1989 Queensland state election

* * *

| <- 1986 | 2 December 1989 | 1992 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

* * *

All 89 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
45 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered| 1,780,785 13.9%
Turnout| 1,623,637 (91.18%)
(0.07 pp)
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | Wayne Goss | Russell Cooper | Angus Innes
Party  | Labor | National | Liberal
Leader since  | 2 March 1988  | 25 September 1989  | 31 January 1988
Leader's seat  | Logan | Roma | Sherwood
Last election  | 30 seats, 41.35%  | 49 seats, 39.64%  | 10 seats, 16.50%
Seats before  | 29 seats[a] | 46 seats[b][c] | 11 seats[b]
Seats won  | 54 seats | 27 seats  | 8 seats
Seat change  |  25  |  19  |  3
Popular vote  | 792,466 | 379,364  | 331,562
Percentage  | 50.32% | 24.09%  | 21.05%
Swing  |  8.97 pp |  15.55 pp |  4.55 pp
TPP | 53.8% | 46.2%  |
TPP swing  |  7.80 pp  |  7.80 pp  |

* * *

Winning margin by electorate.

* * *

| Premier before election

Russell Cooper
National

| Elected Premier

Wayne Goss
Labor

|

The 1989 Queensland state election was held in the Australian state of Queensland on 2 December 1989 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. This was the first election following the downfall of seven-term premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen at the end of 1987.

The government was led by Premier and leader of the National Party, Russell Cooper; the opposition was led by Opposition Leader and leader of the Labor Party, Wayne Goss, while the Liberal Party was led by Angus Innes.

The National government, which had been in power since the 1957 election and had governed in its own right since the dissolution of the state coalition at the 1983 election, was defeated; the election was a landslide win for the Labor Party, which gained 24 seats. Labor also won more than 50% of the primary vote. Until 2012, it was the worst defeat of a sitting government in Queensland history.

Since this election, Queensland Labor has won 11 of 12 state elections which have been held since, most recently in 2020.

## Campaign[edit]

The Nationals' fortunes had dwindled significantly since the 1986 election. Soon after the floundering of his attempt to become Prime Minister in the "Joh for Canberra" campaign, Bjelke-Petersen was deposed in a party room coup led by Health Minister Mike Ahern. After trying to hold onto power for four days, Bjelke-Petersen resigned and Ahern was sworn in as his successor.

The shadow campaign began in late 1988 with television advertisements depicting Labor and its leader, Wayne Goss, as "The Only Change for the Better". A string of policy papers were released on a range of themes emphasising responsible economic management and efficient, honest administration. While they maintained a positive and professional public opinion and consistently led opinion polls, neither the media nor the electorate appeared to believe they could win.[2]

The Liberals, who had been on the crossbenches since the collapse of the Coalition in 1983, launched a series of newspaper advertisements in March 1988 under the banner "Let's Put It Right". They were in a curious position, however, because a collapse in National support in urban South East Queensland would mean that seats the Liberal Party might hope to win would be more likely to go to Labor.[2]

Enrolment by electorate in 1989. The state was divided into four zones with different quotas, which overrepresented rural areas compared to the more populous southeast.

On 1 April 1989, a non-partisan group called "Citizens for Democracy" gained some publicity by cutting a birthday cake to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Electoral Districts Act 1949, which had established electoral malapportionment in Queensland, which was seen as unfairly benefiting the Nationals. Both the Labor and Liberal parties favoured "one vote one value" electoral reform.

On 3 July 1989, the Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (more commonly known as the Fitzgerald Inquiry after its chair, Tony Fitzgerald QC) handed down its report. It found links between criminal and political networks, and that corruption in Queensland's public life was widespread, commonplace and organised. It made numerous recommendations aimed at reforming the police and criminal justice system and at establishing independent institutions to monitor, report and act on reforms in the short term, and their operation on an ongoing basis. Ahern committed to implement the Report in its entirety.

Ahern sought to govern in a more consultative manner than Bjelke-Petersen, and worked to blunt the edges of what had long been one of the most unyieldingly conservative state governments in Australia. It was to no avail; by September, opinion polls were suggesting the Nationals had about half the support they had achieved at the 1986 election.

