# 1979 Victorian state election

The 1979 Victoria state election, held on Saturday, 5 May 1979, was for the 48th Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect 81 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-member Legislative Council.
The incumbent Liberal government led by Rupert Hamer was returned with a significantly reduced majority.

## Results
### Legislative Assembly

Victorian state election, 5 May 1979 Legislative Assembly
<< 1976–1982 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 2,350,407 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 2,193,037 | | Turnout | 93.30 | 0.62 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 66,016 | | Informal | 3.01 | 0.47 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 962,123 | 45.23 | +2.80 | 32 | +11 |
| | Liberal | 881,366 | 41.44 | -4.44 | 41 | -11 |
| | National | 119,385 | 5.61 | -1.46 | 8 | +1 |
| | Democrats | 114,053 | 5.36 | +5.36 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independent | 30,102 | 1.42 | -0.31 | 0 | -1 |
| | Democratic Labour | 10,907 | 0.51 | -2.06 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Australia | 5,222 | 0.25 | +0.08 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Communist | 2,305 | 0.11 | +0.11 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Socialist Workers | 1,558 | 0.07 | +0.07 | 0 | ±0 |
| Total | Total | 2,127,021 | | | 81 | |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Liberal | 1,073,415 | 50.5 | –5.3 | | |
| | Labor | 1,053,606 | 49.5 | +5.3 | | |

### Legislative Council

Victorian state election, 5 May 1979 Legislative Council
<< 1976–1982 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 2,350,407 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 2,191,128 | | Turnout | 93.22 | +0.03 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 77,361 | | Informal | 3.53 | +0.41 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| | Labor | 958,158 | 45.33 | +2.72 | 8 | 13 |
| | Liberal | 924,525 | 43.74 | –4.56 | 12 | 27 |
| | National | 124,050 | 5.87 | –1.98 | 2 | 4 |
| | Democrats | 60,392 | 2.86 | +2.86 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Labour | 3,212 | 0.15 | –0.47 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent | 43,430 | 2.05 | +1.56 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 2,113,767 | | | 22 | 44 |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1979 | Pre-1979 | Pre-1979 | Pre-1979 | Swing | Post-1979 | Post-1979 | Post-1979 | Post-1979 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Bentleigh | | Liberal | Bob Suggett | 9.3 | -9.5 | 0.2 | Gordon Hockley | Labor | |
| Coburg | | Independent | Jack Mutton | 5.4 | -6.6 | 1.2 | Peter Gavin | Labor | |
| Essendon | | Liberal | Kenneth Wheeler | 0.1 | -1.6 | 1.5 | Barry Rowe | Labor | |
| Geelong East | | Liberal | Phil Gude | 1.5 | -3.2 | 1.7 | Graham Ernst | Labor | |
| Glenhuntly | | Liberal | Joe Rafferty | 8.1 | -9.7 | 1.6 | Gerard Vaughan | Labor | |
| Heatherton | | Liberal | Llew Reese | 5.4 | -6.4 | 1.0 | Peter Spyker | Labor | |
| Lowan | | Liberal | Jim McCabe | 11.7 | -12.2 | 0.5 | Bill McGrath | National | |
| Oakleigh | | Liberal | Alan Scanlan | 1.3 | -3.0 | 1.7 | Race Mathews | Labor | |
| Prahran | | Liberal | Sam Loxton | 5.7 | -6.6 | 0.9 | Bob Miller | Labor | |
| Springvale | | Liberal | Norman Billing | 4.4 | -5.1 | 0.7 | Kevin King | Labor | |
| Werribee | | Liberal | Neville Hudson | 0.1 | -8.2 | 8.1 | Ken Coghill | Labor | |
* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
* In addition, Labor retained the seat of Greensborough, which it had won from the Liberals in a by-election.