The 1964 Tasmanian state election was held on 2 May 1964 in the

Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

to elect 35 members of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

. The election used the Hare-Clark

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

systemHouse of Assembly Elections

Parliament of Tasmania The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the Governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly (the lower house), and T ...

. — seven members were elected from each of five electorates. The Labor Party, in power since 1934, was seeking a tenth term in office, and

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Eric Reece Eric Elliott Reece, AC (6 July 190923 October 1999) was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975. His 13 years as premier remains the second longest in Tasmania's history, On ...

was contesting his second election in that role, this time against

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Angus Bethune Angus Bethune may refer to: * Angus Bethune (fur trader) (1783–1858), Canadian fur trader * Angus Bethune (politician) Sir Walter Angus Bethune (10 September 1908 – 22 August 2004) was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian Ho ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Despite its longevity, the peculiarities of the Tasmanian Hare-Clark system meant it had served as a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

with the support of independents since the 1946 election. This is to date the last time that a sitting Premier, in Reece, has won back to back elections and was the first and only time that a Tasmanian Government won a tenth consecutive term in office.

Results

Labor won a majority in the House of Assembly with 19 of the 35 seats. Dr

Reg Turnbull Reginald John David "Spot" Turnbull (21 February 1908 – 17 July 2006) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1946 to 1961 (1946–1959 for the Labor Party, 1959–1961 as an Independent), then a ...

, the former Labor treasurer who had won 27.9% as an independent in

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

in 1959 (equal to 5.64% of the statewide vote) departed in 1961 for the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

, with most of his vote returning to his former party.

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

Distribution of seats

References

External links

Assembly Election Results, 1964

.
Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1964
Tasmanian Electoral Commission. {{Tasmanian elections Elections in Tasmania 1964 elections in Australia 1960s in Tasmania May 1964 events in Australia