1972 Tasmanian state election

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

1972 Tasmanian state election - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1972 Tasmanian state election

← 1969

22 April 1972

1976 →

All 35 seats to the House of Assembly

	First party	Second party

Leader	Eric Reece	Angus Bethune
Party	Labor	Liberal
Leader since	26 August 1958	19 March 1960
Leader's seat	Braddon	Wilmot
Last election	17 seats	17 seats
Seats won	21 seats	14 seats
Seat change	4	3
Percentage	54.93%	38.37%
Swing	7.25	5.61

Results of the election

Premier before election

Angus Bethune
Liberal

Elected Premier

Eric Reece
Labor

The 1972 Tasmanian state election was held on 22 April 1972 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 one-term Liberal government of Premier Angus Bethune had collapsed following the withdrawal of support by Kevin Lyons. The opposition Labor Party, led by Eric Reece, gained a clear majority and won the election.

Background

The 1969 election had resulted in a hung parliament, with the deadlock broken when Kevin Lyons of the Centre Party formed a coalition government with Angus Bethune's Liberal Party. On 15 March 1972, Lyons resigned as Deputy Premier and effectively dissolved the Liberal-Centre coalition.^[2] The resulting instability triggered an election.

The 1972 election was also notable due to the emergence and candidacy of the United Tasmania Group, the world's first Green party, formed to campaign against the proposed damming of Lake Pedder.^[3]

Results

The Liberals lost three seats, giving Labor a clear majority. Eric Reece was sworn in as Premier of Tasmania for a second time on 3 May 1972. Eric Reece also received the highest personal vote ever in Braddon, gaining 14,790 votes, or 35.4% of the vote.

The United Tasmania Group gained a respectable 3.9% of the vote, failing to gain a seat in the parliament and to stop the damming of Lake Pedder, but their efforts paved the way for the Tasmanian Greens to become a significant force in Tasmanian politics.



Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labor	108,910	54.93	+7.25	21	4
	Liberal	76,073	38.37	+7.25	14	3
	United Tasmania Group	7,741	3.90	New	0	New
	Independents	5,546	2.80	+0.49	0
Other					–	1
Total		198,270	100.00	–	35	–

Valid votes		198,270	96.34
Invalid/blank votes		7,533	3.66	-1.00
Total votes		205,803	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		216,846	94.91	+0.47

Popular vote

Labor			54.93%
Liberal			38.37%
United Tasmania Group			3.90%
Independents			2.80%

Seats

Labor			60.00%
Liberal			40.00%

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

	Bass	Braddon	Denison	Franklin	Wilmot
Labor Party	49.3%	62.9%	46.3%	58.7%	57.0%
Liberal Party	42.9%	33.8%	40.0%	33.3%	42.1%
Other	7.8%	3.2%	13.8%	8.0%	1.0%

Distribution of seats

Electorate	Seats won
Bass
Braddon
Denison
Franklin
Wilmot

	Labor
	Liberal

References

^ House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
^ Tasmanian Political Almanac - On This Day, Parliament of Tasmania.
^ Eckersley, Robyn (1992). Environmentalism and Political Theory: Toward an Ecocentric Approach. New York: SUNY Press. pp. 193. ISBN 0-7914-1013-7.

External links

"House of Assembly Election Results 22 April 1972". Tasmanian Parliamentary Library.

v t e Elections and referendums in Tasmania
General elections	1856 1861 1862 1866 1871 1872 1877 1882 1886 1891 1893 1897 1900 1903 1906 1909 1912 1913 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1941 1946 1948 1950 1955 1956 1959 1964 1969 1972 1976 1979 1982 1986 1989 1992 1996 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2021 2024 Next
Legislative Council elections	1909 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Local elections	1994 1996 1999 2000 2002 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014 2018 2022 2026
Referendums	1898 1899 1916 1968 1981

Categories:

Hidden categories: