Commonwealth Parliament, Senate election
Election of 11 July 1987
Government in office at Senate election
Senate enrolment and voting
Electoral composition of the Senate for this election
Senate votes and seats won, and seats held, national summary
Election held on 11 July 1987
Criteria for the inclusion of parties in this table are set out in the Glossary under 'listed party'
| Party Name | First preference vote n | First preference vote share % | Change from previous election % | Seats won by ticket n | Seats won by ticket % | Seats won by party n | Seats won by party % | Seats held by party n | Seats held by party % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Labor Party | 4,013,860 | 42.83 | +0.66 | 32 | 42.11 | 32 | 42.11 | 32 | 42.11 |
| Liberal Party | 1,965,180 | 20.97 | +0.38 | 23 | 30.26 | 26 | 34.21 | 26 | 34.21 |
| Liberal Party - National Party (joint ticket) | 1,289,888 | 13.76 | +1.05 | 5 | 6.58 | ||||
| Australian Democrats | 794,107 | 8.47 | +0.85 | 7 | 9.21 | 7 | 9.21 | 7 | 9.21 |
| National Party | 664,394 | 7.09 | +1.16 | 5 | 6.58 | 7 | 9.21 | 7 | 9.21 |
| Nuclear Disarmament Party | 102,480 | 1.09 | -6.14 | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 |
| Vallentine Peace Group (WA) | 40,048 | 0.43 | * | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 |
| Brian Harradine Group (Tas) | 31,037 | 0.33 | +0.07 | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 |
| Country Liberal Party (NT) | 19,970 | 0.21 | -0.10 | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 | 1 | 1.32 |
| Votes for other than listed parties | 450,716 | 4.81 | +1.82 | ||||||
| Totals | 9,371,680 | 100.00 | 76 | 100.00 | 76 | 100.00 | 76 | 100.00 |
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* Party did not contest previous election or did not meet criteria for listing, or contested previous election under a different party name.
Notes
In the table above, see the Glossary distinctions between Seats won by ticket and Seats won by party, and between Seats won by party and Seats held by party.
Vallentine Peace Group (WA): The leader of the Vallentine Peace Group, Josephine Vallentine, who was elected to the Senate from Western Australia at this election, had previously been elected to the Senate from Western Australia in 1984 as a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, and was to be elected at the 1990 Senate election as a member of the Greens WA.
Senator Vallentine is listed in Senate records as being an Independent during her term of office from 1987 to 1990.
Sources
Australian Electoral Commission, Election Statistics, Result of Count, Senate, House of Representatives, Election 1987, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1987 (ISBN 0644072267); Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1985-1999, Sydney: Federation Press, 2002 (ISBN 1862874344); Gerard Newman, Federal Election Results 1949-2001, Canberra: Commonwealth Parliament, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Information and Research Services, Research Paper 9 2001-02, 2002 (ISSN 13287478).
For a general review of this election, see Ian McAllister and John Warhurst (editors), Australia Votes: The 1987 Federal Election, Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1988 (ISBN 058271224 6).