1968 Western Australian state election
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1968 Western Australian state election
| country = Western Australia
| type = parliamentary
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1965 Western Australian state election
| previous_year = 1965
| next_election = 1971 Western Australian state election
| next_year = 1971
| seats_for_election = All 51 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
and 15 (of the 30) seats to the Western Australian Legislative Council
26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
| election_date = {{Start date|df=yes|1968|03|23}}
| image1 = 150x150px
| leader1 = David Brand
| leader_since1 = 1 March 1957
| party1 = Liberal/Country coalition
| leaders_seat1 = Greenough
| popular_vote1 =
| percentage1 = 49.25%
| swing1 = {{decrease}}4.16
| last_election1 = 29 seats
| seats1 = 28 seats
| seat_change1 = {{decrease}}1
| image2 = 150x150px
| leader2 = John Tonkin
| leader_since2 = 1 January 1967
| party2 = Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)
| leaders_seat2 = Melville
| popular_vote2 =
| percentage2 = 45.35%
| swing2 = {{increase}}2.71
| last_election2 = 21 seats
| seats2 = 23 seats
| seat_change2 = {{increase}}2
| title = Premier
| before_election = David Brand
| before_party = Liberal/Country coalition
| after_election = David Brand
| after_party = Liberal/Country coalition
}}Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 23 March 1968 to elect all 51 members to the Legislative Assembly and 15 members to the 30-seat Legislative Council. The Liberal-Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir David Brand, won a record fourth term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader John Tonkin.
Results
=Legislative Assembly=
{{see also|Results of the Western Australian state election, 1968 (Legislative Assembly)}}
{{Australian elections/Title row
| title = Western Australian state election, 23 March 1968
| house = Legislative Assembly
| series = Western Australian state election
| back = 1965
| forward = 1971
| enrolled = 359,790{{ref label|cont|1|1}}
| total_votes = 331,325
| turnout % = 92.09%
| turnout chg = –0.24%
| informal = 10,255
| informal % = 3.10%
| informal chg = –0.01%
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = Labor WA
|votes = 145,605
|votes % = 45.35%
|votes chg = +2.71%
|seats = 23
|seats chg = + 2
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|government = yes
|party_id = LCL WA
|votes = 141,271
|votes % = 44.00%
|votes chg = –4.54%
|seats = 19
|seats chg = – 2
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|government = yes
|party_id = WA Country
|votes = 16,879
|votes % = 5.25%
|votes chg = +0.38%
|seats = 9
|seats chg = + 1
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = DLP
|votes = 10,456
|votes % = 3.26%
|votes chg = +2.32%
|seats = 0
|seats chg = ± 0
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party = Democratic
|votes = 2,216
|votes % = 0.69%
|votes chg = +0.69%
|seats = 0
|seats chg = ± 0
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = Communist
|votes = 1,694
|votes % = 0.53%
|votes chg = +0.44%
|seats = 0
|seats chg = ± 0
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = Independent
|votes = 2,949
|votes % = 0.92%
|votes chg = –1.98%
|seats = 0
|seats chg = ± 0
}}
{{Australian elections/Total row |
|total_votes = 321,070
|total_seats = 51
}}
|}
:{{note label|cont|1|1}} 449,122 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 14 seats (27.45% of the total) were uncontested—five Liberal seats representing 32,810 enrolled voters, five Country seats representing 29,746 enrolled voters, and four Labor seats representing 26,776 enrolled voters.
=Legislative Council=
{{see also|Results of the Western Australian state election, 1968 (Legislative Council)}}
{{Australian elections/Title row
| title = Western Australian state election, 23 March 1968
| house = Legislative Council
| enrolled = 208,417{{ref label|contLC|1|1}}
| total_votes = 192,342
| turnout % = 92.29%
| turnout chg = +0.15%
| informal = 8,631
| informal % = 4.49%
| informal chg = +0.22%
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = Labor WA
|votes = 85,674
|votes % = 46.64%
|votes chg =
|seats = 6
|seats held = 10
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = LCL WA
|votes = 67,977
|votes % = 37.00%
|votes chg =
|seats = 4
|seats held = 12
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = WA Country
|votes = 21,228
|votes % = 11.56%
|votes chg =
|seats = 5
|seats held = 8
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = DLP
|votes = 4,502
|votes % = 2.45%
|votes chg =
|seats = 0
|seats chg = 0
}}
{{Australian elections/Party summary|
|party_id = Independent
|votes = 4,330
|votes % = 2.36%
|votes chg =
|seats = 0
|seats chg = 0
}}
{{Australian elections/Total row |
|total_votes = 183,711
|total_seats = 15
|total_held = 30
}}
|}
:{{note label|contLC|1|1}} 449,122 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 9 seats (60% of the total) were uncontested—three Liberal seats representing 99,137 enrolled voters, three Country seats representing 53,847 enrolled voters, and three Labor seats representing 86,198 enrolled voters.
