 1996, was for the 53rd Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect all 88 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-member Legislative Council. The election took place four weeks after the 1996 federal election which swept the Labor Party from power nationally.

1996 Victorian state election

← 1992 30 March 1996 (1996-03-30) 1999 →
All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 22 (of the 44) seats in the Victorian Legislative Council
First party Second party   Leader Jeff Kennett John Brumby Party Liberal/National coalition Labor Leader since 23 April 1991 June 1993 Leader's seat Burwood Broadmeadows Last election 61 seats 27 seats Seats won 58 29 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 1,397,352 1,189,475 Percentage 50.68% 43.13% Swing 1.27 4.72 TPP 53.47% 46.53% TPP swing 2.81 2.83
Results in each electorate.
Premier before election Jeff Kennett Liberal/National coalition Elected Premier Jeff Kennett Liberal/National coalition

The Liberal–National Coalition led by Jeff Kennett and Pat McNamara was returned for a second term. A swing against the government did not produce a significant seat transfer to the Labor Party, now led by John Brumby and still recovering from its landslide defeat at the October 1992 state election. While Labor obtained significant swings in safe Coalition seats, the marginal outer suburban electorates swung further towards the government.^[1] The overall two party preferred swing was 2.8% to Labor.

The first signs of rural discontent with the Kennett government began to appear at this election. Independent candidate Russell Savage won Mildura from the Liberals, while other independents polled strongly in the Coalition-held electorates of Benalla, Gippsland East, Polwarth and Rodney.^[2]

Results

See also: Post-election pendulum for the 1996 Victorian state election

Legislative Assembly

See also: Results of the 1996 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly)

Victorian state election, 30 March 1996^[3]^[4] Legislative Assembly << 1992–1999 >>
Enrolled voters		3,000,076
Votes cast		2,822,531		Turnout	94.08	–1.05
Informal votes		64,964		Informal	2.30	–1.51
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal	1,212,933	43.99	–0.17	49	– 3
	Labor	1,189,475	43.13	+4.72	29	+ 2
	National	184,419	6.69	–1.14	9	± 0
	Natural Law	51,231	1.86	+0.54	0	± 0
	Call to Australia	6,222	0.23	+0.19	0	± 0
	Other	13,964	0.51	–0.22	0	± 0
	Independent	99,426	3.61	–3.90	1	+ 1
Total		2,757,567			88
Two-party-preferred
	Liberal/National	1,472,365	53.47	–2.83
	Labor	1,281,418	46.53	+2.83

Legislative Council

See also: Results of the 1996 Victorian state election (Legislative Council)

 

Results for the Legislative Council.

Victorian state election, 30 March 1996^[5] Legislative Council
Enrolled voters		3,000,076
Votes cast		2,826,467		Turnout	94.21	–1.01
Informal votes		72,800		Informal	2.58	–1.53
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held
	Liberal	1,208,168	43.87	+0.38	14	28
	Labor	1,114,843	40.49	+1.93	5	10
	National	182,494	6.63	–2.11	3	6
	Democrats	157,798	5.73	+5.42	0	0
	Democratic Labour	43,553	1.58	–2.96	0	0
	Natural Law	14,129	0.51	–0.11	0	0
	Call to Australia	5,576	0.20	+0.12	0	0
	Friendly Migrant Workers	1,339	0.05	+0.05	0	0
	Independent	25,767	0.94	–2.15	0	0
Total		2,753,667			22	44
Two-party-preferred
	Liberal/National	1,482,617	53.96	–2.69
	Labor	1,264,879	46.04	+2.69

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1996				Swing	Post-1996
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Bendigo West		Liberal	Max Turner	1.1	-2.8	1.7	Bob Cameron	Labor
Carrum		Labor	Mal Sandon	0.9	-1.7	0.8	David Lean	Liberal
Essendon		Liberal	Ian Davis	1.2	-4.6	3.6	Judy Maddigan	Labor
Ivanhoe		Liberal	Vin Heffernan	4.3	-5.9	1.6	Craig Langdon	Labor
Mildura		Liberal	Craig Bildstien	20.9	-22.3	1.4	Russell Savage	Independent

Key dates

Date	Event
5 March 1996	The Legislative Council was prorogued and the Legislative Assembly was dissolved.^[6]
5 March 1996	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.^[6]
8 March 1996	The electoral rolls were closed.
15 March 1996	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
30 March 1996	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
3 April 1996	The Kennett Ministry was re-constituted.^[7]
19 April 1996	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

See also

• Candidates of the 1996 Victorian state election
• Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1992–1996
• Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1996–1999

References

1. Economou N. & Costar B.J. 'The Electoral Contest and Coalition Dominance 1992-1998' in Costar B.J & Economou N. (eds) The Kennett Revolution, UNSW Press, Sydney, 1999, p. 124
2. "1996 Victorian Legislative Assembly elections". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive.
3. Hughes, Colin A. (2002). A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1985-1999. Sydney: Federation Press. p. 318.
4. Antony Green (December 1998). "1996 Victorian State Election - Summary of Results" (PDF). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
5. Hughes (2002) p.319.
6. "Proclamation". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 5 March 1996. p. 1996:S17 (Special).
7. "Ministers of the Crown". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 3 April 1996. p. 1996:S33 (Special).