AUSTRALIA
Parliamentary Chamber: Senate

ELECTIONS HELD IN 1993

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Chamber:
  Senate


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  13 March 1993


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives and for 40 in the Senate on the normal expiry of the member’s term of office.


Background and outcome of elections:

  The election date was set on 7 February 1993. In making the announcement, Prime Minister Paul Keating (Australian Labour Party – ALP) predicted that the poll would be fought primarily on economic issues.

As usual, Mr. Keating – who had taken office in December 1991 after the eight-year stint of Mr. Bob Hawke – and his party were mainly challenged by the conservative Liberal Party – National Party coalition led by Mr. John Hewson, a Liberal. In the economic sphere, the latter centred its platform during the five-week campaign on a proposed goods and services tax (GST) – a 15% VAT to replace other taxes – as the cornerstone of a plan to reduce public spending and, among other things, alter health services; it also pointed to the country’s recession, marked especially by a high unemployment rate (11%) and foreign debt. Mr. Keating’s strategy involved criticising the GST and proposing tax cuts while at the same time widening the campaign to include non-economic questions, such as calling for a referendum on Australian republicanism in the coming decade. Following televised debates between the two leaders, exit polls predicted a close outcome, with some possibility of a change in power. There were altogether 942 candidates for the 147 Representatives’ seats and 266 for the 40 at stake in the Senate.

Voting results confounded the experts, as the ALP swept to victory for an unprecedented fifth consecutive time, even increasing its absolute House majority although failing to raise its edge in the Senate. To a great extent, analysts attributed this triumph to Mr. Keating’s charisma as well as to the unpopularity of the GST. The new Cabinet was sworn in on 24 March.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 (13 March 1993): Elections results  
Number of registered electors 11,348,967
Voters 10,856,131 (95.65%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers 279,469
Valid votes 10,674,805

Round no 1: Distribution of votes  
Political Group Candidates Votes %
Australian Labour Party 28 4,643,871 43.50
Liberal Party of Australia 21 1,664,204 15.59
Liberal/National Party 10 2,605,157 24.40
Country Liberal Party 2 35,405 0.33
National Party 8 290,382 2.72
Australian Democrats 23 566,944 5.31
Greens (W.A.) 2 53,757 0.5
Harradine Group 1 32,202 0.3

Round no 1: Distribution of seats  
Political Group Total Seats 1993 Gain/Loss
Australian Labour Party 30 17 -2
Liberal Party of Australia 22 11 +1
Liberal/National Party 11 6 +2
Country Liberal Party 1 1 =
National Party 2 1 -1
Australian Democrats 7 2 +7
Greens (W.A.) 2 1 +1
Harradine Group 1 1 =

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 60
Women: 16

Distribution of seats according to age:  
Under 30 years 1
30-34 years 1
35-39 years 9
40-44 years 11
45-49 years 20
50-54 years 9
55-59 years 16
60-64 years 9


Distribution of seats according to profession:

 
Advisors, consultants, agents, research officers 20
Local government officials 10
Business managers, company directors, retailers, wholesalers 16
Legal profession 13
Primary producers 11
Teachers 14
Union officials 9
Members of State Parliaments 4
Lecturers, tutors, etc. 9
Public servants 4
Tradesmen, labourers 5
Training, personnel or education officers 3
Party officials 11
Media (excluding journalists) 2
Medicine 3
University administration 1
Accountants 1
Secretarial duties 1
Others 1

Comments:
  Some Members list more than one occupation, leading to occupation totals higher than actual membership in each House of Parliament.


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Copyright © 1993 Inter-Parliamentary Union