A Newspoll taken after the inquiry's release showed that the Nationals had tumbled to only 22% support, the lowest ever recorded for a sitting government in Australian history.[3] Additionally, the Nationals suffered large swings at three by-elections, most recently in Merthyr, where the Liberals had won the seat from the Nationals despite the latter putting forward a high-profile candidate and an expensive campaign. On 22 September, Police Minister Russell Cooper toppled Ahern in a party room coup, and was sworn in as premier three days later. Cooper billed himself as a traditionalist in Bjelke-Petersen's mould, and his supporters believed he could shore up National support in its rural heartland.

Accordingly, Cooper campaigned on traditional National focuses (law and order, social conservatism, and attacks on the federal Labor government, in particular related to interest rates) and produced a number of controversial advertisements, one of which alleged that the Labor Opposition's plan to decriminalise homosexuality would lead to a flood of gays from southern states moving to Queensland. Labor responded by satirising these ads, depicting Cooper as a wild-eyed reactionary and a clone of Bjelke-Petersen and/or a puppet of party president Sir Robert Sparkes.[4]

Logos Foundation, a fundamentalist Christian group in Toowoomba, led by Howard Carter, controversially involved itself in the election, running a campaign of surveys and full-page newspaper advertisements promoting the view that candidates' adherence to Christian principles and biblical ethics was more important than the widespread corruption in the Queensland government that had been revealed by the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Advertisements published in the Brisbane Courier-Mail promoted strongly-conservative positions in opposition to pornography, homosexuality and Abortion, and a return to the Death penalty. Some supporters controversially advocated Old Testament laws and penalties.[5] That action backfired sensationally, with many mainstream Churches, community leaders and religious organisations distancing themselves from the Logos Foundation after making public statements denouncing them.[6] At times, the death penalty for homosexuals was advocated, in accordance with Old Testament Law.[7][5] A Sydney Morning Herald article summarised the campaign's thrust as follows: "Homosexuality and censorship should determine your vote, the electorate was told; corruption was not the major concern." The same article quoted from a letter Carter he had written to supporters at the time: "The greenies, the gays and the greedy are marching. Now the Christians, the conservatives and the concerned must march also".[5] Those views were not new. In reference to the call for the Death penalty for homosexuals to rid Queensland of such people, an earlier article published in the Herald quoted a Logos spokesman as saying: "the fact a law is on the statutes is the best safeguard for society".[8]

## Key dates[edit]

Date  | Event

|

2 November 1989  | The Parliament was dissolved.[9]
2 November 1989  | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[10]
9 November 1989  | Close of nominations.
2 December 1989  | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
7 December 1989  | The Cooper Ministry resigned and the Goss Ministry was sworn in.
13 February 1990  | The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

## Results[edit]

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1989

The result was a landslide win for the Labor Party. Brisbane swung over dramatically to support Labor, which took all but five seats in the capital.

Initially, it appeared that the Liberal Party had won the traditionally National hinterland seat of Nicklin, however, the Court of Disputed Returns overturned that result and awarded the seat to the National Party.

Queensland state election, 2 December 1989[11][12]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1986–1992 >>

Enrolled voters  | 1,780,785  |  |
Votes cast  | 1,623,637  |  | Turnout | 91.18%  | –0.07%
Informal votes  | 48,764  |  | Informal  | 3.00%  | +0.83%
Summary of votes by party
Party  | Primary votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change
| Labor | 792,466  | 50.32%  | +8.97%  | 54 | +24
| Nationals | 379,364  | 24.09%  | –15.55%  | 27  | –22
| Liberal | 331,562  | 21.05%  | +4.55%  | 8  | – 2
| Democrats | 6,669  | 0.42%  | –0.21%  | 0  | ± 0
| Citizens Electoral Council | 6,610  | 0.42%  | +0.42%  | 0  | ± 0
| Greens | 5,206  | 0.33%  | +0.33%  | 0  | ± 0
| Call to Australia | 2,007  | 0.13%  | +0.13%  | 0  | ± 0
| Grey Power | 300  | 0.02%  | +0.02%  | 0  | ± 0
| Independent | 50,689  | 3.22%  | +1.34%  | 0  | ± 0
Total  | 1,574,873  |  |  | 89  |
Two-party-preferred
| Labor |  | 53.8%  | +7.8%  |  |
| National/Liberal |  | 46.2%  | -7.8%  |  |

