New South Wales state election, 1976

New South Wales state election, 1976

1973 ← 1 May 1976 (1976-05-01) → 1978

All 99 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.   First party Second party   Leader Neville Wran Eric Willis Party Labor Liberal/Country coalition Leader since 17 November 1973 23 January 1976 Leader's seat Bass Hill Earlwood Last election 44 seats 52 seats Seats won 50 seats 48 seats Seat change 6 4 Percentage 51.6% 48.4%

Premier before election Eric Willis Liberal/Country coalition Elected Premier Neville Wran Labor

A general election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 1 May 1976. The result was a narrow win for the Australian Labor Party under Neville Wran—the party's first in the state in more than a decade.

Issues

The incumbent Liberal-Country Party coalition had lost its longtime leader, Sir Robert Askin, at the end of 1974. His successor, Tom Lewis, didn't last a year as premier before his colleagues dumped him in favour of Eric Willis.

Wran successfully emerged from the shadow of the defeated Whitlam Labor government at a federal level. Labor's campaign focussed largely on the leader himself, what Australians call a "Presidential" style campaign. The state party had undergone a long process of renewal, and emerged with strong moderate credentials. Labor also offered an alternative to a long-serving government widely perceived as corrupt.

Wran's campaign slogan, "Let's put the state in better shape," delivered by the leader and key spokesmen Peter Cox and Syd Einfeld, resonated with voters.

Key dates

Date	Event
2 April 1976	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[1]
8 April 1976	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
1 May 1976	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
14 May 1976	The Willis Ministry resigned and the Wran Ministry was sworn in.
21 May 1976	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
25 May 1976	Parliament resumed for business.

Results

New South Wales state election, 1 May 1976[2][3] Legislative Assembly << 1973 — 1978 >>
Enrolled Voters		2,943,248[1]
Votes Cast		2,745,749		Turnout	93.29	+0.78
Informal Votes		48,220		Informal	1.76	–0.94
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	1,342,038	49.75	+6.82	50	+ 6
	Liberal	978,886	36.29	+2.44	30	– 4
	Country	270,603	10.03	–0.45	18	± 0
	Workers	15,598	0.58	+0.58	0	± 0
	Australia Party	7,407	0.27	–3.93	0	± 0
	Socialist Workers	2,495	0.09	+0.09	0	± 0
	Communist	2,220	0.08	+0.05	0	± 0
	Democratic Labor	2,201	0.08	–5.88	0	– 1
	Independent	76,089	2.82	+0.28	1	– 1
Total		2,697,529			99

¹ There were 2,989,786 enrolled voters but 46,538 were enrolled in electorates (one Labor and one Country) which were uncontested at the election.

See also

• Candidates of the New South Wales state election, 1976

Notes

1. ^ Parliament of New South Wales. "1976 Election". http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/resources/nswelectionsanalysis/1976/Home.htm. Retrieved 6 February 2010. 
2. ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of New South Wales, Assembly election, 1 May 1976". http://elections.uwa.edu.au/elecdetail.lasso?keyvalue=758. Retrieved 6 February 2010. 
3. ^ Hughes, Colin A. (1986). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1975-1984. ANU Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-08033-038-X.