1995 New South Wales state election


Elections to the 51st Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 25 March 1995. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The minority Liberal Party-led Coalition government of Premier John Fahey was defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Bob Carr. Carr went on to become the longest continuously-serving premier in the state's history, stepping down in 2005. Fahey pursued a brief career as a Federal Government minister.

Background

1991 election

Despite recording 52.7 per cent of the two-party preferred vote in 1991, the Coalition won only 49 of the 99 seats. The Coalition’s best results were in safe Liberal Party seats on Sydney’s North Shore while Labor won the battle in key marginal seats. Four seats that would normally have been held by the Coalition were won by Independents. Both John Hatton in South Coast and Clover Moore in Bligh were re-elected. They were joined by former National Party member Tony Windsor in Tamworth and local councillor Dr Peter Macdonald in Manly. Windsor quickly came to an accommodation with the Government, but the three non-aligned Independents used their position to negotiate a comprehensive memorandum of understanding. Signed in October 1991, it was a document that concentrated more on issues of accountability and process rather than specific policies. Most importantly, the agreement introduced fixed four-year parliamentary terms, a provision entrenched in the Constitution with 76 per cent support at a referendum called in conjunction with the 1995 election.

The Coalition's second term

Having signed the agreement with the Independents, the Government found its position further eroded in October 1991 when Metherell resigned from the Liberal Party without warning in a live television interview. In December, the Court of Disputed Returns overturned the Government’s victory in The Entrance. Labor won the subsequent by-election in January 1992.
What was to follow brought an end to the political careers of Premier Greiner and Environment Minister Tim Moore. A public service job was found for the by now disenchanted Metherell. The Government was virtually certain to win his seat of Davidson at a by-election. However, Greiner and Moore found themselves before an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into the matter, with the inquiry making a finding of corrupt conduct against both. The independents who had been keeping the Coalition in office for the last year told Greiner that unless he resigned, they would withdraw their support from the Coalition and support a Labor no-confidence motion. Facing almost certain defeat in the House, Greiner resigned, and Industrial Relations Minister John Fahey became the new Premier. The ICAC decision was later overturned in the courts, but by then Greiner and Moore had already resigned from Parliament.
A solicitor and former footballer, Fahey’s folksy style was very different from the aloof and precise Greiner, and a significant challenge to bookish Labor leader Bob Carr. Fahey established a strong public image, helped by his highly publicised victory leap when Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Olympics, and later when he crash-tackled an intruder who lunged at Prince Charles during a royal visit. As the economy improved, the Coalition slowly began to establish a lead in opinion polls.
Fahey’s major problem was an accident prone Ministry and backbench. Several members in marginal seats attracted unwanted inquiries. Blue Mountains MP Barry Morris was disendorsed when he was revealed as the source of bomb threats against a local newspaper. Police Minister Terry Griffiths was forced to resign over sexual harassment allegations. Labor backed Independent John Hatton’s long called for royal commission into the police, seeing it as another opportunity to embarrass the Government.
The Government’s difficulty in handling these issues was due to the increased accountability created by its minority position in the Legislative Assembly. The agreement with the non-aligned Independents did not prevent the Government from bringing forward and passing controversial legislation. However, the Government was required to fully debate legislation, to hold unwanted inquiries and to table documents on request. All this prevented the Government from controlling the agenda of day to day politics.
Not that Labor went into the 1995 election certain of victory, Labor was tainted by the growing unpopularity of the Keating Government in Canberra. The opening of the third runway at Sydney Airport in late 1994 created confusion for the Labor Party as the issue threatened the Party’s hold on several inner-city seats.
In order to place a distance with his federal colleagues Carr branded his team as "State Labor" throughout the campaign.
Two referendums were to be held during the election, both of which were approved by the voters. The first concerned the independence of judges. The second, and far more important historically, was the approval of fixed four-year terms to prevent early elections, passed with 76% voting 'yes'.

Key dates

Results

Seats changing hands

  • Members in italics did not recontest their seats.
  • The member for Blue Mountains, Barry Morris was elected as a Liberal at the 1991 election, but resigned from the party. He recontested this seat as an Independent. The pre-election margin is the Liberal vs. Labor vote.
  • In addition, the Labor Party held the district of The Entrance, which it had won from the Liberals at the 1992 by-election.

    Post-election pendulum

LABOR SEATS ---
Marginal---
Badgerys CreekDiane BeamerALP0.1%
GladesvilleJohn WatkinsALP0.4%
BathurstMick CloughALP1.0%
KogarahBrian LangtonALP1.5%
DrummoyneJohn MurrayALP2.2%
Blue MountainsBob DebusALP2.5%
PenrithFaye Lo Po'ALP2.8%
The EntranceGrant McBrideALP4.1%
Broken HillBill BeckrogeALP4.7%
Fairly safe---
CoogeeErnie PageALP6.1%
PeatsMarie AndrewsALP8.4%
WyongPaul CrittendenALP8.7%
Port StephensBob MartinALP9.0%
ParramattaGabrielle HarrisonALP9.2%
HurstvilleMorris IemmaALP9.6%
Safe---
SwanseaJill HallALP10.5%
MarrickvilleAndrew RefshaugeALP10.5% v NAN
BlacktownPam AllanALP10.6%
RiverstoneJohn AquilinaALP10.6%
East HillsPat RoganALP10.7%
RockdaleGeorge ThompsonALP11.2%
BulliIan McManusALP11.3%
CanterburyKevin MossALP11.7%
CampbelltownMichael KnightALP11.8%
KiamaBob HarrisonALP12.2%
WallsendJohn MillsALP12.5%
MoorebankCraig KnowlesALP12.8%
CessnockStan NeillyALP13.1%
Port JacksonSandra NoriALP13.6% v NAN
SmithfieldCarl ScullyALP13.7%
MaroubraBob CarrALP13.8%
KeiraCol MarkhamALP13.9%
CharlestownRichard FaceALP14.2%
GranvilleKim YeadonALP14.5%
Lake MacquarieJeff HunterALP14.8%
AshfieldPaul WhelanALP15.2%
LondonderryPaul GibsonALP15.3%
NewcastleBryce GaudryALP16.1%
BankstownDoug SheddenALP16.2%
Mount DruittRichard AmeryALP16.7%
FairfieldJoe TripodiALP17.1%
AuburnPeter NagleALP17.4%
LakembaTony StewartALP18.7%
HeffronDeirdre GrusovinALP18.8%
St MarysJim AndersonALP18.9%
LiverpoolPaul LynchALP19.1%
WollongongGerry SullivanALP20.1%
IllawarraTerry RumbleALP20.5%
CabramattaReba MeagherALP21.2%
WaratahJohn PriceALP24.1%