Tasmanian state election, 1982

Tasmanian state election, 1982

15 May 1982

All 35 seats to the House of Assembly   First party Second party Third party   Leader Robin Gray Harry Holgate Norm Sanders Party Liberal Labor Democrats Leader since 11 November 1981 11 November 1981 Leader's seat Wilmot Bass Denison Last election 15 seats 20 seats 0 seats Seats won 19 seats 14 seats 1 seat Seat change 4 6 1 Percentage 48.52% 36.86% 5.39% Swing 7.21 17.46 2.52

Premier before election Harry Holgate Labor Elected Premier Robin Gray Liberal

Elections for the Tasmanian House of Assembly were held on the 15 May 1982. The incumbent Labor Party, in power since 1972 and led by Premier Harry Holgate, was defeated by the opposition Liberal Party, led by Robin Gray.

The proposed Franklin Dam was a major issue around the time of the election.

The Australian Democrats contested all electorates. Independent Green candidates contested the electorate of Denison only.

Results

The Liberal Party won a comfortable majority. Not only was this only the second time in 48 years that Labor had been out of office in Tasmania, but it was the first time in 51 years that the main non-Labor party in Tasmania had won an outright majority at an election. The Democrats' Norm Sanders retained his seat, which had originally been won at the Denison state by-election in 1980. Former Labor premier Doug Lowe also retained his seat as an independent.

¹ The Independent Labor label refers to the separate campaigns by former Premier Doug Lowe and Labor MHA Mary Willey.

² The Green vote referred to here is Bob Brown's campaign in the seat of Denison, where he attained 8.6% of the vote.

Distribution of Seats

Aftermath

Democrat Norm Sanders resigned in late 1982 and independent Green Bob Brown was elected as his replacement after a recount of votes.

See also

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1982–1986
• Candidates of the Tasmanian state election, 1982

Elections and referendums in Tasmania
General elections	1856 1861 1862 1866 1871 1872 1877 1882 1886 1891 1893 1897 1900 1903 1906 1909 1912 1913 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1941 1946 1948 1950 1955 1956 1959 1964 1969 1972 1976 1979 1982 1986 1989 1992 1996 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 next
Legislative Council elections	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Referendums	1898 1899 1916 1968 1981

References

• "House of Assembly Election Results 15 May 1982". Tasmanian Parliamentary Library.