| Election Name: | 1969 Tasmanian state election |
| Country: | Tasmania |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1964 Tasmanian state election |
| Previous Year: | 1964 |
| Next Election: | 1972 Tasmanian state election |
| Next Year: | 1972 |
| Seats For Election: | All 35 seats to the House of Assembly |
| Election Date: | 10 May 1969 |
| Leader1: | Eric Reece |
| Leader Since1: | 26 August 1958 |
| Party1: | Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) |
| Leaders Seat1: | Braddon |
| Last Election1: | 19 seats |
| Seats1: | 17 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 90,278 |
| Percentage1: | 47.68% |
| Swing1: | 3.64 |
| Leader2: | Angus Bethune |
| Leader Since2: | 19 March 1960 |
| Party2: | Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division) |
| Leaders Seat2: | Wilmot |
| Last Election2: | 16 seats |
| Seats2: | 17 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 83,261 |
| Percentage2: | 43.98% |
| Swing2: | 5.49 |
| Leader3: | Kevin Lyons |
| Leader Since3: | 1969 |
| Party3: | Centre Party (Tasmania) |
| Leaders Seat3: | Braddon |
| Last Election3: | 0 seats |
| Seats3: | 1 seats |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 8,160 |
| Percentage3: | 4.31% |
| Swing3: | 0.94 |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Premier | |
| Posttitle: | Resulting Premier |
| Before Election: | Eric Reece |
| Before Party: | Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) |
| After Election: | Angus Bethune |
| After Party: | Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division) |
The 1969 Tasmanian state election was held on 10 May 1969 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — seven members were elected from each of five electorates.
The incumbent Labor Party, which had been in power continuously since 1934, was led by Eric Reece, who had been premier of Tasmania since 1958. The opposition Liberal Party was led by Angus Bethune.
The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Labor and Liberal parties on 17 seats each (out of 35). The balance of power was held by Kevin Lyons, a former Liberal who had quit the party in 1966 after a dispute over preselection and formed the Centre Party. Lyons approached Bethune with an offer for a coalition government with himself as Deputy Premier. Bethune agreed, allowing him to form government by one seat—thus consigning Labor to opposition for the first time in 35 years.
See main article: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1969.
The Centre Party was composed out of the former Country Party in Tasmania, and was supported by federal Country MHRs.
| Bass | Braddon | Denison | Franklin | Wilmot | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42.4% | 53.7% | 43.7% | 52.1% | 46.5% | ||
| 46.2% | 34.4% | 47.4% | 44.2% | 48.0% | ||
| Other | 11.5% | 11.9% | 8.9% | 3.7% | 5.5% |
| Electorate | Seats won | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bass | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | |||||||
| Braddon | ||||||||||||||
| width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | ||||||||
| Wilmot | ||||||||||||||
| width=20 | Labor | |
| Liberal | ||
| Centre |
The Liberal-Centre coalition lasted for one term, with Lyons dissolving the partnership in 1972. The resulting instability triggered an election, which was easily won by Eric Reece and the Labor Party.