Victorian legislative election, 1996

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Legislative elections for the Victorian Legislative Assembly and for half the seats in the Victorian Legislative Council were held on Saturday March 30, 1996. The Liberal National Coalition government of Premier Jeff Kennett was easily returned with a slightly reduced majority after their 1992 landslide victory. The Labor Party, lead by John Brumby made a net gain of just two seats.

The Labor partly achieved its best swings in safe Coalition electorates but the marginal outer suburban electorates swung further towards the government. 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 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. [link]

Results

Legislative Assembly

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,212,933	43.99	-0.17	49	-3
	Australian Labor Party	1,189,475	43.13	+4.73	29	+2
	National Party of Australia	184,419	6.69	-1.14	9	0
	Natural Law	51,231	1.15	+0.54	0	0
	Others	119,509	4.33	-3.76	1	+1
	Total	2,757,567			88

Legislative Council

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,208,168	43.87	+0.38	14	28
	Australian Labor Party	1,114,843	40.49	+1.93	5	10
	National Party of Australia	182,494	6.63	-2.11	3	6
	Australian Democrats	157,798	5.73	+5.42	0	0
	Democratic Labor Party	43,533	1.58	-2.96	0	0
	Others	46,811	1.70	-2.65	0	0
	Total	2,753,667			22	44

See also

• Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1996-1999

References