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1976 New South Wales state election

State election for New South Wales, Australia in May 1976

Field	Value
election_name	1976 New South Wales state election
country	New South Wales
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1973 New South Wales state election
previous_year	1973
next_election	1978 New South Wales state election
next_year	1978
seats_for_election	All 99 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
50 seats were needed for a majority
election_date
image1	[[File:Neville Wran cropped.png	175x175px]]
leader1	Neville Wran
leader_since1	3 December 1973
party1	Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)
leaders_seat1	Bass Hill
percentage1	49.75%
swing1	6.82
last_election1	44 seats
seats1	50
seat_change1	6
image2
leader2	Eric Willis
leader_since2	23 January 1976
party2	Liberal/Country coalition
colour2
leaders_seat2	Earlwood
percentage2	46.32%
swing2	1.99
last_election2	52 seats
seats2	48
seat_change2	4
map_image	1976 New South Wales state election.svg
map_size	350px
map_caption	Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate
title	Premier
before_election	Eric Willis
before_party	Liberal/Country coalition
after_election	Neville Wran
after_party	Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)

50 seats were needed for a majority

A general election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 1 May 1976. The result was a narrow win for the Labor Party under Neville Wran—the party's first in the state in more than a decade.

Issues

The incumbent Liberal-Country Party coalition had lost its long-time leader, Sir Robert Askin, who retired in January 1975. Eric Willis was seen as the favourite to replace him. Despite Askin's initial support, Willis refused his help, preferring to gain the leadership on his own merits. Askin then threw his support behind the Minister for Lands, Tom Lewis. Willis, sure he had sufficient support, refused to campaign, but the parliamentary party backed Lewis, leading to the latter's election as Liberal leader and, consequently, premier. However, there was a leadership spill in January 1976, resulting in the installation of Willis as party leader and premier.

Former Minister Steve Mauger resigned on 27 January 1976, sparking a by-election in his seat of Monaro in May, and early polls indicated a large swing to Labor. Willis announced an early election on 1 May, thereby avoiding the by-election, in the hope of preventing a larger move of voters against the government.

Wran successfully emerged from the shadow of the defeated Whitlam Labor government at a federal level. Labor's campaign focussed largely on Wran himself, with what Australians call a "presidential-style" campaign. The state Labor Party had undergone a long process of renewal, and emerged with strong moderate credentials. Labor also offered an alternative to a long-serving government widely perceived as corrupt.

Wran's campaign slogan, "Let's put the state in better shape", delivered by the leader, along with key spokesmen Peter Cox and Syd Einfeld, resonated with voters.

Key dates

Date	Event
2 April 1976	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
8 April 1976	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
1 May 1976	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
14 May 1976	The Willis–Punch ministry resigned and the First Wran ministry was sworn in.
21 May 1976	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
25 May 1976	Parliament resumed for business.

Results

The election was in doubt for several days. Ultimately, the seats of Gosford and Hurstville fell to Labor by only 74 and 44 votes respectively. Had the Coalition retained those seats, it would have stayed in power with a one-seat majority, but the loss of Gosford and Hurstville gave Labor a one-seat majority.

| turnout % = 93.29 | informal % = 1.76 |votes % = 49.75 |votes % = 36.29 |votes % = 10.03 |votes % = 0.58 |votes % = 0.27 |votes % = 0.09 |votes % = 0.08 |votes % = 0.08 |votes % = 2.82 |}

Seats changing hands

Seat	Post-1976	Party	Member	Margin	Margin	Member	Party
Ashfield	Liberal	David Hunter	3.6	-8.7	5.1	Paul Whelan	Labor
Blue Mountains	Independent	Harold Coates	6.5	-7.0	0.5	Mick Clough	Labor
Gordon	Democratic Labor	Kevin Harrold	N/A	N/A	31.5	Tim Moore	Liberal
Gosford	Liberal	Malcolm Brooks	5.7	-5.8	0.1	Brian McGowan	Labor
Hurstville	Liberal	Tom Mead	3.1	-3.2	0.1	Kevin Ryan	Labor
Monaro	Liberal	Steve Mauger	7.3	-8.8	1.5	John Akister	Labor

Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
In addition, Labor retained the seat of Coogee, which it had won from the Liberals at a 1974 by-election.

Post-election pendulum

Notes

References

(28 August 1975). "Willis Premier if he let me help". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
Bramston, Troy. (2006). "The Wran era". Federation Press.
Green, Antony. "1976 election totals". [[Parliament of New South Wales]].
Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of New South Wales, Assembly election, 1 May 1976".
Hughes, Colin A.. (1986). "A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1975-1984". ANU Press.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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