# 1983 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1983 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and 18 members to the 34-seat Legislative Council.
The three-term Liberal-National Country coalition government, led by Premier Ray O'Connor since 25 January 1982 (after the retirement of Sir Charles Court) was defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Brian Burke since 10 September 1981.

## Results
### Legislative Assembly

Western Australian state election, 19 February 1983 Legislative Assembly
<< 1980–1986 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 744,986 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 663,153 | | Turnout | 87.93% | +2.66% |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 18,799 | | Informal | 2.83% | –0.69% |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 342,536 | 53.16% | +7.21% | 32 | + 9 |
| | Liberal | 256,846 | 39.86% | –3.89% | 20 | – 6 |
| | National Country | 22,148 | 3.44% | –0.86% | 3 | ± 0 |
| | National | 10,767 | 1.67% | –1.29% | 2 | – 1 |
| | Democrats | 5,178 | 0.80% | –1.16% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Socialist | 905 | 0.14% | –0.12% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Other parties | 5,974 | 0.93% | +0.75% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Independent | 3,229 | 0.50% | –0.15% | 0 | ± 0 |
| Total | Total | 644,354 | | | 57 | |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Labor | 350,996 | 53.74% | +4.71% | | |
| | Liberal/NCP | 302,100 | 46.26% | –4.71% | | |
Notes:
    $^1$ 754,226 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but one seat, Narrogin, held by the National Country Party's Peter Jones and representing 9,239 electors, was held unopposed.
    $^2$ The National Country Party (NCP) and the National Party (NP) were two separate parties, the former in coalition with the Liberal Party, the latter an independent party which had split from the NCP on 10 August 1978.

### Legislative Council

Western Australian state election, 19 February 1983 Legislative Council :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 754,225 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 671,102 | | Turnout | 88.98% | +0.57% |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 24,962 | | Informal | 3.72% | –0.66% |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| | Labor | 327,129 | 50.63% | +5.85% | 7 | 13 |
| | Liberal | 268,626 | 41.57% | –5.93% | 9 | 19 |
| | National Country | 20,553 | 3.18% | –0.64% | 0 | 0 |
| | National | 20,336 | 3.15% | –0.28% | 1 | 1 |
| | Democrats | 9,356 | 1.45% | +1.45% | 0 | 0 |
| | Other parties | 0 | 0.00% | –0.47% | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 646,140 | | | 17 | 34 |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Labor | 341,236 | 52.81% | +5.17% | | |
| | Liberal/NCP | 304,904 | 47.19% | –5.17% | | |

## Seats changing parties

| Seat | Pre-1983 | Pre-1983 | Pre-1983 | Pre-1983 | Swing | Post-1983 | Post-1983 | Post-1983 | Post-1983 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Bunbury | | Liberal | John Sibson | 1.3 | 4.0 | 2.7 | Phil Smith | Labor | |
| Mandurah | | Liberal | notional | N/A | N/A | 0.3 | John Read | Labor | |
| Mount Marshall | | National Country | Ray McPharlin | 10.8* | 16.5 | 5.7** | Bill McNee | Liberal | |
| Mundaring | | Liberal | Tom Herzfeld | 3.5 | 3.6 | 0.1 | Gavan Troy | Labor | |
| Pilbara | | Liberal | Brian Sodeman | 1.6 | 19.1 | 17.5 | Pam Buchanan | Labor | |
| Scarborough | | Liberal | Ray Young | 6.2 | 11.9 | 5.7 | Graham Burkett | Labor | |
| Whitford | | Liberal | Mick Nanovich | 8.3 | 16.0 | 7.7 | Pam Beggs | Labor | |
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
* * figure is vs. Liberal
* ** figure is vs. National (NP)

## Opinion polling

Morgan Gallop opinion poll results :
| Date | Primary vote | Primary vote | Leader's approval rating | Leader's approval rating |
| Date | Labor | Liberal-NCP | Labor | Liberal |
| February–April 1981 | 44 | 48 | 39 | 47 |
| June–August 1981 | 49 | 42 | 37 | 51 |
| 18 September 1981 | Brian Burke replaces Ron Davies as leader of the Labor Party | Brian Burke replaces Ron Davies as leader of the Labor Party | Brian Burke replaces Ron Davies as leader of the Labor Party | Brian Burke replaces Ron Davies as leader of the Labor Party |
| September–November 1981 | 51 | 39 | 33 | 47 |
| December 1981–January 1982 | 46 | 46 | 39 | 63 |
| 21 January 1982 | Ray O'Connor replaces Charles Court as leader of the Liberal Party | Ray O'Connor replaces Charles Court as leader of the Liberal Party | Ray O'Connor replaces Charles Court as leader of the Liberal Party | Ray O'Connor replaces Charles Court as leader of the Liberal Party |
| February–April 1982 | 51 | 42 | 52 | 50 |
| May–June 1982 | 49 | 44 | 54 | 59 |
| July–August 1982 | 51 | 44 | 56 | 63 |
| September–October 1982 | 48 | 42 | 54 | 62 |
| November–December 1982 | 47 | 48 | 58 | 61 |
| 19 February 1983 election | 53.8 | 44.2 | — | — |