Australian federal election, 1969 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Federal elections were held in Australia on 25 October 1969. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

led by Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

John Gorton

Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:...

with coalition

Coalition (Australia)

The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...

partner the Country Party led by John McEwen

John McEwen

Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia...

(who had also served as Prime Minister for three weeks after Harold Holt

Harold Holt

Harold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...

's disappearance) defeated the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

led by Gough Whitlam

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

. Even though the ALP lost, the election was seen as a good result for the party as it made significant gains against the Coalition.

House of Reps (IRV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

) — 1969–72—Turnout 94.97% (CV
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...

) — Informal 2.54%
Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	2,870,792	46.95	+6.97	59	+18
Liberal Party of Australia Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	2,125,987	34.77	−5.37	46	−15
Country Party	523,232	8.56	−1.28	20	−1
Democratic Labor Party Democratic Labor Party (historical) The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...	367,977	6.02	−1.29	0	0
Australia Party Australia Party The Australia Party was the name of a minor political party in Australia ....	53,646	0.88	*	0	0
Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... s	141,090	2.31	+0.85	0	−1
Other	31,394	0.51		0	0
Total	6,114,118			125	+1
Liberal/Country coalition Coalition (Australia) The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...	WIN	49.80	−7.10	66	−16
Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...		50.20	+7.10	59	+18

