Australian federal election, 1987

Infobox Election
election_name = Australian federal election, 1987
country = Australia
type = parliamentary
ongoing = no
previous_election = Australian federal election, 1984
previous_year = 1984
next_election = Australian federal election, 1990
next_year = 1990
seats_for_election = All 150 seats of the Australian House of Representatives
and all 76 seats of the Australian Senate
election_date = 11 July 1987

leader1 = Bob Hawke
leader_since1 = 3 February 1983
party1 = Australian Labor Party
leaders_seat1 = Wills
last_election1 = 82 seats
seats1 = 86
seat_change1 = +4
popular_vote1 =
percentage1 = 50.83%
swing1 = -0.94

leader2 = John Howard
leader_since2 = 5 September 1985
party2 = Liberal/National coalition
leaders_seat2 = Bennelong
last_election2 = 66 seats
seats2 = 62
seat_change2 = -4
popular_vote2 =
percentage2 = 49.17%
swing2 = +0.94

title = PM
before_election = Bob Hawke
before_party = Australian Labor Party
after_election = Bob Hawke
after_party = Australian Labor Party

Federal elections were held in Australia on 11 July 1987, following the granting of a double dissolution on 5 June by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen. Consequently, all 148 seats in the House of Representatives as well as all 76 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by John Howard and the National Party of Australia led by Ian Sinclair.

{| class="wikitable"
+Senate (STV GV) — 1987-90 — Turnout 93.84% (CV) — Informal 3.54%
style="width:20px" |
style="width:180px" | Party
style="width:70px" align=center | Votes
style="width:40px" align=center| %
style="width:40px" align=center| Swing
style="width:40px" align=center| Seats Won
style="width:40px" align=center| Seats Held
-
bgcolor=red |
Australian Labor Party
align=right| 4,013,860
align=right| 42.83
align=right| +0.66
align=right| 32
align=right| 32
-
bgcolor=blue |
Liberal Party of Australia
align=right| 1,965,180
align=right| 20.97
align=right| +0.38
align=right| 23
align=right| 26
-

Liberal/National (Joint Ticket)
align=right| 1,289,888
align=right| 13.76
align=right| +1.05
align=right| 5
align=right|
-
bgcolor=orange |
Australian Democrats
align=right| 794,107
align=right| 8.47
align=right| +0.85
align=right| 7
align=right| 7
-
bgcolor=green |
National Party of Australia
align=right| 664,394
align=right| 7.09
align=right| +1.16
align=right| 5
align=right| 7
-
bgcolor=gray |
Call to Australia Party
align=right| 136,825
align=right| 1.46
align=right| -0.36
align=right| 0
align=right| 0
-
bgcolor=gray |
Nuclear Disarmament Party
align=right| 102,480
align=right| 1.09
align=right| -6.14
align=right| 1
align=right| 1
-
bgcolor=gray |
Vallentine Peace Group
align=right| 40,048
align=right| 0.43
align=right| *
align=right| 1
align=right| 1
-
bgcolor=gray |
Harradine Group
align=right| 37,037
align=right| 0.40
align=right| +0.14
align=right| 1
align=right| 1
-
bgcolor=brown |
Country Liberal Party
align=right| 19,970
align=right| 0.21
align=right| -0.10
align=right| 1
align=right| 1
-
bgcolor=gray |
Other
align=right| 307,892
align=right| 3.29
align=right| +1.93
align=right| 0
align=right| 0
-

Total
align=right| 9,371,681
align=right|
align=right|
align=right| 76
align=right| 76

__TOC__

Note: As this was a double-dissolution election, all Senate seats were contested.

The 1987 federal election was called 6 months early by Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke to capitalise on disunity in the opposition. The trigger for the double dissolution was legislation for the Australia Card, although it did not figure prominently in the campaign. Opposition Leader John Howard had dismissed his predecessor Andrew Peacock from the shadow ministry in March, following unfortunate remarks by Peacock to Victorian state opposition leader Jeff Kennett in an infamous car phone conversation. Howard, who had succeeded Peacock in 1985, was fighting a war on two fronts - the origin of his oft-repeated remark that, in politics, "disunity is death".

This election was the last time the Liberals and Nationals competed directly against each other in a federal election. This was due to the abortive Joh for Canberra campaign of Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. Although Bjelke-Petersen did not run, the resulting schism between the Nationals and Liberals led to several three-cornered contests. Labor campaigned strongly on the disunity among the opposition parties. The Labor result of 86 seats was the party's highest ever (the total number of seats was expanded by 23 in 1984).

References

* [http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ University of WA] election results in Australia since 1890
* [http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/Australian_Electoral_History/House_of_Representative_1949_Present.htm AEC 2PP vote]
* [http://australianpolitics.com/elections/1987/ AustralianPolitics.com election details]