1971 New South Wales state election

Elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly were held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 13 February 1971. The Liberal-Country Party coalition government led by Sir Robert Askin won a third term in office. The Labor Party opposition was led by Pat Hills.

1971 New South Wales state election
13 February 1971 (1971-02-13)
All 96 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
49 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Robert Askin Pat Hills
Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor
Leader since 17 July 1959 2 December 1968
Leader's seat Collaroy Phillip
Last election 53 seats 39 seats
Seats won 49 45
Seat change Decrease4 Increase6
Percentage 44.39% 45.02%
Swing Decrease4.71 Increase1.93
Legislative Assembly after the election
Premier before election

Bob Askin
Liberal/Country coalition

 Elected Premier

Bob Askin
Liberal/Country coalition

The Legislative Assembly had been enlarged by two members to 96 for the 1971 election. The seats of Sturt and Casino were established. Until 2019, this was the last time the Coalition won a third-term in New South Wales.

Key dates
Date Event
13 January 1971 The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[1]
22 January 1971 Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
13 February 1971 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
11 March 1971 The fourth Askin-Cutler ministry was constituted.
16 March 1971 The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
16 March 1971 Parliament resumed for business.

Results
See also: Results of the 1971 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly)

New South Wales state election, 13 February 1971[1][2]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1968–1973 >>

Enrolled voters 2,457,021[lower-alpha 1]
Votes cast 2,291,484 Turnout 93.26 -0.93
Informal votes 53,628 Informal 2.34 -0.29
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 1,007,538 45.02 +1.93 45 + 6
  Liberal 799,801 35.74 –2.73 32 – 4
  Country 193,509 8.65 –1.98 17 ± 0
  Democratic Labor 71,050 3.17 +0.89 0 ± 0
  Australia 23,689 1.06 +1.06 0 ± 0
  Def. of Govt Schools 10,850 0.48 +0.48 0 ± 0
  Communist 2,098 0.09 –0.18 0 ± 0
  Independent 129,321 5.78 +0.53 2 ± 0
Total 2,237,856     96  

Popular vote
Labor
 
 45.02%
Liberal
 
 35.74%
Country
 
 8.65%
Independents
 
 5.78%
Democratic Labor
 
 3.17%
Australia
 
 1.06%
Others
 
 0.58%
Parliamentary seats
Labor
 
 45
Liberal
 
 32
Country
 
 17
Independents
 
 2

Seats changing hands
Seat Pre-1971 Swing Post-1971
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Burrendong   Country Roger Wotton 5.9 -7.7 1.8 Leo Nott Labor  
Campbelltown   Liberal Max Dunbier 2.4 -2.5 0.1 Cliff Mallam Labor  
Casino   Country New seat 14.6 -17.1 2.5 Don Day Labor  
Gosford   Liberal Ted Humphries 1.4 -4.0 2.6 Keith O'Connell Labor  
Nepean   Liberal Ron Dunbier 5.2 -6.8 1.6 Ron Mulock Labor  
Wollongong   Liberal Jack Hough 0.5 -0.6 0.1 Eric Ramsay Labor  

