A general election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 was held in the state of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, on Saturday 1 May 1976. The result was a narrow win for the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 under Neville Wran

Neville Wran

Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...

—the party's first in the state in more than a decade.

Issues

The incumbent Liberal

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

-Country Party

National Party of Australia

The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

 coalition had lost its longtime leader, Sir Robert Askin

Robert Askin

Sir Robert William Askin GCMG, was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but always disliked his first name and changed it by deed poll in 1971...

, at the end of 1974. His successor, Tom Lewis

Tom Lewis

Tom Lewis may refer to:*Tom Lewis , former Premier of New South Wales*Tom Lewis , Scottish chef*Tom Lewis , Australia*Tom Lewis , British obstetrician...

, didn't last a year as premier before his colleagues dumped him in favour of Eric Willis

Eric Willis

Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE, CMG was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a...

.

Wran successfully emerged from the shadow of the defeated Whitlam

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

 Labor government at a federal level. Labor's campaign focussed largely on the leader himself, what Australians call a "Presidential" style campaign. The state party had undergone a long process of renewal, and emerged with strong moderate credentials. Labor also offered an alternative to a long-serving government widely perceived as corrupt.

Wran's campaign slogan, "Let's put the state in better shape," delivered by the leader and key spokesmen Peter Cox

Peter Cox

Peter Cox may refer to:*Peter Cox , 1997 album from Go West member Peter Cox*Peter Cox , British vegetarian book author*Peter Cox , Australian politician...

 and Syd Einfeld

Syd Einfeld

Sydney David "Syd" Einfeld AO was an Australian politician and Jewish leader. Born in Sydney, he was educated at Fort St Boys' High School before becoming a manager of a merchandising company...

, resonated with voters.

Key dates

Date	Event
2 April 1976	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
8 April 1976	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
1 May 1976	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
14 May 1976	The Willis Ministry Willis Ministry The Willis Ministry was the last New South Wales Government ministry of the Liberal/Country Coalition Government which began in 1965, and ran from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976....  resigned and the Wran Ministry was sworn in.
21 May 1976	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
25 May 1976	Parliament resumed for business.

Results

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There were 2,989,786 enrolled voters but 46,538 were enrolled in electorates (one Labor and one Country) which were uncontested at the election.