[Western Australia]: 1996 Western Australian state election

[Owen]

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14 December 1996​

All 57 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly All 34 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Council 29 Assembly seats needed for a majority​

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Leader:	Richard Court (WON)	Geoff Gallop
Party:	Coalition: Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division) National Party of Australia (WA)	Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)
Policies	Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division): Liberal conservatism Conservative liberalism Classical liberalism National Party of Australia (WA): Conservatism Agrarianism Western Australian nationalism	Social democracy Democratic socialism
Leader since:	12 May 1992	15 October 1996
Leader's seat:	Nedlands	Victoria Park
Last election (seats):	32 seats	24 seats
Post-Redistribution seats:	33 seats (1 Independent Liberal)	23 seats (1 Independent Labor)
Last election (percentage):	55.5%	44.5%
Seats won:	29	25
Seat change:	-4	+2
Popular vote:	549,270	458,565
Percentage:	54.5%	45.5%
TPP Swing:	-1.0%	+1.0%

Pre-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Coalition)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Bunbury	Ian Osborne	Liberal Party of Australia	0.3%
Yokine	New electorate	Liberal Party of Australia	0.6%
Wanneroo	Wayde Smith*	Liberal Party of Australia	1.0%
Joondalup	New electorate	Liberal Party of Australia	1.5%
Ballajura	New electorate	Liberal Party of Australia	1.6%
Innaloo	George Strickland	Liberal Party of Australia	2.6%
Mandurah	Roger Nicholls	Liberal Party of Australia	4.2%
Dawesville	New electorate	Liberal Party of Australia	4.6%
Roleystone	Fred Tubby	Liberal Party of Australia	5.5%
Collie	Hilda Turnbull	National Party of Australia	8.4%
Hillarys	Rob Johnson	Liberal Party of Australia	9.0%
Swan Hills	June van de Klashorst	Liberal Party of Australia	9.5%
Geraldton	Bob Bloffwitch	Liberal Party of Australia	9.8%
Murray-Wellington	New electorate	Liberal Party of Australia	10.3%
Albany	Kevin Prince	Liberal Party of Australia	10.8%
Riverton	Graham Kierath	Liberal Party of Australia	10.9%
Kingsley	Cheryl Edwardes	Liberal Party of Australia	12.8%
Avon	Max Trenorden	National Party of Australia	14.9%
South Perth	Phillip Pendal (IND)	Liberal Party of Australia	16.6%
Darling Range	John Day	Liberal Party of Australia	18.3%
Warren-Blackwood	Paul Omodei	Liberal Party of Australia	19.4%
Carine	Jim Clarko*	Liberal Party of Australia	19.9%
Murdoch	Mike Board	Liberal Party of Australia	20.1%
Nedlands	Richard Court	Liberal Party of Australia	20.3%
Vasse	Barry Blaikie*	Liberal Party of Australia	20.3%
Alfred Cove	New electorate	Liberal Party of Australia	21.1%
Greenough	Kevin Minson	Liberal Party of Australia	21.7%
Cottesloe	Colin Barnett	Liberal Party of Australia	22.0%
Stirling	Monty House	National Party of Australia	27.2%
Wagin	Bob Wiese	National Party of Australia	28.2%
Moore	Bill McNee	Liberal Party of Australia	28.6%
Merredin	Hendy Cowan	National Party of Australia	30.1%
Roe	Ross Ainsworth	National Party of Australia	32.0%

Pre-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Labor)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Mitchell	David Smith*	Australian Labor Party	0.5%
Ningaloo	Kevin Lehay	Australian Labor Party	1.2%
Willagee	New electorate	Australian Labor Party	2.0%
Southern River	New electorate	Australian Labor Party	2.6%
Thornlie	Yvonne Henderson*	Australian Labor Party	2.7%
Perth	Diana Warnock	Australian Labor Party	3.8%
Maylands	Judy Edwards	Australian Labor Party	4.0%
Rockingham	Mike Barnett*	Australian Labor Party	4.1%
Midland	Michelle Roberts	Australian Labor Party	4.3%
Victoria Park	Geoff Gallop	Australian Labor Party	4.8%
Armadale	Kay Hallahan*	Australian Labor Party	5.0%
Belmont	Eric Ripper	Australian Labor Party	5.4%
Fremantle	Jim McGinty	Australian Labor Party	6.7%
Kalgoorlie	Ian Taylor	Australian Labor Party	7.6%
Eyre	Julian Grill	Australian Labor Party	8.2%
Nollamara	John Kobelke	Australian Labor Party	8.4%
Bassendean	Clive Brown	Australian Labor Party	9.8%
Cockburn	Bill Thomas	Australian Labor Party	10.4%
Burrup	Fred Riebeling	Australian Labor Party	11.4%
Girrawheen	Ted Cunningham	Australian Labor Party	13.5%
Kimberley	Ernie Bridge (IND)	Australian Labor Party	13.5%
Peel	Norm Marlborough	Australian Labor Party	13.9%
Pilbara	Larry Graham	Australian Labor Party	18.1%

