EXPLAINING LABORS WIN AT THE 1993 AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL-ELECTION

This paper investigates Labor's victory at the 1993 Australian Federal election. In the aftermath of the election a variety of explanations emerged endeavoring to account for the result. From these explanations factors claimed as important are investigated for their influence on vote choice and importantly their contribution to the parties' shares of the vote. Confirming aspects of some of the explanations, the facto rs which gave the ALP the greatest benefits were the opposition's prop osed goods and services tax, and the medicare and health, and industri al relations issues. The coalition benefited from Labor's employment r ecord, the economic management issue, and from the belief that it was time to change government. This study demonstrates that careful analys is of survey data can provide accurate and detailed accounts of electi on outcomes. We discuss how explanations of election outcomes in gener al can be improved and the implications of the study's findings for th e next election.