1986 Queensland state election


Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 1 November 1986 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. It followed a redistribution which increased the number of seats in the Assembly from 82 to 89.
The election resulted in a seventh consecutive term for the National Party under Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was the 11th consecutive term for the National Party in Queensland since it first came to office in 1957. The Nationals secured a majority in their own right, with 49 seats. It is the only time that the Nationals have ever won enough seats to govern alone in an election at any level. They had come up one seat short of an outright majority in 1983, but picked up a majority after persuading two Liberals to cross the floor.
This was the last time that a non-Labor Government was elected at a Queensland state election until 2012, although the Coalition briefly held government from 1996 to 1998 following the Mundingburra by-election.

Key dates

Overview

All three parties had high hopes for the election. The Nationals knew that they needed to increase their number of seats in order to hang onto Government. The Liberals desperately needed to win back some of their losses from their disastrous performance in 1983, and Labor hoped to exploit disunity between the conservative parties to make gains.
The already malapportioned boundaries had been redrawn earlier in the year in a manner which further advantaged the National Party.

Result

The Bjelke-Petersen Government won a commanding victory, winning an extra eight seats and thus increasing its majority. The Liberals gained two seats, but were still nowhere near making up for their 1983 losses. Labor lost two seats.

Seats changing hands

NATIONAL SEATS ---
Marginal---
MaryboroughGilbert AlisonNAT0.7%
BroadsoundDenis HintonNAT2.0%
Pine RiversYvonne ChapmanNAT3.6%
MulgraveMax MenzelNAT3.7%
WarregoHoward HobbsNAT3.7%
RedlandsPaul ClausonNAT3.8%
Barron RiverMartin TenniNAT4.0%
AspleyBeryce NelsonNAT4.1%
GreenslopesLeisha HarveyNAT4.2%
TownsvilleTony BurreketNAT4.4%
MansfieldCraig SherrinNAT5.5%
Fairly safe---
MerthyrDon LaneNAT6.0%
SpringwoodHuan FraserNAT6.2%
Mount GravattIan HendersonNAT6.7%
Glass HouseBill NewtonNAT6.9%
HinchinbrookTed RowNAT6.9%
IsisLin PowellNAT7.4%
Toowoomba NorthSandy McPhieNAT7.6%
MiraniJim RandellNAT8.3%
TablelandsTom GilmoreNAT8.7%
CurrumbinLeo GatelyNAT8.9%
WhitsundayGeoff MuntzNAT9.0%
NerangTom HyndNAT9.9%
Safe---
CoorooraGordon SimpsonNAT10.6%
FlindersBob KatterNAT10.8%
NicklinBrian AustinNAT10.9%
LandsboroughMike AhernNAT11.6%
BurdekinMark StonemanNAT11.9%
AlbertIvan GibbsNAT13.1%
FassifernKev LingardNAT13.1%
CallideDi McCauleyNAT13.2%
GregoryBill GlassonNAT13.5%
South CoastRuss HinzeNAT13.7%
SouthportDoug JenningsNAT13.7%
AuburnNeville HarperNAT14.0%
SomersetBill GunnNAT14.0%
GympieLen StephanNAT14.8%
BurnettDoug SlackNAT15.1%
Toowoomba SouthClive BerghoferNAT15.8%
Peak DownsVince LesterNAT17.0%
CarnarvonPeter McKechnieNAT17.1%
RomaRussell CooperNAT19.5%
Surfers ParadiseRob BorbidgeNAT21.3%
WarwickDes BoothNAT22.1%
BalonneDon NealNAT24.1%
LockyerTony FitzgeraldNAT25.1%
BarambahJoh Bjelke-PetersenNAT27.5%
CondamineBrian LittleproudNAT28.5%
CunninghamTony ElliottNAT29.9%

Significance

The 1986 election is significant for a number of reasons. It saw the National Party retain a majority of seats in the Parliament, and it was only the second election in Australian history in which the National Party won enough seats to form Government in its own right.
More importantly, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's victory gave him the confidence to launch the 'Joh for Canberra' campaign, which would play a major part in the 1987 federal election, and would later be a major factor in his undoing.