Australian federal election, 1983
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All 125 seats in the Australian House of Representatives 63 seats were needed for a majority in the House All 64 seats in the Australian Senate |
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24
24Malcolm Fraser
Liberal/National coalition
Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution. The incumbent coalition government in power since 1975, led by Malcolm Fraser (Liberal Party of Australia) and Doug Anthony (National Party of Australia), was defeated by the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Bob Hawke.
Independent: Brian Harradine
At the time of the election, the economy suffered from high inflation and high unemployment, alongside increases in industrial disputation and drought across much of the rural areas. The coalition government was led by Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister since 1975. Fraser had fought off a leadership challenge from Andrew Peacock, who had resigned from the Cabinet citing Fraser's "manic determination to get his own way", a phrase Fraser had himself used when he resigned from the Gorton ministry in 1971. The Liberal government had to contend with the early 1980s recession. They unexpectedly won the December 1982 Flinders by-election, after having lost the March 1982 Lowe by-election with a large swing.
Bob Hawke had entered Parliament at the 1980 federal election following a decade as leader of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Labor factions began to push for the deposition of Bill Hayden from the party leadership in favour of Hawke. Fraser was well aware of the ructions in Labor, and originally planned to call an election for 1982, more than a year before it was due. However, he was forced to scrap those plans after suffering a severe back injury.
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