Results of the 1981 New South Wales state election (Legislative Council)

New South Wales state election, 19 September 1981 Legislative Council
Enrolled voters		3,212,657
Votes cast		2,927,971		Turnout	91.14	–1.63
Informal votes		200,367		Informal	6.84	+2.79
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held
	Labor	1,412,426	51.78	–3.13	8	24
	Liberal/National Coalition	921,081	33.77	–2.49	5	18
	Call to Australia	248,425	9.11	+7.80	1	1
	Democrats	109,939	4.03	+1.25	1	1
	Environmental Action	18,056	0.66	+0.66	0	0
	Republican	10,184	0.37	+0.37	0	0
	Progress	3,121	0.11	+0.11	0	0
	Social Democrats	2,512	0.09	+0.09	0	0
	Independent	24,786	0.07	–0.83	0	0
Total		2,727,604			15

This is a list of results for the Legislative Council at the 1981 New South Wales state election.

Results

1981 New South Wales state election: Legislative Council 

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Quota			170,476
	Labor	1. Paul Landa (elected 1) 2. Jack Hallam (elected 4) 3. Jack Garland (elected 6) 4. Barney French (elected 8) 5. Franca Arena (elected 10) 6. George Brenner (elected 12) 7. Ken Reed (elected 13) 8. Bryan Vaughan (elected 14) 9. Ann Symonds 10. Fred Hankinson	1,412,426	51.8	−3.1
	Liberal/National Coalition	1. Max Willis (elected 2) 2. Jack Doohan (elected 5) 3. Ted Pickering (elected 7) 4. John Matthews (elected 9) 5. Richard Killen (elected 11) 6. Derek Freeman 7. Judy Jakins 8. Bronwyn Bishop 9. John Hagan 10. Doug Moppett	921,081	33.8	−2.4
	Call to Australia	1. Fred Nile (elected 3) 2. Graham McLennan 3. Kevin Hume 4. Thomas Toogood 5. Percy Everingham	248,425	9.1	+9.1
	Democrats	1. Elisabeth Kirkby (elected 15) 2. Paul McLean 3. James Boow 4. Christine Townend 5. Laurence Bourke 6. Ray Griffiths 7. Ross McInnes 8. Richard Beazley 9. Joe Lake 10. Elizabeth Poppleton	109,939	4.0	+1.2
	Environmental Action	1. Keith Suter 2. Dudley Leggett 3. Jennifer Quealy 4. Quentin Jacobsen	18,056	0.7	+0.7
	Republican	1. Brian Buckley 2. Marie McKern	10,184	0.4	+0.4
	Progress	1. Henry Soper 2. Marjorie Wisby 3. William More	3,121	0.1	+0.1
	Social Democrats	1. Walter Roach 2. Johann Liszikam	2,152	0.1	+0.1
	Independent	Louis Patmoy	994	0.04	+0.04
	Independent	Rudolph Dezelin	866	0.03	0.00
Total formal votes			2,727,604	93.2	−2.8
Informal votes			200,367	6.8	+2.8
Turnout			2,927,971	91.1	−1.6

Continuing members

The following MLCs were not up for re-election this year.

Member		Party	Term
	Roy Turner	Labor	1976–1984
	Peter Baldwin	Labor	1976–1982
	Don Burton	Labor	1976–1984
	John Morris	Labor	1976–1984
	Delcia Kite	Labor	1976–1984
	Johno Johnson	Labor	1976–1984
	Clive Healey	Labor	1978–1988
	Joe Thompson	Labor	1978–1988
	Peter Watkins	Labor	1978–1988
	Barrie Unsworth	Labor	1978–1986
	Dorothy Isaksen	Labor	1978–1988
	Marie Fisher	Labor	1978–1988
	Norm King	Labor	1978–1988
	Deirdre Grusovin	Labor	1978–1988
	Jim Kaldis	Labor	1978–1988
	Ron Dyer	Labor	1979–1984
	Fred Duncan	Liberal	1976–1984
	John Holt	Liberal	1976–1984
	Bill Sandwith	Liberal	1976–1984
	Nathanael Orr	Liberal	1976–1984
	Virginia Chadwick	Liberal	1978–1988
	Frank Calabro	Liberal	1978–1988
	Lloyd Lange	Liberal	1978–1986
	Peter Philips	Liberal	1978–1988
	Derek Freeman*	Liberal	1981–1984
	Adrian Solomons	National Country	1976–1984
	Bill Kennedy	National Country	1976–1984
	Bob Rowland Smith	National Country	1978–1988
	Toby MacDiarmid	National Country	1978–1988

• While Derek Freeman was not elected at the election, he was appointed as a casual vacancy following the death of Fergus Darling, whose term would have continued until 1984.

See also

• Results of the 1981 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly)
• Candidates of the 1981 New South Wales state election
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1981–1984