These two videos contain the ABC’s election night coverage of the 1988 Victorian state election count.
The election was won by the ALP, delivering a third consecutive victory for Premier John Cain, against the Liberal Party’s Jeff Kennett.
The coverage is notable for the accurate predictions of Senator Robert Ray, the Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs in the Hawke government. Surrounded by defeated Liberals arguing they were still in with a chance, Ray was the first to predict that the Cain government would be returned with the loss of just one seat, Warrandyte.
The ALP won 46 seats to 33 for the Liberal Party and 9 for the Nationals. The Nationals lost one seat, Mildura, to the Liberal Party.
The ALP’s final primary vote was 46.55%, a loss of 3.46%. The Liberals polled 40.51%, down 1.3%, whilst the Nationals received 7.76%, an increase of 0.47%.
The coalition parties won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote, 50.51%, to the ALP’s 49.49%, an overall swing of 1.21% against the ALP.
The election night coverage is hosted by Mary Delahunty, who would go on to become the ALP member for Northcote from 1998 until 2006, and serving as a minister in the Bracks government between 1999 and 2006.
Watch the 1988 Victorian state election count, Part 1 (91m):
Watch the 1998 Victorian state election count, Part 2 (93m):
