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Federal election major party leaders
1977 1980 1983
'Liberal' 'Malcolm Fraser' 'Prime Minister' 'Parliament': 25 years 'Leader since': 1975 'Division': Wannon 'WIN'
'Labor' 'Bill Hayden' 'Opposition leader' 'Parliament': 19 years 'Leader since': 1977 'Division': Oxley

'Federal elections' were held in Australia on 18 October 1980. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Malcolm Fraser with coalition partner the National Country Party led by Doug Anthony defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Bill Hayden.

'House of Reps (IRV) — 1980-83 — Turnout 94.35% (CV) — Informal 2.45%'

	'Party'	'Votes'	'%'	'Swing'	'Seats'	'Change'
	Australian Labor Party	3,749,565	45.15	+5.50	51	+13
	Liberal Party of Australia	3,108,512	37.43	-0.66	54	-13
	National Country Party	745,037	8.97	-1.04	20	-1
	Australian Democrats	546,032	6.57	-2.81	0	0
	Other	156,411	1.88	-0.98	0	0
	Total	8,305,557			'125'	+1
	'Liberal/Country coalition'	'WIN'	'50.40'	-4.20	'74'	-12
	Australian Labor Party		49.60	+4.20	51	+13

'Senate (STV) — 1980-83 — Turnout 94.35% (CV) — Informal 9.65%'

	'Party'	'Votes'	'%'	'Swing'	'Seats Won'	'Seats Held'
	Australian Labor Party	3,250,187	42.25	+5.49	15	27
	Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket)	1,971,528	25.63	-8.63	4
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,011,289	13.15	+2.55	9	28
	Australian Democrats	711,805	9.25	-1.88	3	5
	National Country Party	341,978	4.45	+3.95	1	3
	Country Liberal Party	19,129	0.25	+0.04	1	1
	Independents	86,770	1.13	-0.60	1	1
	Other	299,678	3.90	-0.92	0	0
	Total	7,692,364			34	64

Independent: Brian Harradine


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Contents

Issues

Significance

References

Issues

The mood in the electorate was moving against the Fraser Government by 1980. The economy had been performing poorly since the 1973 oil shock, and Fraser himself was seen by many people as being cold and aloof. Still, the Coalition went into the election with a very large majority, and was able to absorb a swing against it. In addition, Opposition Leader Bill Hayden was not seen as having great electoral prospects [1].

Significance

The Coalition’s majority was cut back badly in 1980, which appeared to scare the Government. It lost some of its discipline, delivering budgets badly in deficit, while Fraser himself was challenged for the Liberal leadership by Andrew Peacock. The Australian Democrats made further gains, winning the balance of power in the Senate. From 1980 until 2004, no Federal Government in Australia enjoyed a Senate majority.

References

★ AustralianPolitics.com election details

★ University of WA election results in Australia since 1890

★ AEC 2PP vote

★ Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.