1971 Western Australian state election

1971 Western Australian election

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1971 Western Australian state election

* * *

| <- 1968 | 20 February 1971 (1971-02-20) | 1974 ->

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All 51 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
and 15 (of the 30) seats to the Western Australian Legislative Council
26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | John Tonkin | David Brand
Party  | Labor | Liberal/Country coalition
Leader since  | 1 January 1967  | 1 March 1957
Leader's seat  | Melville | Greenough
Last election  | 23 seats  | 28 seats
Seats won  | 26 seats  | 25 seats
Seat change  | 3  | 3
Percentage  | 48.91%  | 35.30%
Swing  | 3.56  | 13.95

* * *

| Premier before election

David Brand
Liberal/Country coalition

| Elected Premier

John Tonkin
Labor

|

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 20 February 1971 to elect all 51 members to the Legislative Assembly and 15 members to the 30-seat Legislative Council. The four-term Liberal-Country Party coalition government, led by Premier David Brand, was defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader John Tonkin.

This was the first election in which no seats were uncontested since the introduction of responsible government in 1890. This was partly due to the Democratic Labor Party deciding to contest every seat up for election in both Houses.

There was a large increase in the number of electors, because this was the first election after 18 year olds had been given the vote.[1]

## Results

[edit]

### Legislative Assembly

[edit]

See also: Results of the Western Australian state election, 1971 (Legislative Assembly)

Western Australian state election, 20 February 1971
Legislative Assembly
<< 1968–1974 >>

Enrolled voters  | 537,122  |  |
Votes cast  | 490,467  |  | Turnout | 91.31%  | +0.41%
Informal votes  | 18,897  |  | Informal  | 3.85%  | +0.75%
Summary of votes by party
Party  | Primary votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change
| Labor | 230,653  | 48.91%  | +3.56%  | 26 | \+ 3
| Liberal | 139,865  | 29.66%  | –14.34%  | 17  | – 2
| Country | 26,604  | 5.64%  | +0.39%  | 8  | – 1
| Democratic Labor | 50,508  | 10.71%  | +7.45%  | 0  | ± 0
| United Farmers  | 3,511  | 0.74%  | +0.74%  | 0  | ± 0
| Communist | 2,265  | 0.48%  | –0.05%  | 0  | ± 0
| Other parties  | 2,687  | 0.57%  | –0.12%  | 0  | ± 0
| Independent | 15,477  | 3.28%  | +2.36%  | 0  | ± 0
Total  | 471,570  |  |  | 51  |

### Legislative Council

[edit]

See also: Results of the Western Australian state election, 1971 (Legislative Council)

Western Australian state election, 20 February 1971
Legislative Council

Enrolled voters  | 537,122  |  |
Votes cast  | 489,911  |  | Turnout | 91.21%  | –1.08%
Informal votes  | 25,084  |  | Informal  | 5.12%  | +0.63%
Summary of votes by party
Party  | Primary votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats
won  | Seats
held
| Labor | 217,465  | 46.78%  | +0.12%  | 4  | 10
| Liberal | 127,191  | 27.36%  | –9.64%  | 9  | 13
| Country | 25,035  | 5.39%  | –6.19%  | 2  | 7
| Democratic Labor | 67,891  | 14.61%  | +12.17%  | 0  | 0
| United Farmers  | 5,782  | 1.24%  | +1.24%  | 0  | 0
| Independent | 21,463  | 4.62%  | +2.26%  | 0  | 0
Total  | 464,827  |  |  | 15  | 30

## Post-election pendulum

[edit]

Labor seats (26)

Marginal
Mirrabooka | Arthur Tonkin | ALP  | 1.7%
Karrinyup | Stan Lapham | ALP  | 2.0%
Merredin-Yilgarn | Jim Brown | ALP  | 2.7%
Toodyay | James Moiler | ALP  | 3.6%
Albany | Wyndham Cook | ALP  | 5.1%
Clontarf | Donald May | ALP  | 5.5%
Fairly safe
Mount Hawthorn | Ron Bertram | ALP  | 7.4%
Geraldton | Bill Sewell | ALP  | 8.3%
Canning | Tom Bateman | ALP  | 8.6%
Maylands | John Harman | ALP  | 9.4%
Perth | Terry Burke | ALP  | 9.9%
Safe
Northam | Ken McIver | ALP  | 11.3% v IND
Gascoyne | Daniel Norton | ALP  | 11.8%
Pilbara | Arthur Bickerton | ALP  | 13.5% v DLP
Melville | John Tonkin | ALP  | 15.6%
Belmont | Colin Jamieson | ALP  | 16.1% v IND
Balcatta | Herb Graham | ALP  | 16.6% v DLP
Fremantle | Harry Fletcher | ALP  | 17.3%
Kalgoorlie | Tom Evans | ALP  | 20.0%
Warren | David Evans | ALP  | 21.9%
Victoria Park | Ron Davies | ALP  | 25.2% v DLP
Swan | John Brady | ALP  | 25.5% v DLP
Ascot | Merv Toms | ALP  | 25.8% v DLP
Boulder-Dundas | Tom Hartrey | ALP  | 28.5% v IND
Collie | Tom Jones | ALP  | 29.8%
Cockburn | Don Taylor | ALP  | 32.0% v DLP
Liberal/Country seats (25)

Marginal
Bunbury | Maurice Williams | LIB  | 1.2%
Roe | Bill Young | CP  | 1.3% v IND
Murchison-Eyre | Peter Coyne | LIB  | 2.3%
Vasse | Barry Blaikie | LIB  | 2.4%
Darling Range | Ian Thompson | LIB  | 3.0%
Murray | Ewart Runciman | LIB  | 3.2%
Subiaco | Tom Dadour | LIB  | 4.9%
Fairly safe
Dale | Cyril Rushton | LIB  | 6.0%
Mount Lawley | Ray O'Connor | LIB  | 6.8%
Wellington | Iven Manning | LIB  | 7.0%
Narrogin | William Manning | CP  | 7.7%
Cottesloe | Ross Hutchinson | LIB  | 9.7%
Safe
Stirling | Matt Stephens | CP  | 10.2%
South Perth | Bill Grayden | LIB  | 10.5%
Blackwood | David Reid | CP  | 11.6% v LIB
Wembley | Ray Young | LIB  | 11.6%
Katanning | Crawford Nalder | CP  | 11.7%
Floreat | Andrew Mensaros | LIB  | 12.5%
Kimberley | Alan Ridge | LIB  | 12.6%
East Melville | Des O'Neil | LIB  | 16.6%
Moore | Edgar Lewis | CP  | 17.2%
Greenough | David Brand | LIB  | 18.4%
Mount Marshall | Ray McPharlin | CP  | 22.6%
Nedlands | Charles Court | LIB  | 24.9%
Avon | Harry Gayfer | CP  | 30.5% v IND

## See also

[edit]

* Candidates of the 1971 Western Australian state election
* Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1968–1971
* Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1971–1974

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Swing to Labor threatens WA Govt". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 February 1971. p. 1.

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