Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 12 November 1977 to elect the 82 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

Quick Facts All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority, Turnout ...

1977 Queensland state election

← 1974 12 November 1977 (1977-11-12) 1980 →
All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	91.35 ( 1.93 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen Tom Burns Party National–Liberal Coalition Labor Leader since 8 August 1968 19 December 1974 (1974-12-19) Leader's seat Barambah Lytton Last election 69 seats, 58.97% 11 seats, 36.03% Seats won 59 23 Seat change 10 12 Popular vote 569,753 466,021 Percentage 52.37% 42.83% Swing 5.14 6.80
Premier before election Joh Bjelke-Petersen National/Liberal coalition Elected Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen National/Liberal coalition

Close

The election resulted in a fourth consecutive victory for the National-Liberal Coalition under Joh Bjelke-Petersen. It was the eighth victory of the National Party in Queensland since it first came to office in 1957.

The major issue in the election was law and order. In 1977, the Government had passed a law making it illegal to march in the street without a permit, which were rarely given. The Coalition argued that this prevented traffic disruption and other inconveniences to the people of Brisbane, while the ALP claimed that it was a curtailment of civil liberties. Joh Bjelke-Petersen also no longer had the Whitlam Labor Government (which was unpopular in Queensland) to use as a campaigning tool.

The Labor Party gained twelve seats from the Coalition and Independents, making something of a recovery from its disastrous 1974 performance. Even so, the Coalition retained a commanding majority in the Legislative Assembly.

For the first time, the National Party won more votes than the Liberal party (an electoral malapportionment had allowed the Nationals to win more seats than the Liberals previously). The Liberal Party had begun to decline.

The Democratic Labor Party had ceased to exist. The Australian Democrats contested their first election in Queensland.

New parties in this election were the Australian Democrats, who stood 12 candidates, and the Progress Party, who stood 27 candidates.^[8]

• Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
• In addition, the Independent member for Mackay, Ed Casey re-joined the Labor party before the election and retained the seat.

• Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1977
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1974–1977
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1977–1980