| Election Name: | 1974 Queensland state election |
| Country: | Queensland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1972 Queensland state election |
| Previous Year: | 1972 |
| Next Election: | 1977 Queensland state election |
| Next Year: | 1977 |
| Seats For Election: | All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 42 Assembly seats were needed for a majority |
| Turnout: | 89.42 (2.99 pp) |
| Leader1: | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
| Leader Since1: | 8 August 1968 |
| Colour1: | 006946 |
| Party1: | Country–Liberal Coalition |
| Leaders Seat1: | Barambah |
| Popular Vote1: | 615,770 |
| Percentage1: | 58.97% |
| Swing1: | 16.75 |
| Last Election1: | 47 seats, 42.23% |
| Seats1: | 69 |
| Seat Change1: | 22 |
| Leader2: | Perc Tucker |
| Party2: | Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch) |
| Leaders Seat2: | Townsville West (lost seat) |
| Popular Vote2: | 376,187 |
| Percentage2: | 36.03% |
| Swing2: | 10.72 |
| Last Election2: | 33 seats, 46.75% |
| Seats2: | 11 |
| Seat Change2: | 22 |
| Premier | |
| Before Election: | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
| Before Party: | National/Liberal coalition |
| After Election: | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
| After Party: | National/Liberal coalition |
Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 7 December 1974[1] 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".[2]
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 October 1974 | Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen announced the early election date at a news conference.[3] | |
| 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. |
See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1974.
|}
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" | Labor seats (11) | ||
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" | Marginal | ||
| Bulimba | Jack Houston | ALP | 1.7% |
| Wolston | Evan Marginson | ALP | 2.3% |
| Bundaberg | Lou Jensen | ALP | 2.5% |
| Sandgate | Harold Dean | ALP | 3.5% |
| Rockhampton | Keith Wright | ALP | 3.6% |
| Nudgee | Jack Melloy | ALP | 4.1% |
| Archerfield | Kevin Hooper | ALP | 5.0% |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" | Fairly safe | ||
| Rockhampton North | Les Yewdale | ALP | 6.1% |
| Lytton | Tom Burns | ALP | 6.7% |
| Cairns | Ray Jones | ALP | 7.3% |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" bgcolor="red" | Safe | ||
| Port Curtis | Martin Hanson | ALP | 15.7% |
| COLSPAN=4 align="center" | Crossbench seats (2) | ||
| Townsville South | Tom Aikens | IND | 5.8 v ALP |
| Mackay | Ed Casey | IND | 20.5 v NAT |