1975 New Zealand general election

New Zealand general election, 1975

29 November 1975 (1975-11-29)
All 87 seats for New Zealand House of Representatives 44 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Robert Muldoon Bill Rowling Party National Labour Leader since 1974 1974 Leader's seat Tamaki Tasman Last election 32 seats, 41.5% 55 seats, 48.4% Seats won 55 32 Seat change 23 23 Percentage 47.6% 39.6% Swing 6.1% 8.8%
Prime Minister before election Bill Rowling Labour Elected Prime Minister Robert Muldoon National

The 1975 New Zealand general election was held on 29 November to elect MPs to the 38th session of the New Zealand Parliament. It was the first general election in New Zealand where 18- to 20-year-olds and all permanent residents of New Zealand were eligible to vote, although only citizens were able to be elected.

Background

The incumbent Labour Party, following the sudden death of Labour leader Norman Kirk, was led by Bill Rowling, a leader who was characterised as being weak and ineffectual by some political commentators. Labour's central campaign was the so-called "Citizens for Rowling" petition which attacked National leader Robert Muldoon's forthright leadership style. This campaign was largely seen as having backfired on Labour.

The National Party responded with the formation of "Rob's Mob". As former Minister of Finance in the previous National government, Muldoon focused on the economic impact of Labour's policies. National's campaign advertising suggested that Labour's recently introduced compulsory personal superannuation scheme would result in the Government owning the New Zealand economy using the workers's money (akin to a communist state). Muldoon argued that his New Zealand superannuation scheme could be funded from future taxes rather than an additional tax on current wages.

The campaign achieved notoriety due to an infamous television commercial featuring "Dancing Cossacks" which was produced by Hanna Barbera on behalf of National's ad agency Colenso.

A consummate orator and a skilled television performer, Muldoon's powerful presence on screen increased his popularity with voters.

Results

The final results of election: National won 55 seats, and Labour 32 seats. Thus Robert Muldoon replaced Bill Rowling as Prime Minister, ending the term of the Third Labour government, and beginning the term of the Third National government. The party seat numbers were an exact opposite of the 1972 election. No minor parties won seats. There were 1,953,050 electors on the roll, with 1,603,733 (82.11%) voting.

Notable electorate results included the election of two Māori MPs to general seats; the first time that any Māori had been elected to a non-Māori seat since James Carroll in 1893. The MPs in question were Ben Couch in Wairarapa and Rex Austin in Awarua.

In Palmerston North and Western Hutt, Labour was first on election night but lost when special votes were counted.

Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	National	87	763,136	47.59	55	+23
	Labour	87	634,453	39.56	32	-23
	Social Credit	87	119,147	7.43	0	±0
	Values	87	83,241	5.19	0	±0
	Independent	67	3,756	0.23	0	±0
	Total	415	1,603,733		87

Votes summary

Popular Vote
National			47.59%
Labour			39.56%
Social Credit			7.43%
Values			5.19%
Independents			0.23%

Parliament seats
National			63.22%
Labour			36.78%

The table below shows the results of the 1975 general election:

