1996 Victorian state election

1996 Victorian state election

← 1992 30 March 1996 (1996-03-30) 1999 →
All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 22 (of the 44) seats in the Victorian Legislative Council 45 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Jeff Kennett John Brumby Party Liberal/National coalition Labor Leader since 23 April 1991 June 1993 Leader's seat Burwood Broadmeadows Last election 61 seats 27 seats Seats won 58 29 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 1,397,352 1,189,475 Percentage 50.68% 43.13% Swing 1.27 4.72 TPP 53.47% 46.53% TPP swing 2.81 2.83
Results in each electorate.
Premier before election Jeff Kennett Liberal/National coalition Elected Premier Jeff Kennett Liberal/National coalition

The 1996 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 30 March 1996, was for the 53rd Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect all 88 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-member Legislative Council. The election took place four weeks after the 1996 federal election which swept the Labor Party from power nationally.

The Liberal–National Coalition led by Jeff Kennett and Pat McNamara was returned for a second term. A swing against the government did not produce a significant seat transfer to the Labor Party, now led by John Brumby and still recovering from its landslide defeat at the October 1992 state election. While Labor obtained significant swings in safe Coalition seats, the marginal outer suburban electorates swung further towards the government.^[1] The overall two party preferred swing was 2.8% to Labor.

The first signs of rural discontent with the Kennett government began to appear at this election. Independent candidate Russell Savage won Mildura from the Liberals, while other independents polled strongly in the Coalition-held electorates of Benalla, Gippsland East, Polwarth and Rodney.^[2]