# 1984 New South Wales state election

Elections were held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 24 March 1984. The Labor government led by Neville Wran won a fourth term in office, though with a reduced (if still sizeable) majority and a 7% swing against it.
As the two previous elections each saw the sitting Opposition Leader lose the election and failing to be elected to Parliament, the 1984 election saw Nick Greiner becoming the first Opposition Leader to lose an election and retain his seat since Pat Hills in 1973.
Independents Ted Mack and John Hatton retained their seats of North Shore and South Coast respectively. They were joined on the cross benches by a third independent and Bruce Duncan.
Duncan, a former National Country Party member, withdrew from the party in protest at their change to the National Party name. He ran on an "Independent Country Party" ticket and won his seat of Lismore.
At a 1981 referendum, voters had approved an increase in the maximum parliamentary term from three years to four.

## Key dates

| Date | Event |
| 5 March 1984 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 9 March 1984 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. |
| 24 March 1984 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 5 April 1984 | The seventh Wran Ministry was reconstituted. |
| 30 April 1984 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
| 1 May 1984 | Parliament resumed for business. |

## Results
### Legislative Assembly

New South Wales state election, 24 March 1984 Legislative Assembly
<< 1981–1988 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 3,330,350 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 3,081,226 | | Turnout | 92.52 | +1.37 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 74,316 | | Informal | 2.41 | –0.67 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 1,466,413 | 48.77 | –6.95 | 58 | – 11 |
| | Liberal | 1,026,901 | 34.15 | +6.53 | 22 | + 8 |
| | National | 266,095 | 8.85 | –2.37 | 15 | + 1 |
| | Democrats | 85,604 | 2.85 | +0.42 | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Ind. Country | 25,227 | 0.84 | +0.84 | 1 | + 1 |
| | Call to Australia | 2,347 | 0.08 | +0.08 | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Socialist Labour | 2,113 | 0.07 | +0.07 | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Independent | 130,013 | 4.32 | +1.53 | 3 | + 1 |
| | Other | 2,197 | 0.07 | +0.07 | 0 | ± 0 |
| Total | Total | 3,006,910 | | | 99 | |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Labor | | 52.4% | -6.3% | | |
| | Liberal/National | | 47.6% | +6.3% | | |
Popular vote
Labor
48.77%
Liberal
34.15%
National
8.85%
Independents
4.32%
Democrats
2.85%
Others
1.06%
Two-party-preferred vote
Labor
52.4%
Coalition
47.6%
Parliamentary seats
Labor
58
Liberal
22
National
15
Independents
3
Ind. Country
1 :

### Legislative Council

New South Wales state election, 24 March 1984 Legislative Council :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 3,330,350 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 3,081,223 | | Turnout | 92.52 | +1.38 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 205,275 | | Informal | 6.66 | –0.18 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| | Labor | 1,348,348 | 46.88 | –4.90 | 7 | 24 |
| | Liberal/National Coalition | 1,225,519 | 42.61 | +8.84 | 7 | 18 |
| | Call to Australia | 175,068 | 6.09 | –3.02 | 1 | 2 |
| | Democrats | 90,634 | 3.15 | –0.88 | 0 | 1 |
| | Concerned Citizens | 14,036 | 0.49 | +0.49 | 0 | 0 |
| | Progress | 6,416 | 0.22 | +0.11 | 0 | 0 |
| | Silent Majority | 3,899 | 0.14 | +0.14 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent | 12,028 | 0.42 | +0.35 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 2,875,948 | | | 15 | |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1984 | Pre-1984 | Pre-1984 | Pre-1984 | Swing | Post-1984 | Post-1984 | Post-1984 | Post-1984 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Bligh | | Labor | Fred Miller | 2.7 | -3.9 | 1.2 | Michael Yabsley | Liberal | |
| Burwood | | Labor | Phil O'Neill | 7.2 | -8.8 | 1.6 | Paul Zammit | Liberal | |
| Camden | | Labor | Ralph Brading | 2.0 | -7.2 | 5.2 | John Fahey | Liberal | |
| Clarence | | Labor | Don Day | 6.6 | -10.9 | 4.3 | Ian Causley | National | |
| Cronulla | | Labor | Michael Egan | 5.3 | -5.8 | 0.5 | Malcolm Kerr | Liberal | |
| Hurstville | | Labor | Kevin Ryan | 9.2 | -10.1 | 0.9 | Guy Yeomans | Liberal | |
| Lismore | | National | Bruce Duncan | 18.9 | N/A | 26.9 | Bruce Duncan | Independent Country | |
| Manly | | Labor | Alan Stewart | 1.2 | -5.7 | 4.5 | David Hay | Liberal | |
| Miranda | | Labor | Bill Robb | 4.3 | -6.1 | 1.8 | Ron Phillips | Liberal | |
| Murrumbidgee | | Labor | Lin Gordon | 13.9 | -15.4 | 1.5 | Adrian Cruickshank | National | |
| Wakehurst | | Labor | Tom Webster | 7.0 | -8.2 | 1.2 | John Booth | Liberal | |
| Wollongong | | Labor | Eric Ramsay | 0.1 | -4.3 | 4.2 | Frank Arkell | Independent | |
* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.