| Election Name: | 1980 Western Australian state election |
| Country: | Western Australia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1977 Western Australian state election |
| Previous Year: | 1977 |
| Next Election: | 1983 Western Australian state election |
| Next Year: | 1983 |
| Seats For Election: | All 55 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly and 16 (of the 32) seats to the Western Australian Legislative Council 28 Assembly seats were needed for a majority |
| Leader1: | Charles Court |
| Leader Since1: | 5 June 1972 |
| Party1: | Liberal/NCP coalition |
| Leaders Seat1: | Nedlands |
| Popular Vote1: | 282,478 |
| Percentage1: | 48.05% |
| Swing1: | 3.71 |
| Last Election1: | 30 seats |
| Seats1: | 29 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Leader2: | Ron Davies |
| Leader Since2: | 21 February 1978 |
| Party2: | Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch) |
| Popular Vote2: | 270,165 |
| Percentage2: | 45.95% |
| Swing2: | 1.73 |
| Last Election2: | 22 seats |
| Seats2: | 23 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Leader3: | Hendy Cowan |
| Leader Since3: | 1979 |
| Party3: | National Party of Australia (WA) |
| Popular Vote3: | 17,411 |
| Percentage3: | 2.96% |
| Swing3: | 0.09 |
| Last Election3: | 3 seats |
| Seats3: | 3 |
| 1Blank: | TPP |
| 2Blank: | TPP swing |
| 1Data1: | 50.97% |
| 1Data2: | 49.03% |
| 2Data1: | 3.73 |
| 2Data2: | 3.73 |
| Premier | |
| Before Party: | Liberal/NCP coalition |
| After Election: | Charles Court |
| After Party: | Liberal/NCP coalition |
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 23 February 1980 to elect all 55 members to the Legislative Assembly and 16 members to the 32-seat Legislative Council. The Liberal-National Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir Charles Court, won a third term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Ron Davies.
The election produced very little in terms of the balance of the parties in Parliament—Labor won Kimberley from the Liberals in the Assembly, and a North Province seat in the Council, but lost two Council seats to the Liberals—one each in North Metropolitan and South-East Metropolitan. However, Labor received a substantial swing overall, increasing majorities in seats it already held, and reducing Liberal majorities in western suburban seats and pushing the key seats of Bunbury and Pilbara into marginal status.[1] Despite a vigorous campaign against each other, the National Country and National parties, which had split in August 1978, failed to gain any seats off each other, each retaining three seats in the Assembly, and the former retaining one in the Council.
See also: Results of the Western Australian state election, 1980 (Legislative Assembly).
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Notes:
714,724 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but two seats were uncontested: the seat of Collie, held by Labor's Tom Jones and representing 8,854 electors, and East Melville, won by the Liberals' Anthony Trethowan representing 16,804 electors, which was uncontested due to the Labor candidate's failure to submit their nomination on time.
The National Country Party contested seven seats in the 1977 election, winning six of them and attaining 5.28% of the vote. The National Party split from the National Country Party on 10 August 1978, with the former contesting 8 seats and the latter 11.
See also: Results of the Western Australian state election, 1980 (Legislative Council).
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Notes:
The National Country Party contested four seats in the 1977 election, winning three of them and attaining 5.56% of the vote. The National Party split from the National Country Party on 10 August 1978, with the former contesting 5 seats and the latter 4.
| Seat | Pre-1980 | Swing | Post-1980 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||||
| Kimberley | Liberal | Alan Ridge | 1.3 | -9.3 | 8.0 | Ernie Bridge | Labor | ||||
| Merredin | National Country | Hendy Cowan | N/A | N/A | 23.5 | Hendy Cowan | National | ||||
| Mount Marshall | National Country | Ray McPharlin | N/A | N/A | 10.8 | Ray McPharlin | National | ||||
| Stirling | National Country | Matt Stephens | N/A | N/A | 11.4 | Matt Stephens | National | ||||
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" | Labor seats (23) | ||
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" | Fairly safe | ||
| Avon | Ken McIver | ALP | 6.7% |
| Gosnells | Bob Pearce | ALP | 7.4% |
| Kimberley | Ernie Bridge | ALP | 8.0% |
| Canning | Tom Bateman | ALP | 8.5% |
| Welshpool | Colin Jamieson | ALP | 9.4% |
| Swan | Jack Skidmore | ALP | 9.6% |
| Mount Hawthorn | Ron Bertram | ALP | 9.7% |
| Geraldton | Jeff Carr | ALP | 9.8% |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" | Safe | ||
| Maylands | John Harman | ALP | 10.2% |
| Ascot | Mal Bryce | ALP | 12.1% |
| Dianella | Keith Wilson | ALP | 12.2% |
| Warren | David Evans | ALP | 12.5% |
| Rockingham | Mike Barnett | ALP | 13.4% |
| Kalgoorlie | Ian Taylor | ALP | 14.5% |
| Morley | Arthur Tonkin | ALP | 14.7% |
| Victoria Park | Ron Davies | ALP | 14.7% |
| Melville | Barry Hodge | ALP | 15.1% |
| Perth | Terry Burke | ALP | 16.2% |
| Fremantle | David Parker | ALP | 17.5% |
| Balcatta | Brian Burke | ALP | 18.7% |
| Yilgarn-Dundas | Julian Grill | ALP | 22.8% |
| Cockburn | Alexander Taylor | ALP | 23.1% |
| Collie | Tom Jones | ALP | unopp. |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" | National seats (3) | ||
| Mount Marshall | Ray McPharlin | NAT | 10.8% v LIB |
| Stirling | Matt Stephens | NAT | 11.4% v LIB |
| Merredin | Hendy Cowan | NAT | 23.5% v LIB |