Australian federal election, 1990

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Federal election major party leaders
< 1987 1990 1993 >
Labor Bob Hawke Prime Minister Parliament: 10 years Leader since: 1983 Division: Wills WIN
Liberal Andrew Peacock Opposition leader Parliament: 24 years Leader since: 1989 Division: Kooyong

Federal elections were held in Australia on 24 March 1990. All 148 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Bob Hawke defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by Andrew Peacock with coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by Charles Blunt.

**House of Reps (IRV) — 1990-93 — Turnout 95.31% (CV) — Informal 3.19%**
Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
Australian Labor Party	3,904,138	39.44	-6.39	78	-8
Liberal Party of Australia	3,468,570	35.04	+0.48	55	+12
Australian Democrats	1,114,216	11.26	+5.22	0	0
National Party of Australia	833,557	8.42	-3.10	14	-5
Independents	252,116	2.55	+0.94	1	+1
Other	327,077	3.30	+2.85	0	0
Total	9,899,674			148
Australian Labor Party	WIN	49.90	-0.93	78	-8
Liberal/National coalition		50.10	+0.93	69	+7

Independents: Ted Mack

**Senate (STV GV) — 1990-93 — Turnout 95.81% (CV) — Informal 3.40%**
Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held
Australian Labor Party	3,813,547	38.41	-4.42	15	32
Liberal/National (Joint Ticket)	2,429,552	24.47	+10.70	5
Liberal Party of Australia	1,445,872	14.56	-6.41	12	28
Australian Democrats	1,253,807	12.63	+4.15	5	8
National Party of Australia	258,164	2.60	-4.49	1	5
Australian Greens	201,618	2.03	*	0	0
WA Greens	76,381	0.77	*	1	1
Country Liberal Party	29,045	0.29	+0.08	1	1
Other	421,779	4.25	-0.56	0	0
Harradine Group					1
Total	9,929,765			40	76

The 1990 election saw a swing to the Coalition as Australia was suffering from the late 80's/early 90's recession, but Labor won a fourth successive electoral victory with Hawke as leader, a level of political success which no previous Labor government or Labor leader had enjoyed. This was Bob Hawke's last election as Prime Minister and Australian Labor Party leader as he was replaced by Paul Keating in December 1991.

John Howard lost the 1987 election to Hawke, and Andrew Peacock was elected Deputy Leader in a show of party unity. But Peacock's supporters began to plot against Howard, and in May 1989 they mounted a party room coup which returned Peacock to the leadership. Peacock, now 50, cultivated a new mature image, enhanced by a second marriage to Margaret St George. Hawke's Treasurer, Paul Keating, ridiculed him by asking: "Can the soufflé rise twice?" and calling him "all feathers and no meat." Although Hawke's government was in political trouble, with high interest rates and a financial crisis in Victoria, Peacock failed to defeat Hawke at the 1990 elections and subsequently resigned.

This election saw the peak of the Australian Democrats' popularity under Janine Haines, and a WA Greens candidate won a seat in the Australian Senate for the first time - although the successful candidate, Jo Vallentine, was already a two-term senator, having previously won a seat for the Nuclear Disarmament Party at the 1984 election, and the Vallentine Peace Group at the 1987 election. As of 2008, this has been the only election where a third party (excluding splinter state parties and the Nationals) has won more than 10% in an Australian federal election.