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1969				Swing	Post-1969
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	Margin	Member	Party
Adelaide, SA Division of Adelaide The Division of Adelaide is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia. The division was created in 1903 and is named for the city of Adelaide, South Australia's capital. The seat has always been based in the inner suburbs of Adelaide...		Liberal	Andrew Jones	2.8	14.3	11.3	Chris Hurford Chris Hurford Christopher John "Chris" Hurford, AO, was a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives seat of Adelaide from 1969 to 1987...	Labor
Barton, NSW Division of Barton The Division of Barton is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia...		Liberal	William Arthur William Arthur (Australian politician) Sir William Tevlin Arthur was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he attended state schools and was on military service from 1941 to 1946. Subsequently he was a journalist, scriptwriter and research officer. He first contested the Australian House of Representatives seat of Barton in 1954,...	2.2	5.7	3.0	Leonard Reynolds Leonard Reynolds Leonard James Reynolds was an Australian politician. Born in Harden, New South Wales, he was educated at state schools before attending the University of Sydney. He undertook military service from 1943 to 1946 and was subsequently a teacher and education lecturer...	Labor
Batman, Vic Division of Batman The Division of Batman is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1906 , and is named after John Batman, one of the founders of the city of Melbourne. When it was created it covered the inner suburbs of Carlton and Fitzroy, but successive boundary changes have...		Independent	Sam Benson Sam Benson Samuel James "Sam" Benson, CBE was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he was educated in that city at St Peter's College...	N/A	0.2	3.0	Horace Garrick Horace Garrick Horace James Garrick was an Australian politician. Born in Melbourne, he attended state schools and then Swinburne Technical College before becoming a mechanical engineer. Having sat on Collingwood City Council, he was Mayor from 1960 to 1961 and from 1968 to 1969...	Labor
Bowman, Qld Division of Bowman The Division of Bowman is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1949 and is named for David Bowman, an early leader of the Australian Labor Party, in Queensland...		Liberal	Wylie Gibbs Wylie Gibbs Wylie Talbot Gibbs was an Australian politician. Born in Queensland, he was educated at Ipswich Boys' Grammar School and the University of Queensland before becoming a doctor and grazier. He was a doctor with the Royal Flying Doctor Service 1947-48 and was a house surgeon in London, England,...	6.7	7.1	2.5	Leonard Keogh Leonard Keogh Leonard Joseph Keogh was a Labor representative for the Queensland Division of Bowman from 1969 to 1975 and 1983 to 1987 in the Australian House of Representatives. In 1987 he was defeated for pre-selection by Con Sciacca....	Labor
Eden-Monaro, NSW Division of Eden-Monaro The Division of Eden-Monaro is anAustralian Electoral Division in New South Wales.The division was created in 1900, and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the town of Eden and the Monaro district of southern New South Wales...		Liberal	Dugald Munro Dugald Munro Dugald Ranald Ross Munro was an Australian politician. He was the Liberal Party of Australia member for the House of Representatives seat of Eden-Monaro from 1966 until his defeat by Allan Fraser in the 1969 election....	0.7	5.8	3.2	Allan Fraser Allan Fraser (Australian politician) Allan Duncan Fraser CMG was an Australian politician and journalist.Fraser was in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton and brought up in Tasmania. He left State High School, Hobart at 17 to become a journalist on the Hobart Mercury. He worked for the Argus in Melbourne from 1922 to 1929 when he...	Labor
Forrest, WA Division of Forrest The Division of Forrest is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia and a federal Cabinet minister. It is located in the south-western corner of the state, including the towns of...		Liberal	Gordon Freeth Gordon Freeth Sir Gordon Freeth KBE was an Australian politician.Freeth was born in Angaston, South Australia, the son of Robert Freeth and Gladys Mary Snashall...	9.5	11.6	1.1	Frank Kirwan Frank Kirwan Frank McLeod Kirwan was an Australian politician. Born in Norseman, Western Australia, he was educated at state schools and the School of Mines in Perth, after which he became an electrical fitter. He was an official with the Electrical Trades Union and was also a Methodist minister...	Labor
Franklin, Tas Division of Franklin The Division of Franklin is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and is named for Sir John Franklin, the polar explorer who was Lt Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1843-46. It is located in southern Tasmania, including the Hobart suburbs of Bridgewater,...		Liberal	Thomas Pearsall Thomas Pearsall Thomas Gordon Pearsall was an Australian politician. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, he was educated at state schools before becoming a dairy farmer at Kingston. He served in the military 1940 -1945 Thomas Gordon Pearsall (11 April 1920 – 28 December 2003) was an Australian politician. Born in...	2.2	9.9	5.9	Ray Sherry Ray Sherry Raymond Henry "Ray" Sherry was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he was educated there at state schools. He spent 1941-1946 with the merchant navy before becoming an actor, television broadcaster and commentator, moving to Hobart in 1956...	Labor
Grey, SA Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia.The division was created in 1903 and is named for Sir George Grey, who was Governor of South Australia 1841-45 ....		Liberal	Don Jessop Don Jessop Donald Scott "Don" Jessop was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he was educated at state schools and then the University of Adelaide, after which he became an optometrist at Port Augusta. He was a councillor with Port Augusta City...	3.0	3.1	1.9	Laurie Wallis Laurie Wallis Laurie George Wallis was a Labor representative for the South Australian Division of Grey from 1969 to 1983 in the Australian House of Representatives.-References:*...	Labor
Hawker, SA Division of Hawker The Division of Hawker was an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia. The division was created in 1969 and abolished in 1993. It was named for Charles Hawker, who was a federal MP 1929-38. It was located in the southern suburbs of Adelaide and took in the suburbs of Ascot Park,...		Liberal	notional - new seat	N/A	13.7	7.9	Ralph Jacobi Ralph Jacobi Ralph Jacobi AM was a long-serving Australian Labor Party representative for the South Australian Division of Hawker in the Australian House of Representatives. He served from 25 October 1969 to his retirement on 5 June 1987.Before parliament, Jacobi was employed in the merchant navy and in trade...	Labor
Kingston, SA Division of Kingston The Division of Kingston is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia covering the far-south metropolitan area of Adelaide. The division was first proclaimed in 1949....		Liberal	Kay Brownbill Kay Brownbill Kay Cathrine Millin Brownbill OBE was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, she was educated at state schools before become a journalist, broadcaster and public relations officer...	8.2	16.5	3.9	Richard Gun Richard Gun Richard Townsend Gun is a retired Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he was educated at St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide, becoming a doctor. He was on the anaesthetics registrar at the Royal Adelaide Hospital...	Labor
Lalor, Vic Division of Lalor The Division of Lalor is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the outer western suburbs of Melbourne. It includes the suburbs of Werribee, Point Cook, Laverton, Rockbank and Melton....		Liberal	Mervyn Lee Mervyn Lee Mervyn William Lee was an Australian politician. Born in Broadford, Victoria, he was educated at Kingswood College in Melbourne before becoming a Commonwealth public servant. After serving in World War II 1941-46, he became a drapery and hardware merchant...	0.7	4.8	10.9	Jim Cairns Jim Cairns James Ford "J. F." Cairns , Australian politician, was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government...	Labor
Maribyrnong, Vic Division of Maribyrnong The Division of Maribyrnong is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. It covers the suburbs of Moonee Ponds, Essendon, Niddrie, Keilor East, Avondale Heights, Tullamarine, Airport West, Sunshine and Brooklyn. Due to...		Liberal	Philip Stokes Philip Stokes Philip William Clifford Stokes, OBE was an Australian politician. Born in Melbourne, he attended state schools and then Austral College. He was a bank officer before serving in the military 1940-45. On his return, he was an auctioneer and real estate agent...	7.6	8.0	1.4	Moss Cass Moss Cass Moses Henry Cass is a former member of the Australian House of Representatives. Born in Narrogin, Western Australia, Cass was educated in state schools before graduating in Medicine from the University of Sydney and worked as a Research Fellow at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and as...	Labor
Paterson, NSW Division of Paterson The Division of Paterson is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located just north of Newcastle, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It extends to the Hunter Valley in the south, the Manning River in the north, and the Great Dividing Range in the west...		Liberal	Allen Fairhall Allen Fairhall Sir Allen Fairhall KBE was an Australian politician and Member of the Parliament of Australia for the Division of Paterson from 1949 to 1969. During that period he held a number of ministerial portfolios, most notably Supply and Defence.Fairhall was born at Morpeth and attended East Maitland...	N/A	9.1	7.5	Frank O'Keefe Frank O'Keefe Frank Lionel O'Keefe, AM was an Australian politician. Born in Gunnedah, New South Wales, he attended state schools before becoming a farm machinery distributor and oil merchant. He was mayor of Gunnedah Shire Council for 18 years, and also served on Namoi Valley County Council...	Country
Perth, WA Division of Perth The Division of Perth is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia. It is named after Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, where the Division is located...		Liberal	Fred Chaney	6.9	12.2	8.2	Joe Berinson Joe Berinson Joseph Max "Joe" Berinson is a former Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives from the 1969 election until his defeat by Ross McLean at the 1975 election, representing the division of Perth, Western Australia...	Labor
Riverina, NSW Division of Riverina The Division of Riverina is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in south-west rural New South Wales, generally following the Murrumbidgee River valley. It includes the cities of Wagga Wagga and Griffith as well as the towns of Junee, West Wyalong, Tumut,...		Country	Adam Armstrong Adam Armstrong Adam Alexander Armstrong, OBE, MC was an Australian politician. Born in Deniliquin, New South Wales, he was a grazier before serving in the military 1939-45 . Subsequently he became involved in local politics, serving on Conargo Shire Council...	16.5	18.8	2.3	Al Grassby Al Grassby Albert Jaime Grassby, AM , Australian politician, was Minister for Immigration in the Whitlam Labor government. He initiated sweeping reforms in immigration, human rights, and is often known as the father of Australian "multiculturalism".-Early life and state politics:Born Albert Grassby in...	Labor
Robertson, NSW Division of Robertson The Division of Robertson is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. The Division is located on the Central Coast, immediately north of the Hawkesbury River. It encompasses the towns of Woy Woy, Gosford and Terrigal....		Liberal	William Bridges-Maxwell William Bridges-Maxwell Crawford William Bridges-Maxwell was an Australian politician. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, he was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then the Royal Agricultural College in England, after which he became a veterinary scientist...	8.5	9.7	1.8	Barry Cohen Barry Cohen Barry Cohen AM is a former Australian Labor politician. He was a minister in the government of Bob Hawke.-Biography:He was born in Griffith, New South Wales and educated at Griffith High School, Sydney Grammar School and North Sydney Technical High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the...	Labor
St George, NSW Division of St George The Division of St George was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, and covered the suburbs of Hurstville, Rockdale and Arncliffe....		Liberal	Leonard Bosman Leonard Bosman Leonard Lewis Bosman was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he was educated at state schools and then at East Sydney Technical College. He owned a catering business before serving in World War II 1942-47. He was active in Apex and foreign aid organisations. In 1963, he was elected to the...	9.5	9.6	0.1	Bill Morrison Bill Morrison (Australian politician) William Lawrence "Bill" Morrison AO , Australian former politician, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives and a Cabinet minister in the Whitlam government....	Labor
Sturt, SA Division of Sturt The Division of Sturt is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia.First proclaimed for the 1949 election, Sturt was named for Captain Charles Sturt, nineteenth century explorer and the first European to discover the Murray River...		Liberal	Ian Wilson Ian Wilson (politician) Ian Bonython Cameron Wilson , solicitor, company director and Australian politician, was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Sir Keith Wilson, a prominent United Australia Party and Liberal Party politician...	16.2	15.0	0.5	Norman Foster	Labor
Swan, WA Division of Swan The Division of Swan is an Australian Electoral Division located in Western Australia. The division is named after the Swan River.For several decades, it has been a marginal seat, extending along the Swan and Canning Rivers from the affluent suburbs in the City of South Perth to the west, which...		Liberal	Richard Cleaver Richard Cleaver Richard Cleaver AM CBE was an Australian politician. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he was educated at Perth Modern School before becoming a chartered secretary and accountant, and then a management consultant. He served in the military 1941-1946. In 1955, he was elected to the Australian House...	3.5	8.3	4.1	Adrian Bennett Adrian Bennett Adrian Frank Bennett was an Australian politician. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he was educated at Catholic schools before becoming a transport worker. He was secretary of the Transport Workers' Union and also sat on the councils of Canning Shire and its successor Canning Town...	Labor

Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Issues

The 1969 election centred heavily on the two leaders, John Gorton and Gough Whitlam. Both were leading their respective parties in an election for the first time. Gorton had initially been very popular, and was publicly promoted as an "average Aussie bloke". This image was boosted by his record of wartime service and his craggy battered profile (the result of a wartime injury). However, he gradually gained a reputation for being erratic and unnecessarily confrontational. By the time of the 1969 Election campaign his attempts to alter long standing Liberal Party policies with regard to federal–state powers, and foreign affairs had alienated the more conservative sections of the Liberal Party, and various state Liberal leaders (Henry Bolte

Henry Bolte

Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG was an Australian politician. He was the 38th and longest serving Premier of Victoria.- Early years :...

and Robin Askin in particular).

Whitlam, by contrast, had reformed the ALP and abandoned unpopular policies such as the once-dominant White Australia Policy

White Australia policy

The White Australia policy comprises various historical policies that intentionally restricted "non-white" immigration to Australia. From origins at Federation in 1901, the polices were progressively dismantled between 1949-1973....

, as well as the commitment to socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

still held by many members on the left of the party. He presented a sleek and modern image which was able to win over new voters to his cause. Whitlam had also managed to restore and heal the party's image as an electable alternative, something that had been impossible after the Labor Party split in 1955. Under his leadership, Whitlam had also attracted back many Catholic voters who had previously dumped Labor due to its infighting and factionism. In addition, the Coalition

Coalition (Australia)

The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...

had been in office for 20 years and was seen as becoming tired and unfocused, and there were growing concerns over Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. The ALP went into the election with a small caucus and could have a good hope of gaining seats.

Despite a Coalition campaign depicting Labor as a party dominated and controlled by union bosses, the result was very close. Labor became the biggest single party in the House, taking 59 seats—an 18-seat swing from 1966. They also won a bare majority of the two-party-preferred vote

Two-party-preferred vote

In politics, the two-party-preferred vote , or two-candidate-preferred vote , in an election or opinion poll uses preferential voting to express the electoral result after the distribution of preferences...

, winning 50.2 percent to the Coalition's 49.8 percent—a 7.1-point swing from 1966. However, largely due to the Democratic Labor Party

Democratic Labor Party (historical)

The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...

preferencing against Labor, Whitlam came up four seats short of toppling the Coalition. Had Labor been able to overcome DLP preferences in four Melbourne-area seats, it would have won. Nonetheless, it set the stage for Labor winning government three years later

Australian federal election, 1972

Federal elections were held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The Liberal Party of Australia had been in power since 1949, under Prime Minister of Australia William McMahon since March 1971 with coalition partner the Country Party...

Seats changing hands

Issues

See also