Pre-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Crossbench)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Churchlands	Liz Constable	Independent	12.8% v. Liberal

Pre-Election Pendulum (Legislative Council)​

Seat:	Liberal Seats:	National Seats:	Labor Seats:	Greens Seats:	Independent Seats:
Agricultural	2	2	1	-	-
East Metropolitan	2	-	3	-	-
Mining and Pastoral	2	-	3	-	-
North Metropolitan	4	-	2	-	1
South Metropolitan	2	-	2	1	-
South West	3	1	3	-	-

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Coalition)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Joondalup	Chris Baker	Liberal Party of Australia	0.5%
Ballajura	Rhonda Parker	Liberal Party of Australia	0.6%
Innaloo	George Strickland	Liberal Party of Australia	1.6%
Mandurah	Roger Nicholls	Liberal Party of Australia	3.2%
Dawesville	Arthur Marshall	Liberal Party of Australia	3.6%
Roleystone	Fred Tubby	Liberal Party of Australia	4.5%
Collie	Hilda Turnbull	National Party of Australia	7.4%
Hillarys	Rob Johnson	Liberal Party of Australia	8.0%
Swan Hills	June van de Klashorst	Liberal Party of Australia	8.5%
Geraldton	Bob Bloffwitch	Liberal Party of Australia	8.8%
Murray-Wellington	John Bradshaw	Liberal Party of Australia	9.3%
Albany	Kevin Prince	Liberal Party of Australia	9.8%
Riverton	Graham Kierath	Liberal Party of Australia	9.9%
Kingsley	Cheryl Edwardes	Liberal Party of Australia	11.8%
Avon	Max Trenorden	National Party of Australia	13.9%
Darling Range	John Day	Liberal Party of Australia	17.3%
Warren-Blackwood	Paul Omodei	Liberal Party of Australia	18.4%
Carine	Katie Hodson-Thomas	Liberal Party of Australia	18.9%
Murdoch	Mike Board	Liberal Party of Australia	19.1%
Nedlands	Richard Court	Liberal Party of Australia	19.3%
Vasse	Bernie Masters	Liberal Party of Australia	19.3%
Alfred Cove	Doug Shave	Liberal Party of Australia	20.1%
Greenough	Kevin Minson	Liberal Party of Australia	20.7%
Cottesloe	Colin Barnett	Liberal Party of Australia	21.0%
Stirling	Monty House	National Party of Australia	26.2%
Wagin	Bob Wiese	National Party of Australia	27.2%
Moore	Bill McNee	Liberal Party of Australia	27.6%
Merredin	Hendy Cowan	National Party of Australia	29.1%
Roe	Ross Ainsworth	National Party of Australia	31.0%

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Labor)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Wanneroo	Liz Prime	Australian Labor Party	0.1%
Yokine	Nick Catania	Australian Labor Party	0.4%
Bunbury	Barry Down	Australian Labor Party	0.7%
Mitchell	Melissa Parke	Australian Labor Party	1.5%
Ningaloo	Kevin Lehay	Australian Labor Party	2.2%
Willagee	Alan Carpenter	Australian Labor Party	3.0%
Southern River	Judyth Watson	Australian Labor Party	3.6%
Thornlie	Sheila McHale	Australian Labor Party	3.7%
Perth	Diana Warnock	Australian Labor Party	4.8%
Maylands	Judy Edwards	Australian Labor Party	5.0%
Rockingham	Mark McGowan	Australian Labor Party	5.1%
Midland	Michelle Roberts	Australian Labor Party	5.3%
Victoria Park	Geoff Gallop	Australian Labor Party	5.8%
Armadale	Alannah MacTiernan	Australian Labor Party	6.0%
Belmont	Eric Ripper	Australian Labor Party	6.4%
Fremantle	Jim McGinty	Australian Labor Party	7.7%
Kalgoorlie	Ian Taylor	Australian Labor Party	8.6%
Eyre	Julian Grill	Australian Labor Party	9.2%
Nollamara	John Kobelke	Australian Labor Party	9.4%
Bassendean	Clive Brown	Australian Labor Party	10.8%
Cockburn	Bill Thomas	Australian Labor Party	11.4%
Burrup	Fred Riebeling	Australian Labor Party	12.4%
Girrawheen	Ted Cunningham	Australian Labor Party	14.5%
Peel	Norm Marlborough	Australian Labor Party	14.9%
Pilbara	Larry Graham	Australian Labor Party	19.1%

