1995 Australian Capital Territory election

The 1995 Australian Capital Territory election was held on 18 February 1995 to elect all 17 members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. A referendum on entrenching the ACT's electoral system was also held alongside the election.

1995 Australian Capital Territory election

← 1992 18 February 1995 (1995-02-18) 1998 →
All 17 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 9 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	89.5 ( 0.8 pp)
First party Second party Third party   GRN Leader Kate Carnell Rosemary Follett No leader Party Liberal Labor Greens Leader since 21 April 1993 17 December 1988 N/A Leader's seat Molonglo Molonglo N/A Last election 6 seats 8 seats Did not contest Seats won 7 6 2 Seat change 1 2 2 Primary vote 66,895 52,276 14,967 Percentage 40.5% 31.6% 9.1% Swing 11.5 8.3 9.1%
Results by electorate
Chief Minister before election Rosemary Follett Labor Resulting Chief Minister Kate Carnell Liberal

Like the 1989 and 1992 elections, the result was another hung parliament. However, the Liberal Party were able to form government with the support of Michael Moore and Paul Osborne. Liberal leader Kate Carnell was elected chief minister at the first sitting of the third Assembly on 9 March 1995.

This was the first time the Legislative Assembly used three multi-member electorates instead of a unicameral system, following the results of the 1992 electoral system referendum.

This was also the first time at an Australian federal, state or territory election that the leaders of both major parties have been female. This would not occur again until the 2020 Queensland state election.

Key dates

• Close of party registration: 12 January 1995
• Pre-election period commenced/nominations opened: 13 January 1995
• Rolls closed: 20 January 1995
• Nominations closed: 26 January 1995
• Nominations declared/ballot paper order determined: 27 January 1995
• Pre-poll voting commenced: 30 January 1995
• Polling day: 18 February 1995
• Poll declared: 2 March 1995

Source:

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 (*).

Brindabella

Five seats were up for election.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Democrats candidates
Eva Cawthorne Annette Ellis Steve Whan Andrew Whitecross* Bill Wood*	Sandie Brooke Tony De Domenico* Trevor Kaine* Louise Littlewood Brian Lowe	Julie McInness Andrew Parratt Liz Stephens	Charlie Bell Lyn Forceville
Moore candidates	Smokers candidates	Ungrouped
Nick Isaacson Stephanie Isaacson	Keith Dencio Stan Kowalski	Janice Ferguson (Ind) Margaret Kobier (Ind) Paul Osborne* (Ind) Tony Savage (Ind)

Ginninderra

Five seats were up for election.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Democrats candidates
Wayne Berry* Ellnor Grassby Roberta McRae* Jacqueline Shea Fiona Wilson	Lyle Dunne Martin Gordon Cheryl Hill Harold Hird* Bill Stefaniak*	Gary Corr Lucy Horodny* Michelle Rielly	Peter Granleese Peter Main
Moore candidates	Smokers candidates	Ungrouped
Graeme Evans Helen Szuty	Donovan Ballard Lorraine Bevan	Kevin Connor (Ind)

Molonglo

Seven seats were up for election.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Greens candidates	Democrats candidates
Terry Connolly* Simon Corbell Rosemary Follett* David Lamont Marion Reilly Michael Wilson Silvia Zamora	Greg Aouad David Ash Kate Carnell* Greg Cornwell* Gary Humphries* Lucinda Spier Gwen Wilcox	Natasha Davis Shane Rattenbury Kerrie Tucker*	Nicola Appleyard Greg Kramer
Moore candidates	Smokers candidates	Ungrouped
Mark Dunstone Michael Moore* Tona Ven Raay	John McMahon John Reavell	Mike Boland (Ind) Arthur Burns Allison Dellit Terry De Luca	Alex Middleton Regina Slazenger (Ind) Fred Weston (Ind)

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Liberal	66,895	40.48	11.45	7	1
	Labor	52,276	31.63	8.29	6	2
	Greens	14,967	9.06	New	2	New
	Moore Independents	11,645	7.05	1.45	1	1
	Independents	9,260	5.60	4.14	1	1
	Democrats	6,457	3.91	0.56	0	0
	Smokers Are Voters and Civil Rights	3,770	2.28	New	0	New
Total		165,270	100.00	–	17	–
Valid votes		165,270	93.76
Invalid/blank votes		10,994	6.24	0.2
Total votes		176,264	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		196,959	89.49	0.8

Results by electorate

		Brindabella			Ginninderra			Molonglo
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Liberal	18,494	37.1	2	19,507	40.7	2	28,894	42.9	3
	Labor	15,758	31.6	2	15,693	32.7	2	20,825	30.9	2
	Greens	3,965	8.0	0	4,176	8.7	1	6,826	10.1	1
	Moore Independents	1,907	3.8	0	3,837	8.0	0	5,901	8.8	1
	Independent	6,779	13.6	1	1,059	2.2	0	1,422	2.1	0
	Democrats	1,878	3.8	0	2,420	5.1	0	2,159	3.2	0
	Smokers Are Voters And Civil Rights	1,116	2.2	0	1,247	2.6	0	1,407	2.1	0

Distribution of seats

Electorate	Seats held
Brindabella			I
Ginninderra
Molonglo				M

I - Independent politician
M - Moore Independents

Opinion polling

Voting intention

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Primary vote
				LIB	ALP	GRN	MMIG	DEM	SMO	OTH	UND
18 February 1995	1995 election	—	176,264	40.5%	31.6%	9.1%	7.1%	3.9%	2.3%	5.6%	—
8−14 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	1278	26.2%	23.8%	6.4%	4.9%	3.5%	0.9%	2.4%	31.9%
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	22%	26%	5%	4%	3%	1%	2%	36%
21 August−20 September 1994	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	964	32%	36%	1%	3%	1%	—	6%	21%
15 February 1992	1992 election	—	166,467	29.0%	39.9%	—	5.6%	4.5%	—	21.0%	—

Brindabella

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Primary vote
				LIB	ALP	GRN	MMIG	DEM	SMO	OTH	UND
18 February 1995	1995 election	—	49,897	37.1%	31.6%	8.0%	3.8%	3.8%	2.2%	13.6%	—
8−14 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	1278	25%	23%	5%	4%	3%	2%	6%	32%
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	19%	29%	4%	2%	2%	1%	6%	39%
21 August−20 September 1994	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	964	37%	33%	0%	2%	1%	—	6%	22%

Ginninderra

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Primary vote
				LIB	ALP	GRN	MMIG	DEM	SMO	OTH	UND
18 February 1995	1995 election	—	47,939	32.7%	40.7%	8.7%	8.0%	5.1%	2.6%	2.2%	—
8−14 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	1278	23%	25%	4%	6%	4%	1%	1%	35%
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	22%	24%	5%	4%	4%	1%	2%	39%
21 August−20 September 1994	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	964	29%	36%	0%	3%	0%	—	6%	24%

Molonglo

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Primary vote
				LIB	ALP	GRN	MMIG	DEM	SMO	OTH	UND
18 February 1995	1995 election	—	67,434	42.9%	30.9%	10.1%	8.8%	3.2%	2.1%	2.1%	—
8−14 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	1278	29%	23%	9%	5%	3%	0%	1%	30%
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	25%	26%	7%	5%	5%	0%	0%	31%
21 August−20 September 1994	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	964	29%	39%	2%	5%	2%	—	5%	19%

Preferred chief minister

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Carnell	Follett	Don't know
				8−14 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	1278	36%	38%	26%
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	39%	36%	25%
21 August−20 September 1994	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	964	39%	36%	26%

Leadership approval ratings

Rosemary Follett (Labor)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	—	—	13%	19%	37%	25%	6%

Kate Carnell (Liberal)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	—	—	10%	18%	38%	28%	6%

Michael Moore (MMIG)

Date	Firm	Interview mode	Sample size	Approval rating		Performance rating
				Approve	Disapprove	VB	B	M	G	VG
28 January−7 February 1995	Canberra Times/Datacol	Telephone	916	—	—	20%	21%	40%	16%	4%

See also

• Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, 1995–1998
• First Carnell Ministry
• List of Australian Capital Territory elections