Australian federal election, 1987
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| Australian federal election, 1987 All 150 seats of the Australian House of Representatives and all 76 seats of the Australian Senate |
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| 11 July 1987 | ||||
| Government | Opposition | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Leader | Bob Hawke | John Howard | ||
| Party | Labor | Liberal/National coalition | ||
| Leader since | 3 February 1983 | 5 September 1985 | ||
| Leader's seat | Wills | Bennelong | ||
| Last election | 82 seats | 66 seats | ||
| Seats won | 86 | 62 | ||
| Seat change | +4 | -4 | ||
| Percentage | 50.83% | 49.17% | ||
| Swing | -0.94 | +0.94 | ||
Federal elections were held in Australia on 11 July 1987, following the granting of a double dissolution on 5 June by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen. Consequently, all 148 seats in the House of Representatives as well as all 76 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by John Howard and the National Party of Australia led by Ian Sinclair.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Australian Labor Party | 4,222,431 | 45.76 | -1.79 | 86 | +4 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 3,175,262 | 34.41 | +0.35 | 43 | -2 | |
| National Party of Australia | 1,060,976 | 11.50 | +0.87 | 19 | -2 | |
| Australian Democrats | 554,017 | 6.00 | +0.55 | 0 | 0 | |
| Country Liberal Party | 21,668 | 0.23 | -0.09 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other | 189,975 | 2.06 | +0.07 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 9,227,772 | 148 | ||||
| Australian Labor Party | WIN | 50.83 | -0.94 | 86 | +4 | |
| Liberal/National coalition | 49.17 | +0.94 | 62 | -4 |
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 4,013,860 | 42.83 | +0.66 | 32 | 32 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 1,965,180 | 20.97 | +0.38 | 23 | 26 | |
| Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) | 1,289,888 | 13.76 | +1.05 | 5 | ||
| Australian Democrats | 794,107 | 8.47 | +0.85 | 7 | 7 | |
| National Party of Australia | 664,394 | 7.09 | +1.16 | 5 | 7 | |
| Call to Australia Party | 136,825 | 1.46 | -0.36 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nuclear Disarmament Party | 102,480 | 1.09 | -6.14 | 1 | 1 | |
| Vallentine Peace Group | 40,048 | 0.43 | * | 1 | 1 | |
| Harradine Group | 37,037 | 0.40 | +0.14 | 1 | 1 | |
| Country Liberal Party | 19,970 | 0.21 | -0.10 | 1 | 1 | |
| Other | 307,892 | 3.29 | +1.93 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 9,371,681 | 76 | 76 |
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Note: As this was a double-dissolution election, all Senate seats were contested.
The 1987 federal election was called 6 months early by Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke to capitalise on disunity in the opposition. The trigger for the double dissolution was legislation for the Australia Card, although it did not figure prominently in the campaign. Opposition Leader John Howard had dismissed his predecessor Andrew Peacock from the shadow ministry in March, following unfortunate remarks by Peacock to Victorian state opposition leader Jeff Kennett in an infamous car phone conversation. Howard, who had succeeded Peacock in 1985, was fighting a war on two fronts - the origin of his oft-repeated remark that, in politics, "disunity is death".
This election was the last time the Liberals and Nationals competed directly against each other in a federal election. This was due to the abortive Joh for Canberra campaign of Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Although Bjelke-Petersen did not run, the resulting schism between the Nationals and Liberals led to several three-cornered contests. Labor campaigned strongly on the disunity among the opposition parties. The Labor result of 86 seats was the party's highest ever (the total number of seats was expanded by 23 in 1984).
[edit] References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- AEC 2PP vote
- AustralianPolitics.com election details
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