This article provides information on candidates who stood for the
1987 Australian federal election
The 1987 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 11 July 1987, following the granting of a double dissolution on 5 June by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen. Consequently, all 148 seats in the House of Representatives as well ...
. The election was held on 11 July 1987.
Retiring Members and Senators
Labor
*
Len Keogh MP (
Bowman, Qld)
*
Ralph Jacobi
Ralph Jacobi (4 December 192816 January 2002) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1969 until 1987.
Before parliament, Jacobi was employed in the merchant navy an ...
MP (
Hawker
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to:
Places
* Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Hawker, South Australia, a town
* Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia
* Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...
, SA)
*Senator
Ruth Coleman
Ruth Nancy Coleman (; 27 September 1931 – 27 March 2008) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1974 to 1987. She was prominent in the anti-nuclea ...
(WA)
*Senator
Ron Elstob (SA)
*Senator
Gordon McIntosh
Gordon Douglas McIntosh (29 May 1925 – 10 March 2019) was a Scottish-born Australian politician.
Early life
Born in Glasgow, he was a toolmaker and served in the Royal Air Force from 1946 to 1948. Having moved to Australia, he was preside ...
(WA)
*Senator
Ted Robertson
Edward Albert Robertson (18 March 1929 – 5 January 1991) was an Australian politician. Born in Albany, Western Australia, he was educated at the University of Western Australia before becoming a teacher. Having moved to the Northern Terri ...
(NT)
Liberal
*
Peter Coleman
William Peter Coleman (15 December 1928 – 31 March 2019) was an Australian writer and politician. A widely published journalist for over 60 years, he was editor of '' The Bulletin'' (1964–1967) and of '' Quadrant'' for 20 years, and publi ...
MP (
Wentworth Wentworth may refer to:
People
* Wentworth (surname)
* Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder
* S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator
* Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
, NSW)
*
Peter Drummond MP (
Forrest, WA)
*Senator
Sir John Carrick (NSW)
*Senator
Dame Margaret Guilfoyle (Vic)
*Senator
Reg Withers
Reginald Greive Withers (26 October 1924 – 15 November 2014) was a long-serving member of the Australian Senate, a government minister, and Lord Mayor of Perth.
Early life
Withers was born in Bunbury, Western Australia. Withers was the son o ...
(WA)
National
*Senator
Stan Collard (Qld)
Country Liberal
*
Paul Everingham
Paul Anthony Edward Everingham (born 4 February 1943) is a former Australian politician who was the head of government of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1977 to 1984, serving as the second and last Majority Leader (1977–1978) and ...
MP (
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
, NT)
*Senator
Bernie Kilgariff
Bernard Francis Kilgariff AM (30 September 1923 – 13 April 2010) was an Australian politician. He was one of the founders of the Country Liberal Party and served as a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly which included a stin ...
(NT)
Democrats
*Senator
Colin Mason
Colin Victor James Mason (28 October 1926 – 18 July 2020) was a New Zealand-born Australian journalist, author and politician.
Mason worked for 14 years as the first foreign correspondent of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and became ...
(NSW)
Independent
*Senator
Michael Townley
Michael Vernon Townley (born December 5, 1942, in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American-born former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the secret police of Chile during the regime of Augusto Pinochet. In 1978, Townley pled guilty t ...
(Tas) – elected as Liberal
House of Representatives
Sitting members at the time of the election are shown in bold text. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk (*) is also used.
Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Senate
Sitting Senators are shown in bold text. Since this was a
double dissolution
A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...
election, each state elected twelve senators. The first six successful candidates from each state were elected to six-year terms, the remaining six to three-year terms. Tickets that elected at least one Senator are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are identified by an asterisk (*).
Australian Capital Territory
Two seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending one seat. 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 ...
was defending one seat.
New South Wales
Twelve seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending six seats. The
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 ...
-
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, ce ...
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 ...
was defending five seats. The
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
were defending one seat.
Northern Territory
Two seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending one seat. The
Country Liberal Party
The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...
was defending one seat.
Queensland
Twelve seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending five seats (although Senator
George Georges was contesting the election as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
). 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 ...
was defending two seats. The
National Party was defending four seats. The
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
were defending one seat.
