AUSTRALIAN GENERAL ELECTION, 1990

Federal election major party leaders
1987 1990 1993
'Labor' 'Bob Hawke' 'Prime Minister' 'Parliament': 10 years 'Leader since': 1983 'Division': Wills 'WIN'
'Liberal' 'Andrew Peacock' 'Opposition leader' 'Parliament': 24 years 'Leader since': 1989 'Division': Kooyong

'Federal elections' were held in Australia on 24 March 1990. All 148 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Bob Hawke defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by Andrew Peacock with coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by Charles Blunt.

'House of Reps (IRV) — 1990-93 — Turnout 95.31% (CV) — Informal 3.19%'

	'Party'	'Votes'	'%'	'Swing'	'Seats'	'Change'
	Australian Labor Party	3,904,138	39.44	-6.39	78	-8
	Liberal Party of Australia	3,468,570	35.04	+0.48	55	+12
	Australian Democrats	1,114,216	11.26	+5.22	0	0
	National Party of Australia	833,557	8.42	-3.10	14	-5
	Independents	252,116	2.55	+0.94	1	+1
	Other	327,077	3.30	+2.85	0	0
	Total	9,899,674			'148'
	'Australian Labor Party '	'WIN'	'49.90'	-0.93	'78'	-8
	Liberal/National coalition		50.10	+0.93	69	+7

Independents: Ted Mack

'Senate (STV GV) — 1990-93 — Turnout 95.81% (CV) — Informal 3.40%'

	'Party'	'Votes'	'%'	'Swing'	'Seats Won'	'Seats Held'
	Australian Labor Party	3,813,547	38.41	-4.42	15	32
	Liberal/National (Joint Ticket)	2,429,552	24.47	+10.70	5
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,445,872	14.56	-6.41	12	28
	Australian Democrats	1,253,807	12.63	+4.15	5	8
	National Party of Australia	258,164	2.60	-4.49	1	5
	Australian Greens	201,618	2.03	★	0	0
	WA Greens	76,381	0.77	★	1	1
	Country Liberal Party	29,045	0.29	+0.08	1	1
	Other	421,779	4.25	-0.56	0	0
	Harradine Group					1
	Total	9,929,765			40	76

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The 1990 election saw a swing to the Coalition as Australia was suffering from the late 80's/early 90's recession, but Labor won a fourth successive electoral victory with Hawke as leader, a level of political success which no previous Labor government or Labor leader had enjoyed. This was Bob Hawke's last election as Prime Minister and Australian Labor Party leader as he was replaced by Paul Keating in December 1991.
Howard lost the 1987 election to Hawke, and Peacock was elected Deputy Leader in a show of party unity. But Peacock's supporters began to plot against Howard, and in May 1989 they mounted a party room coup which returned Peacock to the leadership. Peacock, now 50, cultivated a new mature image, enhanced by a second marriage to Margaret St George. Hawke's Treasurer, Paul Keating, ridiculed him by asking: "Can the soufflé rise twice?" and calling him "all feathers and no meat." Although Hawke's government was in political trouble, with record high interest rates and a financial crisis in Victoria, Peacock failed to defeat Hawke at the 1990 elections and subsequently resigned.
This election saw the peak of the Australian Democrats' popularity under Janine Haynes, and a WA Greens candidate won a seat in the Australian Senate for the first time - although the successful candidate, Jo Vallentine, was already a two-term senator, having previously won a seat for the Nuclear Disarmament Party at the 1984 election, and the Vallentine Peace Group at the 1987 election.

Contents

References

References

★ University of WA election results in Australia since 1890

★ AEC 2PP vote

★ AustralianPolitics.com election details