1984 Australian Senate election explained
| Election Name: | 1984 Australian Senate elections |
| Country: | Australia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | Results of the 1983 Australian federal election (Senate) |
| Previous Year: | 1983 |
| Next Election: | Results of the 1987 Australian federal election (Senate) |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
| Seats For Election: | 46 of the 76 seats in the Australian Senate |
| Majority Seats: | 39 |
| Election Date: | 1 December 1984 |
| Party1: | Australian Labor Party |
| Leader1: | John Button |
| Leaders Seat1: | Victoria |
| Leader Since1: | 7 November 1980 |
| Seats Before1: | 30 |
| Seats1: | 20 |
| Seats After1: | 34 |
| Seat Change1: | 4 |
| Popular Vote1: | 3,750,789 |
| Percentage1: | 42.17% |
| Swing1: | 3.32% |
| Party2: | Liberal/National coalition |
| Leader2: | Fred Chaney |
| Leaders Seat2: | Western Australia |
| Leader Since2: | 11 March 1983 |
| Seats Before2: | 28 |
| Seats2: | 20 |
| Seats After2: | 33 |
| Seat Change2: | 5 |
| Popular Vote2: | 3,516,857 |
| Percentage2: | 39.54% |
| Swing2: | 0.41% |
| Party4: | Australian Democrats |
| Leader4: | Don Chipp |
| Leaders Seat4: | Victoria |
| Leader Since4: | 9 May 1977 |
| Seats Before4: | 5 |
| Seats4: | 5 |
| Seats After4: | 7 |
| Seat Change4: | 2 |
| Popular Vote4: | 677,970 |
| Percentage4: | 7.62% |
| Swing4: | 2.32% |
| Party5: | NDP |
| Color5: | FDC500 |
| Leader5: | Jo Vallentine |
| Leaders Seat5: | Western Australia
(won seat) |
| Leader Since5: | 1 December 1984 |
| Seats Before5: | New |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seats After5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 643,061 |
| Percentage5: | 7.23% |
| Swing5: | 7.23% |
| Leader of the Senate |
| Before Election: | John Button |
| Before Party: | Australian Labor Party |
| After Election: | John Button |
| After Party: | Australian Labor Party |
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1984 federal election. Senators total 29 coalition (27 Liberal, one coalition National, one CLP), 34 Labor, one Nuclear Disarmament Party, four non-coalition National, seven Democrats, and one Independent.[1] Senator terms are six years (three for territories), and all took their seats immediately due to the expansion of the senate from 64 to 76 members.
As the previous election was a double dissolution, half of the senators elected at that election had their terms backdated to 1 July 1982, to end on 30 June 1988. Senator terms for those contesting this election would have been for 6 year intervals starting from 1 July 1985, but the Double dissolution election of 1987 removed this necessity.
This was the last Senate election where Labor won more seats than the Coalition in the Senate, despite winning several victories in the House of Representatives since then.
Australia
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Total seats | Change |
|---|
| | Australian Labor Party | 3,750,789 | 42.17 | −3.32 | 20 | 34 | 4 |
| | | Liberal/National joint ticket | 1,130,601 | 12.71 | −11.49 | 3 |
|
|
| | Liberal Party of Australia | 1,831,006 | 20.59 | +8.58 | 14 | 27 | 4 |
| | National Party of Australia | 527,278 | 5.93 | +0.87 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| | Country Liberal Party | 27,972 | 0.31 | +0.04 | 1 | 1 | |
| Liberal/National Coalition | 3,516,857 | 39.54 | –0.41 | 20 | 33 | 5 |
|---|
| | Australian Democrats | 677,970 | 7.62 | −2.32 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| | Nuclear Disarmament Party | 643,061 | 7.23 | | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| | Call to Australia Party | 162,272 | 1.82 | +0.62 | | | |
| | Democratic Labor | 32,472 | 0.37 | +0.37 | | | |
| | Pensioner | 23,974 | 0.27 | +0.27 | | | |
| | Harradine Group | 22,992 | 0.26 | −0.32 | | 1 | |
| | | 18,841 | 0.21 | +0.21 | | | |
| | Referendum First | 5,808 | 0.07 | +0.07 | | | |
| | Conservative | 4,731 | 0.05 | +0.05 | | | |
| | Independent | 34,333 | 0.39 | | | | |
| | Others | 282,431 | 3.18 | +0.73 | | | |
| Total | 8,894,100 | | | 46 | 76 | 12 |
|
| Invalid/blank votes | 437,065 | 4.7 | –5.2 | | | |
| Turnout | 9,331,165 | 94.5 | | | | |
| Registered voters | 9,869,217 | | | | | |
| Source: Federal Election Results 1949-1993 | |
New South Wales
Victoria
- The Liberals and Nationals contested the previous election as a Coalition in the previous election, and did not do so in this election. The Coalition vote of 1983 of 38.2% was unchanged from the combined Liberal and National vote of this election.
Queensland
Western Australia
South Australia
Tasmania
}
Australian Capital Territory
Northern Territory
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Federal Election Results 1949-1993. Parliament of Australia. 12 July 2017.
