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
  First party Second party
  Jeff Kennett
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 Decrease3 Increase2
Popular vote 1,397,352 1,189,475
Percentage 50.68% 43.13%
Swing Decrease1.27 Increase4.72
TPP 53.47% 46.53%
TPP swing Decrease2.81 Increase2.83

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 LiberalNational 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]

  1. ^ Economou N. & Costar B.J. 'The Electoral Contest and Coalition Dominance 1992-1998' in Costar B.J & Economou N. (eds) The Kennett Revolution, UNSW Press, Sydney, 1999, p. 124
  2. ^ "1996 Victorian Legislative Assembly elections". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive.