Elections for the Victorian Legislative Assembly and for half the seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were held on Saturday 1 October 1988. John Cain's Labor government maintained a narrow majority on the floor of the Legislative Assembly.
The Campaign
The campaign was dominated by the government's handling of the Victorian Economic Development Corporation scandal but Labor was able limit its losses to just one seat - Warrandyte - due to an effective strategy of targeting Liberal leader Jeff Kennett whose aggressive leadership style was still seen as a liability as well as the instability in the federal Coalition due to the Joh for Canberra campaign. 1
Labor also ran a successful strategy of targeting marginal middle class seats, enabling it to win a majority of seats despite winning less than 50% of the two party preferred vote.
Legacy
Jeff Kennett was dumped as Liberal leader in 1989 in a party room coup. Alan Brown led the party until, he too, was deposed in another party room coup which returned Kennett to the leadership.
Due to the narrow result, the belief arose that had the Liberals and the Nationals been in coalition, they would have won government. Despite what Political Scientist Brian Costar called a 'lack of psephological evidence to support this assertion' this belief led to pressure from the business community that led to the formation of the first Liberal-National Coalition in Victoria over forty years. 2
Results
|
Victorian state election, 1 October 1988
Legislative Assembly
|
| Enrolled Voters |
2,739,614 |
|
|
| Votes Cast |
2,530,027 |
|
Turnout |
92.35% |
-0.86% |
| Informal Votes |
98,525 |
|
Informal |
3.89% |
+1.21% |
| Summary of votes by party |
| Party |
Primary Votes |
% |
Swing |
Seats |
Change |
| |
Labor |
1,131,750 |
46.55% |
–3.46% |
46 |
– 1 |
| |
Liberal |
986,311 |
40.51% |
–1.30% |
33 |
+ 2 |
| |
National |
188,776 |
7.76% |
+0.47% |
9 |
– 1 |
| |
Democrats |
25,611 |
1.05% |
+1.05% |
0 |
± 0 |
| |
Call to Australia |
25,543 |
1.05% |
+1.05% |
0 |
± 0 |
| |
Democratic Labor |
6,018 |
0.25% |
+0.25% |
0 |
± 0 |
| |
Independent |
67,493 |
2.78% |
+1.94% |
0 |
± 0 |
| Total |
2,431,502 |
|
|
88 |
|
| Two-Party Preferred |
| |
Labor |
1,202,294 |
49.47% |
–1.23% |
|
|
| |
Liberal/National Coalition |
1,227,295 |
50.53% |
+1.23% |
|
|
|
Victorian state election, 1988
Legislative Council Results
|
| Enrolled Voters |
2,739,614 |
|
|
| Votes Cast |
2,529,569 |
|
Turnout |
92.33 |
-0.86 |
| Informal Votes |
109,578 |
|
Informal % |
4.33 |
+1.32 |
| Party |
Primary Votes |
% |
Swing |
Seats Won |
Seats Held |
| |
Australian Labor Party |
1,164,796 |
48.13 |
+0.85 |
9 |
19 |
| |
Liberal Party of Australia |
1,052,591 |
43.50 |
+2.35 |
10 |
19 |
| |
National Party of Australia |
181,074 |
7.48 |
+0.81 |
3 |
6 |
| |
Call to Australia |
5,363 |
0.22 |
-0.49 |
0 |
0 |
| |
Other |
16,167 |
0.67 |
+0.45 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
2,419,991 |
|
|
22 |
44 |
References
- ^ B.J Costar & N. Economou, 'Elections and Electoral Change 1982-92' in M. Considine & B. J Costar (eds) Trials in Power: Cain, Kirner and Victoria 1982-92, Melbourne University Press, 1992, p 255-6.
- ^ B.J Costar, 'Coalition Government: An Unequal Partnership' in B.J Costar & N. Economou (eds) The Kennett Revolution: Victorian Politics in the 1990s, UNSW Press, Sydney, 1998, p. 89
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