# 1974 Queensland state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 7 December 1974 to elect the 82 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.
The National-Liberal Coalition won a third consecutive victory under Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and the seventh consecutive victory for the National Party in Queensland, which had renamed itself from the Country Party since the previous election. The Labor Party lost two-thirds of its seats, including that of leader Perc Tucker, its worst showing in an election until 2012 and thus a landslide victory for the Coalition.
Labor was reduced to only 11 seats, leading observers to call Labor's caucus a "cricket team." William Bowe of Crikey wrote that for years, the election stood as "the gold standard for Australian election massacres".

## Key dates

| Date | Event |
| 23 October 1974 | Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen announced the early election date at a news conference. |
| 2 November 1974 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved. |
| 2 November 1974 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 8 November 1974 | Close of nominations. |
| 7 December 1974 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 23 December 1974 | The Bjelke-Petersen Ministry was reconstituted. |
| 11 January 1975 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
| 3 February 1975 | Deadline for return of the writs. |
| 25 February 1975 | Parliament resumed for business. |

## Results

Queensland state election, 7 December 1974 Legislative Assembly
<< 1972–1977 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 1,186,378 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 1,060,910 | | Turnout | 89.42% | -2.99% |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 16,742 | | Informal | 1.58% | +0.05% |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 376,187 | 36.03% | -10.72% | 11 | -22 |
| | Liberal | 324,682 | 31.09% | +8.87% | 30 | +9 |
| | Nationals | 291,088 | 27.88% | +7.88% | 39 | +13 |
| | Independent | 29,582 | 2.83% | -0.49% | 2 | ±0 |
| | Queensland Labor | 19,952 | 1.91% | -5.78% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Australia | 1,929 | 0.18% | +0.18% | 0 | ±0 |
| | Australian Advancement | 416 | 0.04% | +0.04% | 0 | ±0 |
| | Socialist | 332 | 0.03% | +0.03% | 0 | ±0 |
| Total | Total | 1,044,168 | | | 82 | |
Popular vote
Labor
36.03%
Liberal
31.09%
Nationals
27.88%
Democratic Labor
1.91%
Australia
0.18%
Independents
2.83%
Others
0.07% :
Seats
Nationals
47.56%
Liberal
36.59%
Labor
13.41%
Independents
2.44% :

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1974 | Pre-1974 | Pre-1974 | Pre-1974 | Swing | Post-1974 | Post-1974 | Post-1974 | Post-1974 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Albert | | Labor | Bill D'Arcy | 4.1 | -14.2 | 10.1 | Ivan Gibbs | National | |
| Baroona | | Labor | Pat Hanlon | 14.1 | -15.8 | 1.7 | Dennis Young | Liberal | |
| Barron River | | Labor | Bill Wood | 3.4 | -4.1 | 0.7 | Martin Tenni | National | |
| Belmont | | Labor | Fred Newton | 14.9 | -18.5 | 3.6 | David Byrne | Liberal | |
| Belyando | | Labor | Eugene O'Donnell | 1.3 | -8.7 | 7.4 | Vince Lester | National | |
| Brisbane | | Labor | Brian Davis | 9.7 | -10.9 | 1.2 | Harold Lowes | Liberal | |
| Cook | | Labor | Bob Scott | 4.2 | -6.8 | 2.6 | Eric Deeral | National | |
| Everton | | Labor | Gerry Jones | 8.3 | -11.0 | 2.7 | Brian Lindsay | Liberal | |
| Ipswich West | | Labor | Vi Jordan | 11.5 | -12.0 | 0.5 | Albert Hales | National | |
| Isis | | Labor | Jim Blake | 8.3 | -12.4 | 4.1 | Lin Powell | National | |
| Mount Isa | | Labor | Alex Inch | 16.4 | -19.9 | 3.5 | Angelo Bertoni | National | |
| Mourilyan | | Labor | Peter Moore | 7.2 | -8.9 | 1.7 | Vicky Kippin | National | |
| Pine Rivers | | Labor | Kenneth Leese | 6.8 | -18.7 | 11.9 | Rob Akers | Liberal | |
| Redlands | | Labor | Ted Baldwin | 5.1 | -14.8 | 9.7 | John Goleby | National | |
| Salisbury | | Labor | Doug Sherrington | 16.7 | -22.1 | 5.4 | Rosemary Kyburz | Liberal | |
| South Brisbane | | Labor | Fred Bromley | 11.0 | -16.0 | 5.0 | Colin Lamont | Liberal | |
| Stafford | | Labor | Roy Harvey | 11.0 | -16.0 | 5.0 | Terry Gygar | Liberal | |
| Toowoomba North | | Labor | Ray Bousen | 14.9 | -17.2 | 2.3 | John Lockwood | Liberal | |
| Toowoomba South | | Labor | Peter Wood | 6.9 | -14.6 | 7.7 | John Warner | National | |
| Townsville West | | Labor | Perc Tucker | 2.2 | -5.8 | 3.6 | Max Hooper | National | |
| Warrego | | Labor | Jack Aiken | 13.4 | -14.4 | 1.0 | Neil Turner | National | |
| Wynnum | | Labor | Edward Harris | 14.5 | -14.6 | 0.1 | Bill Lamond | National | |
* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.