Western Australian state election, 1962

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 31 March 1962 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Liberal-Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir David Brand, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Bert Hawke.

The election resulted in a confirmation of the status quo, with the only apparent seat changes since the 1959 election being due to the changes of affiliation of the two Independent Liberal members. Edward Oldfield, representing Mount Lawley, had joined the Labor Party during the previous term, whilst Bill Grayden, representing South Perth, had joined the Liberal Party. Both were re-elected.

Two seats changed between the Country and Liberal Parties. In Avon, the sitting member James Mann (Liberal) retired after 32 years in Parliament, and Harry Gayfer, one of the two Country Party candidates, succeeded him in the seat. Meanwhile, in outer-metropolitan Darling Range, Liberal candidate Ken Dunn defeated the sitting Country member Ray Owen. The Labor candidate (Jack Metcalfe) narrowly won the primary vote, whilst Dunn polled one vote ahead of Owen, meaning Owen was eliminated and his votes distributed between Dunn and Metcalfe. A petition was filed and the Court of Disputed Returns ordered a fresh election for 22 July 1962, which widened the gap to 15 votes.

Results

Australian elections/Title row
title = Western Australian state election, 31 March 1962
house = Legislative Assembly
series = Western Australian state election
back = 1959
forward = 1965
enrolled = 319,594ref label|cont|1|1
total_votes = 297,520
turnout % = 93.09%
turnout chg = +1.05%
informal = 5,324
informal % = 1.79%
informal chg = –0.79%Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Labor
votes = 129,757
votes % = 44.41%
votes chg = –0.51%
seats = 24
seats chg = + 1Australian elections/Party summary
government = yes
party_id = Liberal
votes = 120,267
votes % = 41.16%
votes chg = +3.68%
seats = 18
seats chg = + 1Australian elections/Party summary
government = yes
party_id = Nationals
party = Country
votes = 17,339
votes % = 5.93%
votes chg = –0.61%
seats = 8
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = DLP
votes = 6,601
votes % = 2.26%
votes chg = –2.86%
seats = 0
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Nationalist
party = Ind. Lib.
votes = 4,556
votes % = 1.56%
votes chg = –2.26%
seats = 0
seats chg = – 2Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Communist
votes = 1,201
votes % = 0.41%
votes chg = –0.43%
seats = 0
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Party summary
party_id = Independent
votes = 12,475
votes % = 4.27%
votes chg = +2.99%
seats = 0
seats chg = ± 0Australian elections/Total row
total_votes = 292,196
total_seats = 50

:note label|cont|1|1 381,805 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 11 seats (22% of the total) were uncontested—4 Labor seats (two more than 1959) representing 29,773 enrolled voters, 4 Liberal seats (one less than 1959) representing 26,836 enrolled voters, and 3 Country seats (one less than 1959) representing 15,532 enrolled voters.

ee also

* Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1959–1962
* Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1962–1965

References