South Australia
Twelve seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending five seats. 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 ...
was defending five seats (although Senator
Don Jessop
Donald Scott Jessop (21 June 1927 – 21 May 2018) was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he was educated at state schools and then the University of Adelaide, after which he became an optometrist at Port Augusta, South Australia, Port ...
contested the election as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
). The
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
were defending two seats (although Senator
David Vigor
David Bernard Vigor (26 June 1939 – 9 April 1998) was a member of the Australian Senate, representing the Australian Democrats and the Unite Australia Party.
Born in Elbeuf, France to an English mother and French father, the infant Vig ...
contested the election for the
Unite Australia Party
The Unite Australia Party (UAP) was a short-lived Australian political party that existed in the late 1980s.
In December 1986, Senator John Siddons, former deputy leader of the Australian Democrats, quit the Democrats to form the UAP, arguing th ...
).
Tasmania
Twelve seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending five seats. 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 ...
was defending five seats. The
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
were defending one seat.
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Senator
Brian Harradine
Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving indep ...
was defending one seat.
Victoria
Twelve seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending five seats. 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 ...
was defending five seats. The
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
were defending two seats (although Senator
John Siddons
John Royston Siddons (5 October 1927 – 22 September 2016) was an Australian politician. He was a businessman and the executive chairman of Siddons Industries Ltd. before entering politics.
Siddons was born on 5 October 1927 in Melbourne, the ...
contested the election for the
Unite Australia Party
The Unite Australia Party (UAP) was a short-lived Australian political party that existed in the late 1980s.
In December 1986, Senator John Siddons, former deputy leader of the Australian Democrats, quit the Democrats to form the UAP, arguing th ...
).
Western Australia
Twelve seats were up for election. The
Labor Party was defending six seats. 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 ...
was defending five seats.
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Senator
Jo Vallentine
Josephine Vallentine (born 30 May 1946) is an Australian peace activist and politician, a former senator for Western Australia. She entered the Senate on 1 July 1985 after election as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party but sat as an ind ...
, elected for the
Nuclear Disarmament Party
The Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP) was an Australian political party formed in June 1984. It was founded by medical researcher Michael Denborough as the political arm of the Australian anti-nuclear movement, which had been active since the earl ...
but now running under the "Vallentine Peace Group" banner, was defending one seat.
Summary by party
Beside each party is the number of seats contested by that party in the House of Representatives for each state, as well as an indication of whether the party contested the Senate election in the respective state.
Unregistered parties and groups
*The
Socialist Party of Australia endorsed Nick Papanikitas in
Grayndler, Sofia Mavrogeorgis in
Hindmarsh, Brian Rooney in
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
, and Senate tickets in New South Wales (Group F), Victoria (Group K) and Queensland (Group C).
*The Industrial Labor Party endorsed Martin Greany in
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, Darren Chapman in
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, Gil Speirs in
Deakin, Les Johnson in
Dunkley, Linda Ely in
Isaacs Isaacs may refer to:
* The Isaacs, a bluegrass Southern gospel music group
* Isaacs (surname)
* Isaacs, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra, Australia
* Division of Isaacs, a federal electoral division in Victoria, Australia
* Divisi ...
, Bob Wilson in
McEwen
The Scottish surname MacEwen derives from the Old Gaelic ''Mac Eoghainn'', meaning 'the son of Eoghann'. The name is found today in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Because it was widely used before its spelling was standardised, the modern n ...
, and Group B for the Senate in Victoria.
[
]
See also
* 1987 Australian federal election
The 1987 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 11 July 1987, following the granting of a double dissolution on 5 June by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen. Consequently, all 148 seats in the House of Representatives as well ...
* Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1984–1987
* Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1987–1990
* Members of the Australian Senate, 1985–1987
* Members of the Australian Senate, 1987–1990
This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1987 to 1990. It consisted of twelve senators for each of the six states of Australia and two senators representing each of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. All ...
* List of political parties in Australia
The politics of Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal/National Coalition. Federally, 16 of the 151 members of the lower house ( ...
References
{{reflist
Adam Carr's Election Archive - House of Representatives 1987Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1987
1987 elections in Australia
Candidates for Australian federal elections