1992 Australian Capital Territory election

Elections to the 1992 Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly was held on Saturday, 15 February, alongside a referendum on an electoral system for future elections. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Trevor Kaine. Candidates were elected to fill seats using the modified d'Hondt electoral system^[1] for a multi-member single constituency. The result was another hung parliament. However, Labor, with the largest representation in the 17-member unicameral Assembly, formed Government with the support of Michael Moore and Helen Szuty. Follett was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the second Assembly on 27 March 1992.^[2]

1992 Australian Capital Territory election

← 1989 15 February 1992 (1992-02-15) 1995 →
All 17 seats in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 9 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	90.3 ( 1.5 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Rosemary Follett Trevor Kaine Party Labor Liberal Leader since 17 December 1988 22 July 1991 Last election 5 seats 4 seats Seats before 5 5 Seats won 8 6 Seat change 3 1 Primary vote 62,155 45,203 Percentage 39.9% 29.0% Swing 17.1 14.1   Third party Fourth party   ASGC MMIG Leader Dennis Stevenson Michael Moore Party Abolish Self Govt Moore Inds Last election 1 seat Did not exist Seats before 1 1 Seats won 1 2 Seat change 1 Primary vote 10,998 8,724 Percentage 7.1% 5.6% Swing 0.4 5.6
Chief Minister before election Rosemary Follett Labor Resulting Chief Minister Rosemary Follett Labor

Key dates

^[3]

• Close of party registration: 9 January 1992
• Pre-election period commenced/nominations opened: 10 January 1992
• Rolls closed: 17 January 1992
• Nominations closed: 24 January 1992
• Polling day: 15 February 1992
• Poll declared: 20 March 1992

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labor	62,155	39.92	17.10	8	3
	Liberal	45,203	29.03	14.16	6	2
	Abolish Self Government Coalition	10,998	7.06	0.44	1	0
	Moore Independents	8,724	5.60	New	2	New
	Residents Rally	7,104	4.56	5.06	0	4
	Democrats	6,960	4.47	2.81	0	0
	The Better Management An Independent Team	5,021	3.22	New	0	New
	Hare-Clark Independence Party	3,336	2.14	New	0	0
	Independents	2,271	1.46	10.07	0	0
	New Conservative Group	1,869	1.20	New	0	New
	Canberra Unity Party	1,482	0.95	New	0	New
	Canberra Party	580	0.37	New	0	New
Total		155,703	100.00	–	17	–
Valid votes		155,703	93.53
Invalid/blank votes		10,764	6.47	0.8
Total votes		166,467	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		184,405	90.27	1.5

Candidates

Sitting members at the time of the election are listed in bold. Tickets that elected at least one MLA are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are indicated by an asterisk (*).^[4]

Retiring members

• Hector Kinloch (Residents Rally)
• Carmel Maher (Independents Group)
• David Prowse (Liberal)

Candidates

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Moore candidates	Residents Rally candidates
Rosemary Follett* Wayne Berry* Bill Wood* Roberta McRae* Terry Connolly* Annette Ellis* David Lamont* Ellnor Grassby* David Wedgwood Marion Reilly Anne Higgins	Trevor Kaine* Tony De Domenico* Greg Cornwell* Kate Carnell* Gary Humphries* Lou Westende* Kaarina Sutinen Bill Stefaniak Roger Dace Lyn Johnson	Michael Moore* Helen Szuty* Tina Van Raay Stephen Mugford	Bernard Collaery Norm Jensen Chris Donohue David Evans Lisa Middlebrook Jack Kershaw Silva Cengic Noel Haberecht
Democrats candidates	Hare-Clark candidates	ASGC candidates	Canberra Party candidates
Julie McCarron-Benson Graeme Evans Domenic Mico Heinrich Stefanik Jim Coates Ian Buchanan Tony Coles	Craig Duby Fiona Patten Barry Williams Sitthiphone Saysitthideth Nigel Grime	Dennis Stevenson* Graeme Orchiston Angela Brown Mike Trevethan Ute Ernst Andy Stodulka Geoff Doepel Patricia Colquhoun Fred Corlett	Jim Weston Peter Burrows Glen Smith Tony Urbancik Lee Judd Bernie Clough
Canberra Unity candidates	Better Mgmt Team candidates	New Conservative candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Marion Le Barry Reid Don Allan Debbie Ellis Ross Stuart	Harold Hird Bev Cains Alan Fitzgerald Jim O'Neill Iain Calman Christine McGibbon Ken Ewan Marc Sadil	Robyn Nolan Fran James Wendy Carlton Rita Cameron	Emile Brunoro (Ind) Tony Scott (Ind) Tony Spagnolo (Ind) Ron Hamilton (Ind) Lara Pullin (Ind) Derek Rosborough (Ind)

