1959 Tasmanian state election

* * *

| <- 1956 | 2 May 1959 | 1964 ->

|
|

* * *

All 35 seats to the House of Assembly
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Eric Reece | Tim Jackson
Party  | Labor | Liberal
Leader since  | 26 August 1958  | 26 June 1956
Leader's seat  | Braddon | Franklin
Last election  | 15 seats  | 15 seats
Seats won  | 17 seats  | 16 seats
Seat change  | 2  | 1
Percentage  | 44.5%  | 41.05%
Swing  | 5.77  | 2.54

* * *

Results of the election

* * *

| Premier before election

Eric Reece
Labor

| Resulting Premier

Eric Reece
Labor

|

The 1959 Tasmanian state election was held on 2 May 1959 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The number of members were increased from this election from 30 to 35. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — seven members were elected from each of five electorates.

The two previous elections had resulted in a parliamentary deadlock due to an even number of seats (30) in the House of Assembly. Prior to the 1959 election, the number of seats was increased to 35.[2]

Robert Cosgrove had retired as Premier of Tasmania, and had been replaced by Eric Reece on 26 August 1958.

## Results

[edit]

See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1959

The Labor Party won the most seats in the newly expanded House of Assembly, but not enough to govern in a majority as two seats were won by Independents. The 1959 election was the last occasion in which an ungrouped independent (Bill Wedd) won a seat in Tasmania.[3]

Former Labor Treasurer Dr Reg Turnbull won two quotas in his own right as an independent in Bass, representing 5.64% of the statewide result.

Party| Votes| %| +/–| Seats| +/–
| Labor| 71,535| 44.50|  5.77| 17|  2
| Liberal| 66,005| 41.06|  2.54| 16|  1
| Independents| 14,549| 9.05|  6.45| 2|  2
| Democratic Labor| 8,510| 5.29|  1.82| 0|
| Communist| 144| 0.09|  0.03| 0|
Total| 160,743| 100.00| –| 35| –
Valid votes| 160,743| 94.24| |
Invalid/blank votes| 9,816| 5.76|  1.57|
Total votes| 170,559| 100.00| –|
Registered voters/turnout| 180,344| 94.57|  0.65|

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor |

| 44.50%
Liberal |

| 41.05%
Democratic Labor |

| 5.29%
Communist |

| 0.09%
Independents |

| 9.05%

| Seats

|  |
Labor |

| 48.57%
Liberal |

| 45.71%
Independents |

| 5.71%

## Distribution of votes

[edit]

### Primary vote by division

[edit]

| Bass  | Braddon  | Denison  | Franklin  | Wilmot

|
|
|
|
|

Labor Party | 31.6% | 52.2% | 39.5% | 46.3% | 53.5%
Liberal Party | 36.3% | 42.4% | 39.8% | 43.8% | 43.2%
Other | 32.1% | 5.4% | 20.7% | 10.0% | 3.4%

### Distribution of seats

[edit]

| Electorate  | Seats won

|

Bass |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Braddon |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Denison |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Franklin |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Wilmot |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | Labor

|

| Liberal
| Independent

## See also

[edit]

* Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1959–1964
* Candidates of the 1959 Tasmanian state election

## References

[edit]

1. ^ House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
2. ^ Curtin, Jennifer: The 1998 Tasmanian Election: Women and Proportional Representation Archived 2008-09-10 at the Wayback Machine, Parliament of Australia, 10 November 1998.
3. ^ Green, Antony: Independents to be disadvantaged by ACT electoral changes, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 28 May 2008.

## External links

[edit]

* Assembly Election Results, 1959, Parliament of Tasmania.
* Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1959, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

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