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor |

| 50.32%
Nationals |

| 24.09%
Liberal |

| 21.05%
Democrats |

| 0.42%
CEC |

| 0.42%
Greens |

| 0.33%
Call to Australia |

| 0.13%
Grey Power |

| 0.02%
Independents |

| 3.22%

| Seats

|  |
Labor |

| 60.67%
Nationals |

| 30.34%
Liberal |

| 8.99%

## Seats changing hands[edit]

Seat | Pre-1989 | Swing | Post-1989

|
|
|

Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party
Albert |  | National  | Ivan Gibbs | 13.13  | -22.82 | 9.69  | John Szczerbanik |  | Labor
Ashgrove |  | Liberal  | Alan Sherlock | 0.98  | -7.58 | 6.60  | Jim Fouras |  | Labor
Aspley |  | National  | Beryce Nelson | 4.11  | -5.29 | 1.18  | John Goss |  | Liberal
Barron River |  | National  | Martin Tenni | 4.04  | -11.54 | 7.50  | Dr Lesley Clark |  | Labor
Broadsound |  | National  | Denis Hinton | 1.96  | -4.71 | 2.74  | Jim Pearce |  | Labor
Cooroora |  | National  | Gordon Simpson | 10.64  | -11.67 | 1.03  | Ray Barber |  | Labor
Currumbin |  | National  | Leo Gately | 8.88  | -9.79 | 0.91  | Trevor Coomber |  | Liberal
Glass House |  | National  | Bill Newton | 6.93  | -8.55 | 1.63  | Jon Sullivan |  | Labor
Greenslopes |  | National  | Leisha Harvey | 4.23  | -9.83 | 5.60  | Gary Fenlon |  | Labor
Isis |  | Independent  | Lin Powell¹  | 7.40  | -7.47 | 0.08  | Bill Nunn |  | Labor
Manly |  | Independent  | Eric Shaw²  | 6.70  | 7.30 | 14.00  | Jim Elder |  | Labor
Mansfield |  | National  | Craig Sherrin | 5.49  | -7.85 | 2.35  | Laurel Power |  | Labor
Maryborough |  | National  | Gilbert Alison | 0.74  | -2.14 | 1.40  | Bob Dollin |  | Labor
Mount Coot-tha |  | Liberal  | Lyle Schuntner | 6.20  | -13.21 | 7.00  | Wendy Edmond |  | Labor
Mount Gravatt |  | National  | Ian Henderson | 6.69  | -8.40 | 1.70  | Judy Spence |  | Labor
Mount Isa |  | Liberal  | Peter Beard | 2.74  | -12.84 | 10.10  | Tony McGrady |  | Labor
Mulgrave |  | National  | Max Menzel | 3.71  | -5.38 | 1.67  | Warren Pitt |  | Labor
Nerang |  | National  | Tom Hynd | 9.88  | -11.30 | 1.42  | Ray Connor |  | Liberal
Nicklin |  | National  | Brian Austin | 10.93  | -19.22 | 8.29  | Bob King |  | Liberal
Nundah |  | Liberal  | Sir William Knox | 5.39  | -13.38 | 8.00  | Phil Heath |  | Labor
Pine Rivers |  | National  | Yvonne Chapman | 3.55  | -9.15 | 5.60  | Margaret Woodgate |  | Labor
Redcliffe |  | Liberal  | Terry White | 7.71  | -9.70 | 2.00  | Ray Hollis |  | Labor
Redlands |  | National  | Paul Clauson | 3.83  | -10.03 | 6.20  | Darryl Briskey |  | Labor
South Coast |  | National  | Judy Gamin | 0.38  | -8.13 | 7.75  | Bob Quinn |  | Liberal
Springwood |  | National  | Huan Fraser | 6.18  | -9.28 | 3.10  | Molly Robson |  | Labor
Stafford |  | Liberal  | Terry Gygar | 4.46  | -12.06 | 7.60  | Rod Welford |  | Labor
Toowoomba North |  | National  | Sandy McPhie | 7.62  | -8.54 | 0.92  | Dr John Flynn |  | Labor
Townsville |  | National  | Tony Burreket | 4.43  | -9.53 | 5.10  | Ken Davies |  | Labor
Whitsunday |  | Independent  | Geoff Muntz¹  | 9.00  | -9.03 | 0.03  | Lorraine Bird |  | Labor
Yeronga |  | Liberal  | Norm Lee | 5.70  | -14.80 | 9.10  | Matt Foley |  | Labor

* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

* ¹ Lin Powell and Geoff Muntz were elected as members of the National Party, but resigned from the party and contested the election as Independents.

