Did the 1996 federal election see a blue-collar revolt against Labor?; A Queensland case-study

A study of aggregate and survey data in Queensland explains how the Keating government was resoundingly defeated in March 1996. Much of the Labor party's traditional, core constituency was made up of blue-collar workers who shifted their support away from Labor. The trend was also noticed in other states, but the swing was not as pronounced.
In the immediate wake of the 1996 Australian federal elections pundits variously attributed the ALP's defeat to the loss of its `heartlands', to the party's failure in government to retain [...]