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Crossbench)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Kimberley	Ernie Bridge	Independent	11.5% v. Liberal
South Perth	Phillip Pendal	Independent	14.2% v. Liberal
Churchlands	Liz Constable	Independent	33.2% v. Labor

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Council)​

Seat:	Liberal Seats:	National Seats:	Labor Seats:	Democrat Seats:	Greens Seats:	Independent Seats:
Agricultural (5)	2 Bruce Donaldson Murray Dixon	2 Eric Charlton Murray Criddle	1 Kim Chance	-	-	-
East Metropolitan (5)	1(-1) Peter Foss	-	3 Nick Griffiths Ljiljanna Ravlich Kate Doust	1(+1) Norm Kelly	-	-
Mining and Pastoral (5)	2 Norman Moore Greg Smith	-	3 Tom Stephens Mark Nevill Tom Helm	-	-	-
North Metropolitan (7)	3(-1) George Cash Max Evans Ross Lightfoot	-	2 Ed Dermer Ken Travers	1(+1) Helen Hodgson	1(+1) Giz Watson	-(-1)
South Metropolitan (5)	2 Simon O'Brien Barbara Scott	-	2 John Halden Cheryl Davenport	-	1 Jim Scott	-
South West (7)	2(-1) Barry House Bill Stretch	1 Murray Montgomery	3 Bob Thomas John Cowdell Lois Anderson	-	1(+1) Chrissy Sharp	-
TOTAL (34)	12	3	14	2	3	0

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[Owen]

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In his campaign launch Dr Gallop made an appeal to Labor's heartland with an election package that included increased funding for education, health, public transport and the environment. Dr Gallop also made an appeal to home owners with an offer to abolish stamp duty on refinanced mortgages below a $120,000 threshold. With perhaps an eye on the past and a possible attack from the Coalition, Dr Gallop also made a bid for fiscal responsibility by offering to reduce the number of Cabinet ministers from 17 to 12 and by reducing the number of senior public servants.

 

[Owen]

Tonight was a good night for Labor, while they weren't able to secure the majority they wanted they were able to push the Coalition into the slimmest of majorities with a 1% swing towards them and to have a powerful Labor-Greens voting bloc in the Legislative Council that effectively would mean the two parties could team together to block any legislation in Parliament. The Coalition would have to work extra time to try and get both the Greens and Democrats on side with them, possibly even trying to win the support of Labor to get things through the Council. Labor picked up three seats from the Coalition, Bunbury, Wanneroo and Yokine while they lost a seat to former Labor member turned Independent, Ernie Bridge in Kimberley. Likewise the Liberals lost South Perth to former Liberal turned Independent, Phillip Pendal. In the Legislative Council it was a good night for the Democrats and the Greens, both picking up two seats each from the Liberal Party and Independent member Reg Davies. Geoff Gallop who has only been leader for almost 2 months to the day has vowed to stay on as Leader of the Labor Party.

