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1982 Tasmanian state election

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1982 Tasmanian state election

← 1979 15 May 1982 1986 →

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

Results of the election

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

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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.

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Liberal121,34648.52Increase 7.2119Increase 4
Labor92,18436.86Decrease 17.4614Decrease 6
Democrats13,4765.39Increase 2.521Increase 1
Ind. Labor12,4324.97Increase 4.971Increase 1
Independents6,3852.55Increase 1.050Steady
Ind. Green[a]4,2731.71Increase 1.710Steady
Total250,096100.0035
Valid votes250,09694.32
Invalid/blank votes15,0555.68Increase 1.81
Total votes265,151100.00
Registered voters/turnout283,54993.51Decrease 0.27
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%
a The Independent Labor label refers to the separate campaigns by former Premier Doug Lowe and Labor MHA Mary Willey.
b 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

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Primary vote by division

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Bass Braddon Denison Franklin Wilmot
Labor Party 36.6% 41.3% 28.6% 36.1% 41.8%
Liberal Party 50.3% 49.8% 48.8% 43.1% 50.8%
Democrats 3.9% 4.0% 10.3% 5.2% 3.6%
Other 9.2% 4.9% 12.3% 15.7% 3.8%

Distribution of seats

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

Aftermath

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

See also

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References

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