1985 Victorian state election
The 1985 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 2 March 1985, was for the 50th 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. Since the previous election, the number of members of the Legislative Assembly was increased by 7 to 88.
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All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 45 seats needed for a majority and 22 (of the 44) seats in the Victorian Legislative Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Results in each electorate. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lindsay Thompson, who led the Liberal Party to a defeat at the 1982 election with a 17-seat swing against it, resigned the leadership of the party on 5 November 1982. He was succeeded by Jeff Kennett. At the election, the incumbent Labor Party government led by John Cain Jr. maintained its electoral support, though the Liberal Party did increase the number of seats. It was the first time since Federation that a Labor government had been reelected in Victoria. Although the Labor Party lost seats in the lower house it gained a majority in the upper house picking up 4 seats to hold 23 up from 19 at the last election meaning the Liberal/National Coalition no longer had sway on government policy.
Results
Legislative Assembly
Victorian state election, 2 March 1985[1] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enrolled voters | 2,641,477 | |||||
Votes cast | 2,462,226 | Turnout | 93.21 | −0.76 | ||
Informal votes | 66,107 | Informal | 2.68 | +0.07 | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
Labor | 1,198,262 | 50.01 | 0.00 | 47 | -2 | |
Liberal | 1,003,003 | 41.86 | +3.53 | 31 | +7 | |
National | 174,727 | 7.29 | +2.32 | 10 | +2 | |
Independent | 12,828 | 0.54 | -0.51 | 0 | ±0 | |
Weekend Trading | 3,909 | 0.16 | +0.16 | 0 | ±0 | |
Public Transport | 3,390 | 0.14 | +0.14 | 0 | ±0 | |
Total | 2,396,119 | 88 | ||||
Two-party-preferred | ||||||
Labor | 1,214,832 | 50.7 | –3.1 | |||
Liberal | 1,181,287 | 49.3 | +3.1 |
Legislative Council
Victorian state election, 2 March 1985 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enrolled voters | 2,641,477 | |||||
Votes cast | 2,461,708 | Turnout | 93.19 | –0.67 | ||
Informal votes | 74,202 | Informal | 3.01 | –0.12 | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won |
Seats held | |
Labor | 1,128,747 | 47.28 | –2.28 | 11 | 23 | |
Liberal | 982,418 | 41.15 | +1.94 | 8 | 16 | |
National | 159,299 | 6.67 | +1.17 | 3 | 5 | |
Democrats | 95,045 | 3.98 | –1.05 | 0 | 0 | |
Call to Australia | 16,849 | 0.71 | +0.71 | 0 | 0 | |
Independent | 5,148 | 0.22 | +0.04 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 2,387,506 | 22 | 44 |
Seats changing hands
Seat | Pre-1985 | Swing | Post-1985 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
Bennettswood | Labor | Doug Newton | 1.2 | -2.0 | 0.8 | Roger Pescott | Liberal | ||
Dromana | Labor | David Hassett | 1.4 | -3.8 | 2.4 | Ron Wells | Liberal | ||
Evelyn | Labor | Max McDonald | 1.3 | -4.1 | 2.8 | Jim Plowman | Liberal | ||
Ivanhoe | Labor | Tony Sheehan | 1.3 | -2.7 | 1.6 | Vin Heffernan | Liberal | ||
Mornington | Labor | notional - new seat | 1.4 | -3.4 | 2.0 | Robin Cooper | Liberal | ||
Syndal | Labor | David Gray | 0.1 | -1.5 | 1.4 | Geoff Coleman | Liberal | ||
Warrnambool | Liberal | Adam Kempton | 11.3 | -17.8 | 6.5 | John McGrath | National | ||
- Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
- In addition, the National party retained the seat of Swan Hill, which it had won from the Liberals in a by-election.