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Coalition)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Joondalup	Chris Baker	Liberal Party of Australia	0.5%
Ballajura	Rhonda Parker	Liberal Party of Australia	0.6%
Innaloo	George Strickland	Liberal Party of Australia	1.6%
Mandurah	Roger Nicholls	Liberal Party of Australia	3.2%
Dawesville	Arthur Marshall	Liberal Party of Australia	3.6%
Roleystone	Fred Tubby	Liberal Party of Australia	4.5%
Collie	Hilda Turnbull	National Party of Australia	7.4%
Hillarys	Rob Johnson	Liberal Party of Australia	8.0%
Swan Hills	June van de Klashorst	Liberal Party of Australia	8.5%
Geraldton	Bob Bloffwitch	Liberal Party of Australia	8.8%
Murray-Wellington	John Bradshaw	Liberal Party of Australia	9.3%
Albany	Kevin Prince	Liberal Party of Australia	9.8%
Riverton	Graham Kierath	Liberal Party of Australia	9.9%
Kingsley	Cheryl Edwardes	Liberal Party of Australia	11.8%
Avon	Max Trenorden	National Party of Australia	13.9%
Darling Range	John Day	Liberal Party of Australia	17.3%
Warren-Blackwood	Paul Omodei	Liberal Party of Australia	18.4%
Carine	Katie Hodson-Thomas	Liberal Party of Australia	18.9%
Murdoch	Mike Board	Liberal Party of Australia	19.1%
Nedlands	Richard Court	Liberal Party of Australia	19.3%
Vasse	Bernie Masters	Liberal Party of Australia	19.3%
Alfred Cove	Doug Shave	Liberal Party of Australia	20.1%
Greenough	Kevin Minson	Liberal Party of Australia	20.7%
Cottesloe	Colin Barnett	Liberal Party of Australia	21.0%
Stirling	Monty House	National Party of Australia	26.2%
Wagin	Bob Wiese	National Party of Australia	27.2%
Moore	Bill McNee	Liberal Party of Australia	27.6%
Merredin	Hendy Cowan	National Party of Australia	29.1%
Roe	Ross Ainsworth	National Party of Australia	31.0%

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Labor)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Wanneroo	Liz Prime	Australian Labor Party	0.1%
Yokine	Nick Catania	Australian Labor Party	0.4%
Bunbury	Barry Down	Australian Labor Party	0.7%
Mitchell	Melissa Parke	Australian Labor Party	1.5%
Ningaloo	Kevin Lehay	Australian Labor Party	2.2%
Willagee	Alan Carpenter	Australian Labor Party	3.0%
Southern River	Judyth Watson	Australian Labor Party	3.6%
Thornlie	Sheila McHale	Australian Labor Party	3.7%
Perth	Diana Warnock	Australian Labor Party	4.8%
Maylands	Judy Edwards	Australian Labor Party	5.0%
Rockingham	Mark McGowan	Australian Labor Party	5.1%
Midland	Michelle Roberts	Australian Labor Party	5.3%
Victoria Park	Geoff Gallop	Australian Labor Party	5.8%
Armadale	Alannah MacTiernan	Australian Labor Party	6.0%
Belmont	Eric Ripper	Australian Labor Party	6.4%
Fremantle	Jim McGinty	Australian Labor Party	7.7%
Kalgoorlie	Ian Taylor	Australian Labor Party	8.6%
Eyre	Julian Grill	Australian Labor Party	9.2%
Nollamara	John Kobelke	Australian Labor Party	9.4%
Bassendean	Clive Brown	Australian Labor Party	10.8%
Cockburn	Bill Thomas	Australian Labor Party	11.4%
Burrup	Fred Riebeling	Australian Labor Party	12.4%
Girrawheen	Ted Cunningham	Australian Labor Party	14.5%
Peel	Norm Marlborough	Australian Labor Party	14.9%
Pilbara	Larry Graham	Australian Labor Party	19.1%

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Assembly, Crossbench)​

Seat:	Member:	Party:	Percentage:
Kimberley	Ernie Bridge	Independent	11.5% v. Liberal
South Perth	Phillip Pendal	Independent	14.2% v. Liberal
Churchlands	Liz Constable	Independent	33.2% v. Labor

Post-Election Pendulum (Legislative Council)​

Seat:	Liberal Seats:	National Seats:	Labor Seats:	Democrat Seats:	Greens Seats:	Independent Seats:
Agricultural (5)	2 Bruce Donaldson Murray Dixon	2 Eric Charlton Murray Criddle	1 Kim Chance	-	-	-
East Metropolitan (5)	1(-1) Peter Foss	-	3 Nick Griffiths Ljiljanna Ravlich Kate Doust	1(+1) Norm Kelly	-	-
Mining and Pastoral (5)	2 Norman Moore Greg Smith	-	3 Tom Stephens Mark Nevill Tom Helm	-	-	-
North Metropolitan (7)	3(-1) George Cash Max Evans Ross Lightfoot	-	2 Ed Dermer Ken Travers	1(+1) Helen Hodgson	1(+1) Giz Watson	-(-1)
South Metropolitan (5)	2 Simon O'Brien Barbara Scott	-	2 John Halden Cheryl Davenport	-	1 Jim Scott	-
South West (7)	2(-1) Barry House Bill Stretch	1 Murray Montgomery	3 Bob Thomas John Cowdell Lois Anderson	-	1(+1) Chrissy Sharp	-
TOTAL (34)	12	3	14	2	3	0