* ² Eric Shaw was elected as a member of the Labor Party, but resigned from the party and contested the election as an Independent.

## Post-election pendulum[edit]

Labor seats (54)

Marginal
Whitsunday | Lorraine Bird | ALP  | 0.03%
Isis | Bill Nunn | ALP  | 0.08%
Toowoomba North | John Flynn | ALP  | 0.92%
Cooroora | Ray Barber | ALP  | 1.03%
Maryborough | Bob Dollin | ALP  | 1.40%
Glass House | Jon Sullivan | ALP  | 1.63%
Mulgrave | Warren Pitt | ALP  | 1.67%
Mount Gravatt | Judy Spence | ALP  | 1.70%
Redcliffe | Ray Hollis | ALP  | 2.00%
Mansfield | Laurel Power | ALP  | 2.35%
Broadsound | Jim Pearce | ALP  | 2.74%
Springwood | Molly Robson | ALP  | 3.10%
Townsville | Ken Davies | ALP  | 5.10%
Greenslopes | Gary Fenlon | ALP  | 5.60%
Pine Rivers | Margaret Woodgate | ALP  | 5.60%
Fairly safe
Redlands | Darryl Briskey | ALP  | 6.20%
Ashgrove | Jim Fouras | ALP  | 6.60%
Mount Coot-tha | Wendy Edmond | ALP  | 7.00%
Barron River | Lesley Clark | ALP  | 7.50%
Stafford | Rod Welford | ALP  | 7.60%
Nundah | Phil Heath | ALP  | 8.00%
Mourilyan | Bill Eaton | ALP  | 8.20%
Salisbury | Len Ardill | ALP  | 8.50%
Rockhampton North | Robert Schwarten | ALP  | 8.60%
Cook | Steve Bredhauer | ALP  | 8.90%
Yeronga | Matt Foley | ALP  | 9.10%
Albert | John Szczerbanik | ALP  | 9.69%
Safe
Thuringowa | Ken McElligott | ALP  | 10.00%
Mount Isa | Tony McGrady | ALP  | 10.10%
Bundaberg | Clem Campbell | ALP  | 10.40%
Mackay | Ed Casey | ALP  | 10.90%
Caboolture | Ken Hayward | ALP  | 11.20%
Chatsworth | Terry Mackenroth | ALP  | 12.00%
Ipswich West | Don Livingstone | ALP  | 12.06%
Murrumba | Dean Wells | ALP  | 12.70%
Cairns | Keith De Lacy | ALP  | 12.92%
South Brisbane | Anne Warner | ALP  | 13.15%
Everton | Glen Milliner | ALP  | 13.20%
Windsor | Pat Comben | ALP  | 13.20%
Rockhampton | Paul Braddy | ALP  | 13.77%
Manly | Jim Elder | ALP  | 14.00%
Townsville East | Geoff Smith | ALP  | 14.30%
Port Curtis | Bill Prest | ALP  | 16.70%
Wolston | Bob Gibbs | ALP  | 16.87%
Sandgate | Nev Warburton | ALP  | 17.30%
Ipswich | David Hamill | ALP  | 17.80%
Brisbane Central | Peter Beattie | ALP  | 18.20%
Logan | Wayne Goss | ALP  | 18.20%
Nudgee | Ken Vaughan | ALP  | 18.60%
Bulimba | Ron McLean | ALP  | 19.00%
Woodridge | Bill D'Arcy | ALP  | 19.50%
Very safe
Bowen | Ken Smyth | ALP  | 20.60%
Lytton | Tom Burns | ALP  | 22.50%
Archerfield | Henry Palaszczuk | ALP  | 24.30%
National/Liberal seats (35)

