spill A spill occurs when the contents of something, usually in liquid form, are emptied out onto a surface, person or clothes, often unintentionally. Spill may also refer to: * Oil spill *Chemical spill *Data spill *Leadership spill *Spill (audio), wh ...

of the leadership of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

took place on 3 April 1990, following the defeat of the Liberal Party at the federal election five days earlier. The spill was won by

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson wa ...

over

Peter Reith Peter Keaston Reith (15 July 1950 – 8 November 2022) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1983 and from 1984 to 2001, representing the Liberal Party. He was the party's deputy leader from 199 ...

by 62 votes to 13. Reith was then elected deputy leader of the Party. An election for the deputy leadership of the party was held, as under Liberal Party rules, all leadership positions are declared vacant after a general election, no matter what the outcome.

Background

Despite winning a slim majority (50.10 percent) of the two-party vote in the 1990 election, the Coalition came seven seats short of government. Andrew Peacock stood down as leader less than a year since he replaced John Howard, and supported his Shadow Treasurer John Hewson to replace him.

Candidates

, Shadow Treasurer, Member for

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 ...

, Shadow Minister for Education, Member for Flinders *

Alasdair Webster Alasdair Paine Webster (born 12 February 1934) is a retired Australian politician. Early life Webster was born in East Maitland, New South Wales. He underwent military service in 1953, attended the University of New England, and became a teac ...

, Member for Macquarie

Potential candidates who declined to run

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

, Shadow Minister for Industry, Technology and Commerce, Member for

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong ser ...

Results

The following tables gives the ballot results:

Leadership ballot

Deputy leadership ballot

Other candidates: *

Peter Shack Peter Donald Shack (born 20 June 1953) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1983 and from 1984 to 1993. He was a member of the Liberal Party and represented the Division of Tangney ...

Julian Beale Julian Howard Beale (10 October 1934 – 3 August 2021) was an Australian businessman and federal politician. He was the son of former cabinet minister and ambassador Sir Howard Beale. Julian Beale was a Liberal member of the Australian Parli ...

Ken Aldred Kenneth James Aldred (1 August 194517 April 2016) was an Australian politician who represented the Liberal Party in the Australian House of Representatives between 1975 and 1980 and again from 1983 to 1996. Early life Aldred was born in East M ...

* Kathy Sullivan * Bill Taylor

Aftermath

After his election as leader, Hewson endorsed former leader Peacock as his deputy, which caused a furore with Howard supporters, however, Peacock had no interest in becoming deputy leader again and withdrew happily.

was instead elected deputy in a close contest against Peacock supporter

David Jull David Francis Jull (4 October 1944 – 13 September 2011) was an Australian politician. He was a long-serving Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, from 1975 to 1983 and F ...

References

{{Leadership spills in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill Liberal Party of Australia leadership election Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill