1980 Denison state by-election explained

Country:Tasmania
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Election Date:16 February 1980
Seats For Election:All 7 seats for the Division of Denison in the House of Assembly
Majority Seats:4
Vote Type:First preference
Previous Election:1979 Tasmanian state election
Previous Year:1979
Next Election:1982 Tasmanian state election
Next Year:1982
Leader1:Doug Lowe
Party1:Australian Labor Party
Seats Before1:4
Seats1:3
Seat Change1:1
Popular Vote1:21,615
Percentage1:46.4%
Swing1:4.3pp
Leader2:Geoff Pearsall
Party2:Liberal Party of Australia
Seats Before2:3
Seats2:3
Popular Vote2:20,309
Percentage2:43.6%
Swing2:1.6pp
Image3: DEM
Leader3:Norm Sanders
Party3:Australian Democrats
Seats Before3:0
Seats3:1
Seat Change3:1
Popular Vote3:4,292
Percentage3:9.2%
Swing3:1.8pp

A by-election for the Tasmanian House of Assembly was held in the Division of Denison in the Australian state of Tasmania on Saturday 16 February 1980.

Background

The election was the first to use the Robson Rotation, a method of rotating names on ballot papers.[1] In previous elections, candidates were listed in alphabetical order by surname.

By-elections are not usually held in the Tasmanian House of Assembly because casual vacancies are filled by a recount of votes, a system that has been in place since 1917.[2]

On 18 December 1979 the Supreme Court of Tasmania ordered that the election of three candidates in the 1979 election be declared void.[3] The court found that Julian Amos, John Devine and John Green had exceeded their spending limits.[3] [4] As a result, all elected members for the electorate of Denison were required to face another election.

Elected Members

The election resulted in two previously elected members losing their seats: John Green from the Labor Party and Bob Baker from the Liberal Party. Elected in their place were Norm Sanders from the Democrats and Liberal Gabriel Haros.

The following candidates were elected, listed in order of election:

OrderNameParty
1Neil BattLabor
2Max BinghamLiberal
3Gabriel HarosLiberal
4Julian AmosLabor
5John DevineLabor
6Robert MatherLiberal
7Norm SandersDemocrats

References

  1. http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~lee/prsa/qn/69.html Newsletter of the Proportional Representation Society of Australia
  2. http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/Backg/HAElections.htm House of Assembly Elections
  3. http://tec.tas.gov.au/Info/Publications/ElectionReports/1978-1980.pdf Report on Parliamentary Elections 1978 to 1980
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20020919110134/http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/Almanac.htm A Tasmanian Political Almanac

Further reading