Marginal
Merthyr | Santo Santoro | LIB  | 0.46%
Currumbin | Trevor Coomber | LIB  | 0.91%
Cunningham | Tony Elliott | NAT  | 1.13% v LIB
Aspley | John Goss | LIB  | 1.18%
Toowong | Denver Beanland | LIB  | 1.31%
Nerang | Ray Connor | LIB  | 1.42%
Hinchinbrook | Marc Rowell | NAT  | 1.42%
Flinders | Bob Katter | NAT  | 2.11%
Tablelands | Tom Gilmore | NAT  | 2.42%
Fassifern | Kev Lingard | NAT  | 2.60%
Warrego | Howard Hobbs | NAT  | 3.27%
Mirani | Jim Randell | NAT  | 3.51%
Sherwood | Angus Innes | LIB  | 3.86%
Somerset | Bill Gunn | NAT  | 3.96%
Callide | Di McCauley | NAT  | 4.29%
Landsborough | Mike Ahern | NAT  | 5.92%
Moggill | David Watson | LIB  | 5.99%
Fairly safe
Gregory | Vaughan Johnson | NAT  | 6.80%
Burdekin | Mark Stoneman | NAT  | 6.91%
Gympie | Len Stephan | NAT  | 6.99%
South Coast | Bob Quinn | LIB  | 7.75%
Nicklin | Bob King | LIB  | 8.29%
Carnarvon | Lawrence Springborg | NAT  | 8.88%
Toowoomba South | Clive Berghofer | NAT  | 9.08%
Peak Downs | Vince Lester | NAT  | 9.50%
Auburn | Neville Harper | NAT  | 9.63%
Safe
Southport | Mick Veivers | NAT  | 11.06%
Burnett | Doug Slack | NAT  | 11.10%
Surfers Paradise | Rob Borbidge | NAT  | 12.15%
Warwick | Des Booth | NAT  | 14.05%
Lockyer | Tony Fitzgerald | NAT  | 18.30%
Very safe
Barambah | Trevor Perrett | NAT  | 21.40%
Roma | Russell Cooper | NAT  | 23.19%
Balonne | Don Neal | NAT  | 23.90%
Condamine | Brian Littleproud | NAT  | 25.42%

## Aftermath[edit]

In early 1990, the former Premier and leader of the National Party, Mike Ahern, resigned his seat of Landsborough, and the Liberal Party candidate, Joan Sheldon, won the subsequent by-election. Angus Innes, the former leader of the Liberal Party, also resigned his seat of Sherwood, and the Liberal Party won the subsequent by-election which was held on the same day as the Landsborough by-election. Joan Sheldon led the Liberal Party to the 1992 election.

A major change to electoral legislation saw the zonal system of electoral distribution abolished in favour of a system largely resembling one vote one value in time for the 1992 state election.

## See also[edit]

* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1986–1989
* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1989–1992
* Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1989
* Cooper Ministry
* Goss Ministry

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Manly MP Eric Shaw was elected at the previous election as a Labor candidate. However, in September 1988 he lost his party's endorsement and sat in Parliament as an Independent MP.
2. ^ a b At the May 1989 Merthyr by-election, Liberal candidate Santo Santoro won the seat of Methyr, which had been held by National MP Don Lane. Lane resigned his seat several months earlier following the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
3. ^ The seat of Isis had been vacated on 31 July 1989 by National-turned-Independent MP Lionel Powell. There was no resulting by-election,[1] instead the seat was contested at the state election. The seat was subsequently won by the Labor Party.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Mike Ahern 'Dodging' By-Election". The Canberra Times. Vol. 63, no. 19654\. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 31 July 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 27 June 2022 - via National Library of Australia.
2. ^ a b Coaldrake, Peter (December 1989). "Australian Political Chronicle: January–June 1989". Australian Journal of Politics and History. 35 (3): 452–455. ISSN 0004-9522.
3. ^ Salusinszky, Imre (29 October 2010). "Kristina Keneally leading the most unpopular Labor government in history". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
4. ^ Coaldrake, Peter (August 1990). "Australian Political Chronicle: July–December 1989". Australian Journal of Politics and History. 36 (2): 243–248. ISSN 0004-9522.
5. ^ a b c Roberts, G., Sex Scandal Divides the Bible Belt, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 October 1990
6. ^ Harrison, John (1 August 2006). "The Logos Foundation: The Rise and Fall of Christian Reconstructionism in Australia" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
7. ^ Harrison, 2006, p.3
8. ^ Lyons, J., God Remains an Issue in Queensland, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 1989
9. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 2 November 1989. p. 292:1635.
10. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 2 November 1989. p. 292:1637.
11. ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 2 December 1989". Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
12. ^ Hughes, Colin A. (2002). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1985-1999. Federation Press. p. 325\. ISBN 978-1-86287-434-3.

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