1962 Western Australian state election

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 Albert Hawke.

1962 Western Australian state election

31 March 1962 (1962-03-31)
All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly 26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader David Brand Albert Hawke Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor Leader since 1 March 1957 3 July 1951 Leader's seat Greenough Northam Last election 25 seats 23 seats Seats won 26 seats 24 seats Seat change 1 1 Percentage 46.09% 44.41% Swing 3.07 0.51
Premier before election David Brand Liberal/Country coalition Elected Premier David Brand Liberal/Country coalition

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 LCL Parties. In Avon, the sitting member James Mann (LCL) 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, LCL 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

Western Australian state election, 31 March 1962 Legislative Assembly << 1959–1965 >>
Enrolled voters		319,594^[1]
Votes cast		297,520		Turnout	93.09%	+1.05%
Informal votes		5,324		Informal	1.79%	–0.79%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	129,757	44.41%	–0.51%	24	+ 1
	Liberal and Country	120,267	41.16%	+3.68%	18	+ 1
	Country	17,339	5.93%	–0.61%	8	± 0
	Democratic Labor	6,601	2.26%	–2.86%	0	± 0
	Ind. Lib.	4,556	1.56%	–2.26%	0	– 2
	Communist	1,201	0.41%	–0.43%	0	± 0
	Independent	12,475	4.27%	+2.99%	0	± 0
Total		292,196			50

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 LCL seats (one less than 1959) representing 26,836 enrolled voters, and 3 Country seats (one less than 1959) representing 15,532 enrolled voters.

See also

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

References