# 1998 Australian Capital Territory election

Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 21 February 1998. The incumbent Liberal Party, led by Kate Carnell, was challenged by the Labor Party, led by Wayne Berry. Candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single transferable vote method, known as the Hare-Clark system. The result was another hung parliament. However the Liberals, with the largest representation in the 17-member unicameral Assembly, formed Government with the support of independents Michael Moore, Paul Osborne, and Dave Rugendyke. Carnell was elected Chief Minister at the first sitting of the fourth Assembly on 19 March 1998.
Subsequent to the election and during the life of the fourth Assembly, on 18 October 2000, Carnell stepped down as Chief Minister and was replaced by Gary Humphries.
This would be the last time the Liberal Party (or the Coalition) would form government at a state or territory level after an election until the 2008 Western Australian state election. Also, this is the last time the Liberal Party has formed government after an election in the ACT.

## Key dates

* Close of party registration: 15 January 1998
* Pre-election period commenced/nominations opened: 16 January 1998
* Rolls closed: 23 January 1998
* Nominations closed: 29 January 1998
* Nominations declared/ballot paper order determined: 30 January 1998
* Pre-poll voting commenced: 2 February 1998
* Polling day: 21 February 1998
* Poll declared: 17 March 1998

## 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 (*).

### Retiring Members
#### Greens

* Lucy Horodny (Ginninderra)

### Brindabella

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Paul Osborne Independent Group was defending one seat.
| Labor candidates | Liberal candidates | Greens candidates | Democrats candidates |
| John Hargreaves* Karen Mow Kathryn Presdee Andrew Whitecross Bill Wood* | Geoff Didier Margaret Head Trevor Kaine* Louise Littlewood Brendan Smyth* | Sue Ellerman Peter Farrelly Liz Stephens Fiona Tito | Charlie Bell Geoff Dodd Anna Grant Mark Peirce Adele Tait |
| Osborne candidates | CDP candidates | Ungrouped | |
| Linda Moore Paul Osborne* | Stephen Carter Francis Piccin | Tom Cornwell (Ind) Margaret A Kobier (Ind) Margot Marshall (Ind) Peter Menegazzo (Ind) Leonard Munday | |

### Ginninderra

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Greens were defending one seat.
| Labor candidates | Liberal candidates | Greens candidates | Democrats candidates |
| Wayne Berry* Roberta McRae Joy Nicholls Chris Sant Jon Stanhope* | Terry Birtles Vicki Dunne Warwick Gow Harold Hird* Bill Stefaniak* | Jennifer Palma Shane Rattenbury Dierk Von Behrens Molly Wainwright | Alex Allars Jocelyn Bell Terry Holder Stephen Selden Peter Vandenbroek |
| Osborne candidates | CDP candidates | PLP candidates | Ungrouped |
| Hilary Back Dave Rugendyke* | John Richard Miller Ivan Young | Renee Brooks Morgan Graham | Alice Chu (Ind) Cheryl Hill Derek Hill Connie Steven (Ind) Helen Szuty Manuel Xyrakis |

### Molonglo

Seven seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending three seats. The Greens were defending one seat. The Moore Independents were defending one seat.
| Labor candidates | Liberal candidates | Greens candidates | Democrats candidates | Moore candidates |
| Simon Corbell* Chris Flaherty Steve Garth Tania McMurtry John O'Keefe Ted Quinlan* Marion Reilly | Greg Aouad Jacqui Burke Kate Carnell* Greg Cornwell* Gary Humphries* John Louttit Nick Tolley | Miko Kirschbaum Caroline Le Couteur Tiffany Lynch Roland Manderson Niki Ruker Michael Smitheram Kerrie Tucker* | John Davey Jane Errey John Kennedy Melissa McEwen Jonathan Tonge Jason Wood | Joan Kellett Michael Moore* |
| Osborne candidates | CDP candidates | PLP candidates | DSP candidates | Ungrouped |
| Chris Carlile Chris Uhlmann | Terry Craig John Edward Miller | Robin Bartrum Bora Kanra | Sue Bull Tim Gooden Nicholas Soudakoff | Pamela Ayson (Ind) Daryl Arthur Black (Ind) Nick Dyer (Ind) Jerzy Gray-Grzeszkiewicz (Ind) Noel Habercht John Hancock (Ind) Jeremy Leyland (Shooters ACT) Roger Nicholls (Ind) Jacqui Rees Peter Willmott (Ind) |

## Results

| | Liberal | 68,221 | 37.83 | 2.65 | 7 | 0 |
| | Labor | 49,798 | 27.61 | 4.02 | 6 | 0 |
| | Osborne Independent Group | 16,426 | 9.11 | New | 2 | New |
| | Greens | 16,417 | 9.10 | 0.04 | 1 | 1 |
| | Democrats | 10,786 | 5.98 | 2.07 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | 9,232 | 5.12 | 0.48 | 0 | 1 |
| | Moore Independents | 5,261 | 2.92 | 4.13 | 1 | 0 |
| | Christian Democrats | 3,027 | 1.68 | 1.68 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Socialist Perspective | 745 | 0.41 | 0.41 | 0 | 0 |
| | Progressive Labour | 437 | 0.24 | 0.24 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 180,350 | 100.00 | – | 17 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 180,350 | 95.68 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 8,134 | 4.32 | 1.9 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 188,484 | 100.00 | – | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 205,248 | 91.83 | 2.3 | | |
Results by electorate :
| | | Brindabella | Brindabella | Brindabella | Ginninderra | Ginninderra | Ginninderra | Molonglo | Molonglo | Molonglo |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Liberal | 20,110 | 37.1 | 2 | 16,741 | 33.2 | 2 | 31,370 | 41.5 | 3 |
| | Labor | 15,463 | 28.5 | 2 | 14,931 | 29.6 | 2 | 19,404 | 25.6 | 2 |
| | Osborne Independent Group | 8,804 | 16.2 | 1 | 4,856 | 9.6 | 1 | 2,766 | 3.7 | 0 |
| | Greens | 4,383 | 8.1 | 0 | 4,384 | 8.7 | 0 | 7,650 | 10.1 | 1 |
| | Democrats | 3,336 | 6.2 | 0 | 3,614 | 7.2 | 0 | 3,836 | 5.1 | 0 |
| | Independent | 1,244 | 2.3 | 0 | 4,745 | 9.4 | 0 | 3,243 | 4.3 | 0 |
| | Moore Independents | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5,261 | 7.0 | 1 |
| | Christian Democrats | 911 | 1.7 | 0 | 922 | 1.8 | 0 | 1,194 | 1.6 | 0 |
| | Democratic Socialist | — | — | — | — | — | — | 745 | 1.0 | 0 |
| | Progressive Labour | — | — | — | 240 | 0.5 | 0 | 197 | 0.3 | 0 |
Distribution of seats :
| Electorate | Seats held | Seats held |
| Brindabella | O | |
| Ginninderra | O | |
| Molonglo | | M |
M - Moore Independents O - Osborne Independent Group