Western Australian state election, 1977

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1977 to elect all 55 members to the Legislative Assembly and 17 members to the 32-seat Legislative Council. The Liberal-National Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir Charles Court, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Colin Jamieson.

The election produced a decisive victory for the Coalition, attributed by some observers to its strong and organised campaign, the Premier's ability in dealing with the media and good economic times built on resource exports, as contrasted against the Labor Opposition's often unfocussed campaign dwelling on the government's perceived autocratic methods and those sections of the general population which were not benefitting from the good times. [cite journal |last= Wood |first= Michael |year= 1977 |month= December |title= Australian Political Chronicle: January-June 1977 (Western Australia) |journal= Australian Journal of Politics and History |volume= 23 |issue= 3 |pages= 448-453 |issn=0004-9522]

Results

Legislative Assembly

Australian elections/Title row
title = Western Australian state election, 19 February 1977
house = Legislative Assembly
series = Western Australian state election
back = 1974
forward = 1980
enrolled = 663,113
total_votes = 601,975
turnout % = 90.78%
turnout chg = +0.65%
informal = 19,148
informal % = 3.18%
informal chg = –0.90%Australian elections/Party summary
government = yes
party_id = Liberal
votes = 287,651
votes % = 49.35%
votes chg = +9.02%
seats = 27
seats chg = + 4Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Labor
votes = 257,730
votes % = 44.22%
votes chg = –3.88%
seats = 22
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Party summary
government = yes
party_id = Nationals
party = National Countryref label|Nat|1|1
votes = 30,784
votes % = 5.28%
votes chg = –5.52%
seats = 6
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Progress
votes = 2,640
votes % = 0.45%
votes chg = +0.45%
seats = 0
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Democrats
party = Australia Party
votes = 549
votes % = 0.09%
votes chg = –0.31%
seats = 0
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Independent
votes = 3,473
votes % = 0.60%
votes chg = +0.23%
seats = 0
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Total row
total_votes = 582,827
total_seats = 55
winner_id = Liberal
winner = Liberal/NCPAustralian elections/2PP summary
party id 1 = Liberal
party 1 = Liberal/NCP
2pp votes 1 = 318,796
2pp % 1 = 54.70%
2pp chg 1 = +4.53%
party id 2 = Labor
2pp votes 2 = 264,031
2pp % 2 = 45.30%
2pp chg 2 = –4.53%

Notes::note label|Nat|1|1 The National Country Party contested seven seats in the election. The previous high vote stemmed from its attempted merger with the Democratic Labor Party prior to the 1974 election, known as the "National Alliance", which contested 44 seats including many in the metropolitan area. The Alliance ceased to exist shortly after the 1974 election, and adopted a more traditional strategy in 1977.

Legislative Council

Australian elections/Title row
title = Western Australian state election, 19 February 1977
house = Legislative Council
staggered = yes
enrolled = 663,113
total_votes = 601,442
turnout % = 90.70%
turnout chg = +0.76%
informal = 26,160
informal % = 4.35%
informal chg = –0.44%Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Liberal
votes = 289,416
votes % = 50.31%
votes chg = +4.88%
seats = 9
seats held = 18Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Labor
votes = 241,359
votes % = 41.95%
votes chg = –5.28%
seats = 4
seats held = 10Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Nationals
party = National Country
votes = 31,974
votes % = 5.56%
votes chg = –1.78%
seats = 3
seats held = 4Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Independent
votes = 12,533
votes % = 2.18%
votes chg = +2.18%
seats = 0
seats held = 0Australian elections/Total row
total_votes = 575,282
total_seats = 16
total_held = 32Australian elections/2PP summary
party id 1 = Liberal
party 1 = Liberal/NCP
2pp votes 1 = 319,952
2pp % 1 = 55.62%
2pp chg 1 = +3.72%
party id 2 = Labor
2pp votes 2 = 255,330
2pp % 2 = 44.38%
2pp chg 2 = –3.72%

ee also

* Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1974–1977
* Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1977–1980

References