The Barambah state by-election, 1988 was 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 on 16 April 1988 for the

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_ ...

Legislative Assembly seat of Barambah, based in the town of

Kingaroy Kingaroy is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the junction of the D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highways, north-west of the state capital Brisbane and south west of Gympie. As a ...

. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of

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 ...

MP and former

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 ...

Sir

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...

. Until the by-election, the seat had been considered the Nationals' safest seat in Queensland.

Candidates

The candidates were: *

Warren Truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...

of the National Party, the chairman of the

Shire of Kingaroy The Shire of Kingaroy was a local government area in the South Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about northwest of the capital, Brisbane. The shire covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1912 until 2008, when ...

; *

Trevor Perrett Trevor John Perrett (born 2 August 1941 in Kingaroy, Queensland) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1988 to 1998, representing the electorate of Barambah. Perrett was elected at th ...

, a

grazier and former National Party member"Vote for Libs, says Joh, the Nats are lost", ''The Courier-Mail'', 15 March 1988, pg 2. who represented the

Citizens Electoral Council The Australian Citizens Party (ACP), formerly the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia (CEC), is a minor political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement which was led by American political activist and conspir ...

, a conservative party; * John Lang of the Labor Party; and * Kevin Polzin, a

Wondai Wondai is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wondai had a population of 1,975 people. Geography Wondai is located to the south of the Bunya Highway, north west of the state capital, Brisbane ...

peanut farmer who used the title "New Country Party" (not related to the

New Country Party The New Country Party was a minor political party in Australia. It emerged from the internal divisions of the One Nation Party in Queensland and Western Australia in 2003 (in a similar fashion to the City Country Alliance) and was registered by ...

which was formed by former One Nation members in 2003).

Results

The result was a shock to most observers, and came about largely because 89% of Labor voters' preferences went to the CEC. It was seen by contemporary observers as a clear setback to new party leader Mike Ahern in his efforts to stabilise the party ahead of the 1989 election.

Aftermath

Though elected as a Citizens Electoral Council candidate, Trevor Perrett defected to the National Party in December 1988, and was re-elected as a National candidate at the 1989 state election. Perrett became a minister in the

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 ...

government of

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 ...

and held the seat of Barambah until his defeat at the 1998 state election. Defeated National Party candidate Warren Truss was elected as the member for the division of Wide Bay at the

1990 Australian federal election Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

. He served as a minister in the government of

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 s ...

and became federal leader of the National Party in 2007 and

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy chief executive and the second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968, althoug ...

in 2013 and served as a minister in the governments of

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

and

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

References

{{Qld by-elections 45th parl 1988 elections in Australia Queensland state by-elections 1980s in Queensland

Candidates

Results

Aftermath

See also

References