New Zealand general election, 1975

New Zealand general election, 1975

1972 ← November 29, 1975 (1975-11-29) → 1978 members

All 87 seats for New Zealand House of Representatives 44 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Robert Muldoon Bill Rowling Party National Labour Leader since 1974 1974 Leader's seat Tamaki Tasman Last election 32 seats, 41.5% 55 seats, 48.4% Seats won 55 32 Seat change 23 23 Percentage 47.6% 39.6% Swing 6.1% 8.8%

Prime Minister before election Bill Rowling Labour Elected Prime Minister Robert Muldoon National

The 1975 New Zealand general election was held to elect MPs to the 38th session of the New Zealand Parliament. It was the first election in New Zealand where 18-20 year olds^[1] and all permanent residents of New Zealand were eligible to vote, although only citizens were able to be elected.

Background

The incumbent Labour Party, following the sudden death of Labour leader Norman Kirk, was led by Bill Rowling, a leader who was characterised as being weak and ineffectual by some political commentators. Labour's central campaign was the so-called "Citizens for Rowling" petition which attacked National leader Rob Muldoon's forthright leadership style. This campaign was largely seen as having backfired on Labour.

The National Party responded with the formation of "Rob's Mob". As former Minister of Finance in the previous National government, Muldoon focused on the economic impact of Labour's policies. National's campaign advertising suggested that Labour's recently introduced compulsory personal superannuation scheme would result in the Government owning the New Zealand economy using the workers's money (akin to a communist state). Muldoon argued that his New Zealand superannuation scheme could be funded from future taxes rather than an additional tax on current wages.

The campaign achieved notoriety due to an infamous television commercial featuring "Dancing Cossacks" which was produced by Hanna Barbera on behalf of National's ad agency Colenso.^[2]

A consummate orator and a skilled television performer, Muldoon's powerful presence on screen increased his popularity with voters.^[3]

Results

The final results of election: National won 55 seats, and Labour 32 seats. Thus Rob Muldoon replaced Bill Rowling as Prime Minister, ending the term of the Third Labour government, and beginning the term of the Third National government. The party seat numbers were an exact opposite of the 1972 election. No minor parties won seats. There were 1,953,050 electors on the roll, with 1,603,733 (82.11%) voting.

Notable electorate results included the election of two Māori MPs to general seats; the first time that any Māori had been elected to a non-Māori seat since James Carroll in 1893. The MPs in question were Ben Couch in Wairarapa and Rex Austin in Awarua.

Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	National	87	763,136	47.58	55	+23
	Labour	87	634,453	39.56	32	-23
	Social Credit	87	119,147	7.43	0	±0
	Values	87	83,241	5.19	0	±0
	Independent	41	3,756	0.22	0	±0
	Total Votes		1,603,733		87

References

1. ^ Stephen Levine and Juliet Lodge (1976). The New Zealand General Election of 1975 (New Zealand Studies in Politics, booklet). Price Milburn for New Zealand University Press, Wellington. ISBN 0 7055 0624 X.
2. ^ http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/dancing-cossacks
3. ^ Atkinson, Neill (2003), Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand, Dunedin: University of Otago Press, p.188-9.