Post-election pendulum
Liberal/Country seats (49)
Marginal
South Coast Jack Beale LIB 0.9% v IND
Upper Hunter Col Fisher CP 1.7%
Bathurst Clive Osborne CP 1.9%
Ashfield David Hunter LIB 2.0%
Fuller Peter Coleman LIB 2.1%
Cronulla Ian Griffith LIB 2.5%
Miranda Tim Walker LIB 2.6%
Hurstville Tom Mead LIB 2.8%
Coogee Kevin Ellis LIB 2.9%
Monaro Steve Mauger LIB 3.2%
Young George Freudenstein CP 3.8%
Byron Stanley Stephens CP 4.5%
Yaralla Lerryn Mutton LIB 4.9%
Hawkesbury Bernie Deane LIB 5.0%
Clarence Matt Singleton CP 5.1%
Fairly safe
Barwon Geoff Crawford CP 6.7%
Temora Jim Taylor CP 7.0%
Earlwood Eric Willis LIB 7.3%
Wakehurst Allan Viney LIB 8.0%
Tamworth Bill Chaffey CP 8.1%
Dubbo John Mason LIB 8.2%
Tenterfield Tim Bruxner CP 8.7%
Safe
Albury Gordon Mackie LIB 10.0%
Maitland Milton Morris LIB 11.0%
Wollondilly Tom Lewis LIB 11.0%
Orange Charles Cutler CP 11.5%
Armidale Davis Hughes CP 11.9% v IND
Goulburn Ron Brewer CP 12.0%
Burwood John Jackett LIB 12.7%
Hornsby John Maddison LIB 13.1% v IND
Sturt Tim Fischer CP 14.3%
Willoughby Laurie McGinty LIB 14.5%
Eastwood Jim Clough LIB 14.8%
Raleigh Jim Brown CP 15.5%
Manly Douglas Darby LIB 15.8%
Kirribilli John Waddy LIB 16.0%
The Hills Max Ruddock LIB 16.5%
Bligh John Barraclough LIB 17.0%
Wagga Wagga Wal Fife LIB 18.0%
Gloucester Leon Punch CP 18.2%
Vaucluse Keith Doyle LIB 18.5% v IND
Lane Cove Ken McCaw LIB 19.1%
Collaroy Robert Askin LIB 21.1% v AP
Northcott Jim Cameron LIB 23.0% v AP
Mosman Pat Morton LIB 23.4%
Oxley Bruce Cowan CP 26.8% v IND
Davidson Dick Healey LIB 30.2% v DLP
Gordon Harry Jago LIB 31.6% v DLP
Lismore Bruce Duncan CP unopp.
Labor seats (45)
Marginal
Campbelltown Cliff Mallam ALP 0.1%
Wollongong Eric Ramsay ALP 0.1%
Georges River Frank Walker ALP 1.4%
Nepean Ron Mulock ALP 1.6%
Burrendong Leo Nott ALP 1.8%
Casino Don Day ALP 2.5%
Gosford Keith O'Connell ALP 2.6%
Fairly safe
Murrumbidgee Lin Gordon ALP 6.2%
Kogarah Bill Crabtree ALP 6.4%
Drummoyne Reg Coady ALP 7.0%
Charlestown Jack Stewart ALP 8.3%
Waverley Syd Einfeld ALP 8.6%
Castlereagh Jack Renshaw ALP 8.7%
Parramatta Dan Mahoney ALP 8.7%
Rockdale Brian Bannon ALP 8.9%
Lakemba Vince Durick ALP 9.4%
Burrinjuck Bill Sheahan ALP 9.8%
Safe
Wentworthville Ernie Quinn ALP 10.8%
Maroubra Bill Haigh ALP 10.9%
Newcastle Arthur Wade ALP 11.3%
Blacktown Gordon Barnier ALP 12.2%
Canterbury Kevin Stewart ALP 12.5%
Heathcote Rex Jackson ALP 13.2%
East Hills Joe Kelly ALP 13.4%
Wyong Harry Jensen ALP 13.4%
Marrickville Norm Ryan ALP 13.5%
Bankstown Nick Kearns ALP 13.9%
Lake Macquarie Merv Hunter ALP 14.9%
Mount Druitt Jim Southee ALP 15.0%
Cook's River Tom Cahill ALP 16.1%
Fairfield Eric Bedford ALP 16.2%
Bass Hill Clarrie Earl ALP 16.8%
Merrylands Jack Ferguson ALP 17.2%
Granville Pat Flaherty ALP 17.3%
Auburn Peter Cox ALP 17.3%
Waratah Sam Jones ALP 18.6%
Liverpool George Paciullo ALP 18.7%
Wallsend Ken Booth ALP 19.4%
Corrimal Laurie Kelly ALP 20.0%
Illawarra George Petersen ALP 21.1%
Balmain Roger Degen ALP 23.0%
Phillip Pat Hills ALP 23.8%
King Albert Sloss ALP 27.5%
Cessnock George Neilly ALP 30.4%
Broken Hill Lew Johnstone ALP unopp.
Crossbench seats (2)
Murray Joe Lawson IND 1.7% v CP
Blue Mountains Harold Coates IND 7.7% v ALP

See also

Notes
  1. There were 2,496,868 enrolled voters but 39,847 were enrolled in electorates (one Labor and one Country) which were uncontested at the election.[1]

References
  1. Green, Antony. "1971 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  2. Hughes, Colin A. (1977). A handbook of Australian government and politics, 1965-1974. ANU Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-7081-1340-0.
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