Post-election pendulum
| class="toccolours" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="float:left; margin-right:.5em; margin-top:.4em; font-size:90%;" |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center"|LCL/Country seats (28) |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="Blue" |Marginal |
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Subiaco
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Hugh Guthrie | align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |0.4% |
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Kimberley
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Alan Ridge | align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |2.2% |
| align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |Moore
| align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |Edgar Lewis | align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |2.3% v IND |
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Mirrabooka
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Doug Cash | align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |2.8% |
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Merredin-Yilgarn
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Jack Stewart | align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |2.9% |
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Murray
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Ewart Runciman | align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |3.8% |
| align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |Blackwood
| align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |Ron Kitney | align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |4.6% v LCL |
| align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |Toodyay
| align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |James Craig | align="left" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="CCFFCC" |4.7% |
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Bunbury
| align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |Maurice Williams | align="left" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="B0C4DE" |5.7% |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="Blue" |Fairly safe |
| align="left" bgcolor="98FB98" |Roe
| align="left" bgcolor="98FB98" |Bill Young | align="left" bgcolor="98FB98" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="98FB98" |9.7% v LCL |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="Blue" |Safe |
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Cottesloe
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Ross Hutchinson | align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="6495ED" |10.0% |
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Mount Lawley
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Ray O'Connor | align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="6495ED" |10.0% |
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Floreat
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Andrew Mensaros | align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="6495ED" |14.6% |
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Dale
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Cyril Rushton | align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="6495ED" |15.4% |
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Darling Range
| align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |Ken Dunn | align="left" bgcolor="6495ED" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="6495ED" |16.2% |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Nedlands
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Charles Court | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |26.6% |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |South Perth
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Bill Grayden | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |28.6% v DLP |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |East Melville
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Des O'Neil | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |30.3% v COM |
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Avon
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Harry Gayfer | align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="40C351" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Greenough
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |David Brand | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Katanning
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Crawford Nalder | align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="40C351" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Mount Marshall
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Ray McPharlin | align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="40C351" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Murchison-Eyre
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Richard Burt | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Narrogin
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |William Manning | align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="40C351" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Stirling
| align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |Clayton Mitchell | align="left" bgcolor="40C351" |CP | align="center" bgcolor="40C351" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Vasse
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Stewart Bovell | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Wellington
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Iven Manning | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Wembley
| align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |Guy Henn | align="left" bgcolor="4169E1" |LCL | align="center" bgcolor="4169E1" |unopp. |
| class="toccolours" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="float:left; margin-right:.5em; margin-top:.4em; font-size:90%;" |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" |Labor seats (23) |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" |Marginal |
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" | Canning
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |Tom Bateman | align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FFCACA" |0.5% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" | Clontarf
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |Donald May | align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FFCACA" |2.2% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" | Maylands
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |John Harman | align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FFCACA" |3.0% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" | Northam
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |Ken McIver | align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FFCACA" |3.6% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" | Mount Hawthorn
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |Ron Bertram | align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FFCACA" |4.2% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" | Karrinyup
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |Stan Lapham | align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FFCACA" |4.3% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" | Albany
| align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |Jack Hall | align="left" bgcolor="FFCACA" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FFCACA" |5.4% |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" |Fairly safe |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" | Geraldton
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |Bill Sewell | align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |6.2% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" | Perth
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |Terry Burke | align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |6.2% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" | Collie
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |Tom Jones | align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |6.6% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" | Warren
| align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |David Evans | align="left" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF8D8D" |8.8% |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" |Safe |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" | Ascot
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |Merv Toms | align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |13.2% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" | Balcatta
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |Herb Graham | align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |13.4% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" | Gascoyne
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |Daniel Norton | align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |14.1% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" | Belmont
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |Colin Jamieson | align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |14.5% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" | Melville
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |John Tonkin | align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |17.5% |
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" | Cockburn
| align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |Don Taylor | align="left" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="FF6B6B" |18.6% |
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Swan
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Bill Haigh | align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="DF716D" |21.0% |
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Fremantle
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Harry Fletcher | align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="DF716D" |23.5% v DLP |
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Boulder-Dundas
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Arthur Moir | align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="DF716D" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Kalgoorlie
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Tom Evans | align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="DF716D" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Pilbara
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Arthur Bickerton | align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="DF716D" |unopp. |
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Victoria Park
| align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |Ron Davies | align="left" bgcolor="DF716D" |ALP | align="center" bgcolor="DF716D" |unopp. |
{{Clear}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Western Australian elections}}
Category:Elections in Western Australia