Opinion polling

Voting intention

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Primary vote
				ALP	LIB	ASG	RR	DEM	IND	OTH	UND	INF
15 February 1992	1992 election	—	166,467	39.9%	29.0%	7.1%	4.6%	4.5%	1.5%	13.5%	—	6.5%
14 February 1992	Michael Moore Independent Group[5]	Telephone	275	28%	21%	—	—	—	—	[a]	39%	8%
6−11 February 1992	Canberra Times/Datacol[6][7]	Telephone	1333	36%	27%	3%	4%	4%	5%	9%[b]	15%	—
29 January 1992	Internal Labor poll[8]			7 seats	6 seats	—	—	—	4 seats[c]		13%	—
15−20 December 1991	Canberra Times/Datacol[6][9][10][11][12]	Telephone	915	38.7%	20.7%	—	0.8%	2.2%	10.6%	2.1%	19.2%	2.8%
29 November 1991	Internal Liberal poll[12][13]			24%	19%	—	—	—	—	—	24%	—
25 November 1991	Internal Labor poll (Morris Guest)[12][13]			38%	19%	—	<1%	—	—	—	14%	—
17 November 1991	Internal Canberra Party poll[14]	Telephone	521	22.20%	15.06%	—	—	—	10.23%	—	—	—
6 June 1991	Labor leader Rosemary Follett returns as chief minister
30 April−16 May 1991	Canberra Times/Datacol[15][16][17][18][19]	Telephone	808	52%	30%	2%	4%	3%	6%	4%[d]	—	—
18−24 August 1990	Canberra Times/Datacol[20][21]	Telephone	601	38.4%	18.1%	0.7%	1.0%	2.7%	7.5%	11.4%[e]	17.6%	7.4%
5 December 1989	Liberal leader Trevor Kaine becomes chief minister and the Alliance government is formed
13−23 November 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[22][23][24][25][26][27]	Telephone	625	34%	21%	1%	5%	—	—	14%[f]	14%	10%
10−16 August 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[28][29][30]	Telephone	651	34%	19%	8%[g]	8%	—	7%	5%[h]	14%	6%
4 March 1989	1989 election	—	150,421	22.8%	14.9%	7.5%	9.6%	1.7%	11.5%	20.5%	—	5.7%

Leadership approval ratings

Rosemary Follett (Labor)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
17 November 1991	Internal Canberra Party poll[31]	Telephone	521	55.56%		—	—	—	—	—
30 April−16 May 1991	Canberra Times/Datacol[32]	Telephone	808	—	—	10%	20%	40%	23%	7%
18−24 August 1990	Canberra Times/Datacol[20][33]	Telephone	601	73%					28%	8%
13−23 November 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[26]	Telephone	625			13%	18%	37%	25%	7%
10−16 August 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[28][29]	Telephone	651			10%	13%	39%	31%	7%

Trevor Kaine (Liberal)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
30 April−16 May 1991	Canberra Times/Datacol[32]	Telephone	808	—	—	32%	29%	26%	11%	2%
18−24 August 1990	Canberra Times/Datacol[20][33]	Telephone	601	47%					12%	3%
13−23 November 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[26]	Telephone	625			23%	32%	34%	9%	1%
10−16 August 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[28][29]	Telephone	651			16%	28%	43%	11%	2%

Bernard Collaery (Rally)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
30 April−16 May 1991	Canberra Times/Datacol[32]	Telephone	808	—	—	38%	30%	23%	7%	2%
18−24 August 1990	Canberra Times/Datacol[20][33]	Telephone	601	32%						1%
13−23 November 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[26]	Telephone	625			46%	27%	20%	6%	1%
10−16 August 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[28][29]	Telephone	651			29%	27%	28%	13%	3%

Craig Duby (NSG/IG/HCIP)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
30 April−16 May 1991	Canberra Times/Datacol[32]	Telephone	808	—	—	57%	26%	14%	3%	0%
18−24 August 1990	Canberra Times/Datacol[20][33]	Telephone	601			59%
13−23 November 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[26]	Telephone	625			66%	19%	12%	3%	0%
10−16 August 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[28][29]	Telephone	651			40%	30%	25%	4%	1%

Dennis Stevenson (ASGC)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
30 April−16 May 1991	Canberra Times/Datacol[32]	Telephone	808	—	—	70%	15%	11%	3%	1%
13−23 November 1989	Canberra Times/Datacol[26]	Telephone	625			69%	15%	11%	4%	1%
18−24 August 1990	Canberra Times/Datacol[20][33]	Telephone	601			63%

See also

• Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 1992–1995
• Third Follett Ministry
• List of Australian Capital Territory elections

External links

• ACT Electoral Commission
• ACT Legislative Assembly - List of Members (1989 - 2008)

Notes

1. While no specific figures were released for parties other than Labor or the Liberals, the Michael Moore Independent Group was "the closest" to 5%.^[5]
2. The Michael Moore Independent Group had 3%, specified minor parties (Canberra Unity Party, the Better Management Team, the New Conservative Group and the Hare-Clark Independence Party) had a combined vote of 4%, while unspecified minor parties had 2%.^[6] The Canberra Party had 0%.^[6]
3. Projection for independents and minor parties combined.^[8] The Canberra Times wrote that "the poll indicated that, although independent MLA Michael Moore had a good chance of being re-elected, it was probable that the other three independent places would be filled by more conservative candidates.^[8]
4. The Greens had 2%, the Independents Group had 1% and other parties had 1%.^[19]
5. The No Self Government Party had 2.1%, the Greens had 1.9% and other parties had 7.4%.^[20]
6. The No Self Government Party had 4%, the Greens had 2% and "other parties" (including independents) had 8%.^[22]
7. The Canberra Times wrote: "Almost all respondents who indicated they would vote for a no-self-government party nominated the No Self Government Party. But a small minority indicated the Abolish Self Government Coalition, and it was unclear of some which actual grouping they would support, so they have been linked".^[29]
8. The Greens had 5%.^[29]