Redistribution affected seats
Seat | 1982 election | 1984 redistribution | Swing | 1985 election | |||||||||
Party | Member | Margin | Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | |||||
Mentone | Liberal | Bill Templeton | 1.2 | Labor | Notional | 3.7 | -1.7 | 2.0 | Peter Spyker | Labor | |||
Narracan | Liberal | John Delzoppo | 1.7 | Labor | Notional | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.4 | John Delzoppo | Liberal | |||
Prahran | Labor | Bob Miller | 3.7 | Liberal | Notional | 1.7 | 5.1 | 6.8 | Don Hayward | Liberal | |||
Sandringham | Labor | Graham Ihlein | 1.5 | Liberal | Notional | 2.6 | 2.3 | 4.9 | David Lea | Liberal | |||
Post-election pendulum
Labor seats (47) | |||
Marginal | |||
Bentleigh | Gordon Hockley | ALP | 0.1% |
Warrandyte | Lou Hill | ALP | 0.2% |
Ballarat South | Frank Sheehan | ALP | 1.8% |
Mentone | Peter Spyker | ALP | 2.0% |
Box Hill | Margaret Ray | ALP | 2.1% |
Ringwood | Kay Setches | ALP | 2.7% |
St Kilda | Andrew McCutcheon | ALP | 2.7% |
Bellarine | Graham Ernst | ALP | 3.0% |
Mitcham | John Harrowfield | ALP | 3.7% |
Monbulk | Neil Pope | ALP | 3.7% |
Whittlesea | Max McDonald | ALP | 4.6% |
Greensborough | Pauline Toner | ALP | 5.1% |
Wantirna | Carolyn Hirsh | ALP | 5.3% |
Bendigo West | David Kennedy | ALP | 5.7% |
Fairly safe | |||
Geelong | Hayden Shell | ALP | 6.1% |
Oakleigh | Race Mathews | ALP | 6.1% |
Werribee | Ken Coghill | ALP | 6.2% |
Springvale | Eddie Micallef | ALP | 7.0% |
Morwell | Valerie Callister | ALP | 7.4% |
Frankston North | Jane Hill | ALP | 9.0% |
Dandenong North | Jan Wilson | ALP | 9.1% |
Carrum | Ian Cathie | ALP | 9.4% |
Clayton | Gerard Vaughan | ALP | 9.8% |
Safe | |||
Dandenong | Terry Norris | ALP | 11.1% |
Knox | Steve Crabb | ALP | 11.4% |
Pascoe Vale | Tom Edmunds | ALP | 11.4% |
Keilor | George Seitz | ALP | 11.5% |
Essendon | Barry Rowe | ALP | 12.1% |
Albert Park | Bunna Walsh | ALP | 12.2% |
Bundoora | John Cain | ALP | 12.3% |
Niddrie | Jack Simpson | ALP | 13.0% |
Doveton | Rob Jolly | ALP | 14.9% |
Melbourne | Keith Remington | ALP | 15.2% |
Derrimut | David Cunningham | ALP | 15.6% |
Geelong North | Neil Trezise | ALP | 15.8% |
Reservoir | Jim Simmonds | ALP | 18.7% |
Williamstown | Gordon Stirling | ALP | 18.8% |
Preston | Carl Kirkwood | ALP | 19.6% |
Broadmeadows | Jack Culpin | ALP | 20.0% |
Coburg | Peter Gavin | ALP | 20.4% |
Brunswick | Tom Roper | ALP | 20.6% |
St Albans | Alex Andrianopoulos | ALP | 21.0% |
Sunshine | Bill Fogarty | ALP | 21.1% |
Richmond | Theo Sidiropoulos | ALP | 21.4% |
Northcote | Frank Wilkes | ALP | 21.8% |
Footscray | Robert Fordham | ALP | 23.4% |
Thomastown | Beth Gleeson | ALP | 23.9% |
Liberal/National seats (41) | |||
Marginal | |||
Narracan | John Delzoppo | LIB | 0.4% |
Bennettswood | Roger Pescott | LIB | 0.8% |
Syndal | Geoff Coleman | LIB | 1.4% |
Ivanhoe | Vin Heffernan | LIB | 1.6% |
Mornington | Robin Cooper | LIB | 2.0% |
Dromana | Ron Wells | LIB | 2.4% |
Evelyn | Jim Plowman | LIB | 2.8% |
Berwick | Rob Maclellan | LIB | 3.1% |
South Barwon | Harley Dickinson | LIB | 3.4% |
Frankston South | Graeme Weideman | LIB | 3.6% |
Bendigo East | Michael John | LIB | 3.9% |
Forest Hill | John Richardson | LIB | 3.9% |
Sandringham | David Lea | LIB | 4.9% |
Burwood | Jeff Kennett | LIB | 5.6% |
Doncaster | Morris Williams | LIB | 5.6% |
Hawthorn | Phil Gude | LIB | 5.7% |
Fairly safe | |||
Ripon | Tom Austin | LIB | 6.5% |
Warrnambool | John McGrath | NAT | 6.5% v LIB |
Prahran | Don Hayward | LIB | 6.8% |
Ballarat North | Tom Evans | LIB | 7.1% |
Caulfield | Ted Tanner | LIB | 7.3% |
Gisborne | Tom Reynolds | LIB | 7.5% |
Bulleen | David Perrin | LIB | 7.8% |
Malvern | Geoff Leigh | LIB | 9.8% |
Safe | |||
Glen Waverley | Ross Smith | LIB | 10.1% |
Kew | Prue Sibree | LIB | 10.2% |
Brighton | Alan Stockdale | LIB | 12.1% |
Gippsland West | Alan Brown | LIB | 12.1% |
Portland | Digby Crozier | LIB | 13.3% |
Balwyn | Jim Ramsay | LIB | 15.4% |
Benalla | Pat McNamara | NAT | 16.1% |
Gippsland East | Bruce Evans | NAT | 17.5% |
Polwarth | Ian Smith | LIB | 18.3% |
Benambra | Lou Lieberman | LIB | 19.6% |
Gippsland South | Tom Wallace | NAT | 21.8% |
Murray Valley | Ken Jasper | NAT | 22.2% |
Shepparton | Peter Ross-Edwards | NAT | 22.8% |
Mildura | Milton Whiting | NAT | 23.0% |
Swan Hill | Barry Steggall | NAT | 27.6% |
Rodney | Eddie Hann | NAT | 30.1% |
Lowan | Bill McGrath | NAT | 30.2% |
See also
- Candidates of the 1985 Victorian state election
References
- "Election held on 2 March 1985". Australian Politics and Elections Database. University of Western Australia.