1982 Tasmanian state election
15 May 1982
All 35 seats to the House of Assembly
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Robin Gray Harry Holgate Norm Sanders
Party Liberal Labor Democrats
Leader since 11 November 1981 11 November 1981
Leader's seat Wilmot Bass Denison
Last election 15 seats 20 seats 0 seats
Seats won 19 14 1
Seat change Increase 4 Decrease 6 Increase 1
Percentage 48.52% 36.86% 5.39%
Swing Increase 7.21 Decrease 17.46 Increase 2.52
Premier before election

Harry Holgate
Labor

 Elected Premier

Robin Gray
Liberal

The 1982 Tasmanian state election was held on 15 May 1982 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — seven members were elected from each of five electorates. The quota required for election was 12.5% in each division.

The incumbent Labor Party, in power since 1972 and led by Premier Harry Holgate, was defeated in a landslide by the opposition Liberal Party, led by Robin Gray.

The proposed Franklin Dam was a major issue around the time of the election.

The Australian Democrats contested all electorates. Independent Green candidates contested the electorate of Denison only.

Results

The Liberal Party won a comfortable majority. Not only was this only the second time in 48 years that Labor had been out of office in Tasmania, but it was the first time in 51 years that the main non-Labor party in Tasmania had won an outright majority at an election. The Democrats' Norm Sanders retained his seat, which had originally been won at the Denison state by-election in 1980. Former Labor premier Doug Lowe also retained his seat as an independent.

Tasmanian state election, 15 May 1982
House of Assembly
<< 1979–1986 >>

Enrolled voters 283,549
Votes cast 265,101 Turnout 93.49 –0.27
Informal votes 15,055 Informal 5.66% +1.81%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Liberal 121,346 48.52 +7.21 19 + 4
  Labor 92,184 36.86 –17.46 14 – 6
  Democrats 13,476 5.39 +2.52 1 + 1
  Ind. Labor 12,432 4.97 +4.97 1 + 1
  Ind. Green[1] 4,273 1.71 +1.71 0 ± 0
  Independent 6,385 2.55 +1.05 0 ± 0
Total 250,096     35  
Popular vote
Liberal
 
 48.52%
Labor
 
 36.86%
Democrats
 
 5.39%
Independents
 
 9.23%
Seats
Liberal
 
 54.29%
Labor
 
 40.00%
Democrats
 
 2.86%
Independents
 
 2.86%
1 The Independent Labor label refers to the separate campaigns by former Premier Doug Lowe and Labor MHA Mary Willey.
2 The Green vote referred to here is Bob Brown's campaign in the seat of Denison, where he attained 8.6% of the vote.

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

Bass Braddon Denison Franklin Wilmot
Labor Party36.6%41.3%28.6%36.1%41.8%
Liberal Party50.3%49.8%48.8%43.1%50.8%
Democrats3.9%4.0%10.3%5.2%3.6%
Other9.2%4.9%12.3%15.7%3.8%

Distribution of seats

Electorate Seats won
Bass              
Braddon              
Denison              
Franklin              
Wilmot              
  Labor
  Liberal
  Democrats
  Independent

Aftermath

Democrat Norm Sanders resigned in late 1982 and independent Green Bob Brown was elected as his replacement after a recount of votes.

See also

References

  • "House of Assembly Election Results 15 May 1982". Tasmanian Parliamentary Library.
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