Elections were held 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 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

on 15 July 1995 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, which had been in power since the 1989 election and led by

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 ...

Wayne Goss Wayne Keith Goss (26 February 1951 – 10 November 2014) was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996, becoming the first Labor Premier of the state in over thirty two years. Prior to entering politics, Goss was a solic ...

, was elected to a third term, defeating the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

under

Rob Borbidge Robert Edward Borbidge (born 12 August 1954) is a former Australian politician who served as the 35th Premier of Queensland from 1996 to 1998. He was the leader of the Queensland branch of the National Party, and was the last member of that p ...

. The Queensland Nationals and Liberals were fighting their first election as a coalition in 15 years, having renewed it midway through Goss' second term. The Coalition actually won a majority of the

two-party preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP ...

. However, most of that vote was wasted on landslide margins in the Nationals' rural heartland. As a result, while the Coalition scored an overall eight-seat swing, it only won nine seats in greater

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, allowing Labor to hold on to power with a majority of one seat. On 8 December 1995, the Court of Disputed Returns threw out the results in Mundingburra, which Labor's Ken Davies had won by 16 votes, after it was discovered that 22 overseas military personnel were denied the chance to vote. This forced a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, held in February 1996. Liberal

Frank Tanti Francis John Tanti (born 13 August 1949) is a former Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he became a cabinet-maker, eventually moving to Queensland. A member of the Liberal Party from August 1993, he ran unsuccessfully for Townsville City ...

won the by-election, resulting in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...

. With Labor and the Coalition holding 44 seats each, the balance of power rested with

Liz Cunningham Elizabeth Anne Cunningham is an Australian politician. She was an independent member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1995 to 2015, representing the electorate of Gladstone. A conservative MLA in a traditionally Labor district, Cu ...

, the newly elected Independent member for Gladstone. Cunningham threw her support to the Coalition, allowing Borbidge to form a minority government.

Key dates

Results

Seats changing hands

Post-election pendulum

References

{{Queensland elections Elections in Queensland Queensland state election 1990s in Queensland Queensland state election

Key dates

Results

Seats changing hands

Post-election pendulum

See also

References