Key

  National     Labour     Social Credit  

Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1975

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Auckland Central		Norman Douglas		Richard Prebble	289		Murray McCully
Avon		Mary Batchelor			5,503		T P George
Awarua		Aubrey Begg		Rex Austin	2,150		Aubrey Begg
Bay of Plenty		Percy Allen		Duncan MacIntyre	3,960		R F McKee
Birkenhead		Norman King		Jim McLay	2,816		Norman King
Christchurch Central		Bruce Barclay			2,973		T G B Armitage
Clutha		Peter Gordon			4,735		F A O'Connell
Coromandel		Leo Schultz			4,724		R L Bradley
Dunedin Central		Brian MacDonell			1,428		A R Bright
Dunedin North		Ethel McMillan		Richard Walls	958		B K Arnold
East Coast Bays		Frank Gill			5,594		L R Stanton
Eden		Mike Moore		Aussie Malcolm	1,331		Mike Moore
Egmont		Venn Young			4,120		D W Duggan
Franklin		Bill Birch			7,605		R Waishing
Gisborne		Trevor Davey		Bob Bell	1,321		Trevor Davey
Grey Lynn		Eddie Isbey			2,839		J Meder
Hamilton East		Rufus Rogers		Ian Shearer	2,246		Rufus Rogers
Hamilton West		Dorothy Jelicich		Mike Minogue	2,069		Dorothy Jelicich
Hastings		Richard Mayson		Robert Fenton	491		Richard Mason
Hawkes Bay		Richard Harrison			3,805		David Butcher
Henderson		Martyn Finlay			401		W A Adams
Heretaunga		Ron Bailey			336		Julie Cameron
Hobson		Logan Sloane		Neill Austin	4,101		B H E Manning
Hutt		Trevor Young			1,019		B R Newell
Invercargill		J. B. Munro		Norman Jones	2,533		J. B. Munro
Island Bay		Gerald O'Brien			1,274		W C Nathan
Kapiti		Frank O'Flynn		Barry Brill	2,222		Frank O'Flynn
Karori		Jack Marshall		Hugh Templeton	4,830		Margaret Shields
King Country		Jim Bolger			4,316		T D Varnam
Lyttelton		Tom McGuigan		Colleen Dewe	999		Tom McGuigan
Manawatu		Allan McCready			2,918		A C Eyles
Mangere		Colin Moyle			1,604		S A Lawson
Manukau		Roger Douglas			678		B R Leaming
Manurewa		Phil Amos		Merv Wellington	1,358		Phil Amos
Marlborough		Ian Brooks		Edward Latter	3,010		Ian Brooks
Miramar		Bill Young			1,749		J F W Wybrow
Mt Albert		Warren Freer			247		Frank Ryan
Napier		Gordon Christie			931		J K W Isles
Nelson		Stanley Whitehead			1,093		I D McWhannel
New Lynn		Jonathan Hunt			890		B J O'Connor
New Plymouth		Ron Barclay		Tony Friedlander	1,935		Ron Barclay
North Shore		George Gair			5,247		Mrs W N Hoadley
Oamaru		Bill Laney		Jonathan Elworthy	2,196		W R Laney
Onehunga		Hugh Watt		Frank Rogers	1,044		K A O'Brien
Otago Central		Ian Quigley		Warren Cooper	2,371		Ian Quigley
Otahuhu		Bob Tizard			3,785		Mrs L E Morris
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			6,769		R A Garden
Pakuranga		Gavin Downie			7,016		Geoff Braybrooke
Palmerston North		Joe Walding		John Lithgow	142		Joe Walding
Papanui		Bert Walker			2,985		R A Garden
Petone		Fraser Colman			2,834		B R Gluyas
Piako		Jack Luxton			6,174		Helen Clark
Porirua		Gerard Wall			2,265		R A Doughty
Raglan		Douglas Carter		Marilyn Waring	3,756		W D Pickering
Rakaia		Colin McLachlan			5,237		G W Lowrie
Rangiora		Kerry Burke		Derek Quigley	1,386		Kerry Burke
Rangitikei		Roy Jack			1,756		Bruce Beetham
Remuera		Allan Highet			8,656		G B Mead
Riccarton		Eric Holland			4,766		D A Johnson
Rodney		Peter Wilkinson			7,817		J Prebble
Roskill		Arthur Faulkner			530		John Maurice Priestley
Rotorua		Harry Lapwood			3,605		Peter Tapsell
Ruahine		Les Gandar			2,763		R J Willing
St Albans		Roger Drayton			1,570		Ms P R Rotherberg
St Kilda		William Fraser			1,890		G B Heslop
South Canterbury		Rob Talbot			4,301		N B Lambert
Stratford		David Thomson			5,667		P P Hopkins
Sydenham		John Kirk			3,817		P K Matheson
Tamaki		Robert Muldoon			6,735		C T Kaye
Tasman		Bill Rowling			529		P H Malone
Taupo		Jack Ridley		Ray La Varis	1,614		Jack Ridley
Tauranga		Keith Allen			4,843		R J Hendry
Timaru		Basil Arthur			1,011		D A J Walker
Waikato		Lance Adams-Schneider			7,073		B G West
Wairarapa		Jack Williams		Ben Couch	1,468		Jack Williams
Waitemata		Michael Bassett		Dail Jones	1,385		Michael Bassett
Wallace		Brian Talboys			6,978		I D Lamont
Wanganui		Russell Marshall			1,244		J G Rowan
Wellington Central	(new electorate)			Ken Comber	1,076		D A Shand
West Coast		Paddy Blanchfield			2,401		Barry Dallas
Western Hutt		Henry May		Brian Lambert	109		Henry May
Whangarei		Murray Smith		John Elliott	2,710		Murray Smith
Wigram		Mick Connelly			1,967		P N Russell
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Paraone Reweti			6,261		M Searancke
Northern Maori		Matiu Rata			4,151		Winston Peters
Southern Maori		Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan			6,452		W K Amaru
Western Maori		Koro Wētere			8,925		E. S. Rangi

Table footnotes:

External links

• Mr Nathan the National candidate for Island Bay below a defaced poster (photo)