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Victoria: State Of The Parties 1996-2002

This table shows the state of the parties in the Victorian parliament between 1996 and 2002.

The Kennett-led Coalition government won its second term in 1996. In 1999, Steve Bracks became Premier of a minority Labor government. In 2002, Bracks won the largest majority in the history of the Victorian parliament.

Victorian Parliament
Party Leg
Assembly
1996
Leg
Council
1996
Leg
Assembly
1999
Leg
Council
1999
Leg
Assembly
2002
Leg
Council
2002
ALP
29
10
42 43 44
14
62
25
Liberal
48
28
36 35
24
17
15
National
9
6
7 6
6
7
4
Independent
2
3
2
Total
88
44
88
44
88
44
Current: Majority Labor Government, first elected 1999
Premier: Steve Bracks

 


Victorian Election 1999 – Scott Bennett & Gerard Newman

This is a research paper on the 1999 Victorian state election.

The paper is by Scott Bennett, of the Politics and Public Administration Group, and Gerard Newman, of the Statistics Group, part of the Information and Research Services of the Department of the Parliamentary Library. [Read more…]


McNamara Announces Retirement; Perilous By-Election In Benalla

Pat McNamara, former Victorian National Party leaderThe Victorian coalition parties face a perilous by-election in Benalla in the new year following the decision of Pat McNamara to retire from Parliament.

McNamara resigned today as leader of the National Party and was replaced by Peter Ryan. Ryan was elected unanimously. The MLA for Swan Hill, Barry Steggall, is his new deputy.

The expected by-election follows last weekend’s 10% swing to the ALP which delivered the Bracks government Burwood, the seat of former Premier Jeff Kennett.

McNamara won Benalla last September in a two-candidate contest, securing 57.41% of the vote.

There are 46 polling booths in Benalla, many of them small in numbers. Last September, McNamara won all but 3 – Eildon, Jamieson and Wandiligong – and these were won only narrowly by the ALP candidate, Denise Allen.

By contrast, at the 1996 election, McNamara secured 58.86% of the primary vote against 4 other candidates, including independent Bill Hill who has announced he will contest the forthcoming by-election. Hill won 15.36% of the primary vote in 1996.

Given the strong showing for independents in other rural seats in this year’s election, the National Party has good cause to be concerned about its capacity to retain Benalla, but Labor and independent candidates will have no illusions about their prospects in this traditional conservative electorate.


Victorian Liberals Plot To Remove Poggioli and Howley

Victorian Liberals stunned by yesterday’s loss of the blue-ribbon seat of Burwood are planning a move against State Director Peter Poggioli and Party President Joy Howley.

A source close to the party hierarchy at 104 Exhibition Street has told VCEpolitics.com that senior Liberals are furious over the result of the September 18 election, the Frankston East by-election, and now the Burwood by-election.

A senior member of the Liberal Party’s private polling team has already been dispatched to work for South Australian Premier, John Olsen, in an attempt to find a scapegoat for the recent poor performance of the party machine.

Many senior Liberals are appalled at the choice of Lana McLean over Helen Kroger in the Burwood preselection. Prominent senior Liberals such as former State President Ted Bailleau backed the ex-wife of former state president Michael Kroger, but McLean was a surprise winner at the preselection convention. McLean’s campaign never got off the ground due to a series of allegations about her personal affairs.