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Australian federal election, 1977

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Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1977. All 124 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....

, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

, 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 Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser

John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...

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 National Country Party led by Doug Anthony

Doug Anthony

John Douglas Anthony, AC, CH , is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the National Party from 1971 to 1984, and Deputy Prime Minister from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1975 to 1983.-Early life:...

in government since 1975 defeated the opposition 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...

.

Results

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...

) — 1977–80—Turnout 95.08% (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 2.52%
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...	3,141,051	39.65	−3.20	38	+2
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...	3,017,896	38.09	−3.71	67	−1
National Country Party	793,444	10.01	−1.24	19	−4
Australian Democrats Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...	743,365	9.38	*	0	0
Other	227,098	2.87		0	0
Total	7,922,854			124	−3
Liberal/National 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	54.60	−1.10	86	-5
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...		45.40	+1.10	38	+2

Senate (STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

) — 1977–80—Turnout 95.08% (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 9.00%
Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held
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...	2,718,876	36.76	−4.15	14	27
Liberal/National (Joint Ticket)	2,533,882	34.26	−5.60	7
Australian Democrats Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...	823,550	11.13	*	2	2
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...	783,878	10.60	−0.48	10	27
National Country Party	36,619	0.50	−0.04	0	6
Country Liberal Party Country Liberal Party The Northern Territory Country Liberal Party is a Northern Territory political party affiliated with both the National and Liberal parties...	15,463	0.21	−0.01	1	1
Independents 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...	127,850	1.73	+0.13	0	1
Other	356,089	4.81	+2.75	0	0
Total	7,396,207			34	64

Independent: Brian Harradine

Brian Harradine

Richard William Brian Harradine , Australian politician, was an independent member of the Australian Senate from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving independent federal politician in Australian history, and a Father of the Senate.He was born in Quorn, South...

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1977				Swing	Post-1977
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	Margin	Member	Party
Capricornia, Qld Division of Capricornia The Division of Capricornia is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through the Division. It is located on the central Queensland coast and its...		National Country	Colin Carige Colin Carige Colin Lawrence Carige, , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1975 to 1977, representing the Division of Capricornia. He held the seat for the National Country Party....	0.1	2.7	1.2	Doug Everingham Doug Everingham Douglas Nixon "Doug" Everingham is a former Australian politician and minister.Everingham graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Sydney in 1946 and worked in public and private hospitals and as a family doctor.Everingham was elected the Australian Labor Party...	Labor
Griffith, Qld Division of Griffith The Division of Griffith is anAustralian Electoral Division in Queensland.The division was created in 1934, when the old seat of Oxley was abolished, and is named for Sir Samuel Griffith, 9th Premier of Queensland and principal author of the Australian Constitution...		Liberal	Donald Milner Cameron Donald Milner Cameron Donald Milner Cameron, AM , Australian politician, was born in Brisbane, and was educated at Church of England Grammar School and the University of Queensland....	8.0	5.0	3.5	Ben Humphreys Ben Humphreys Benjamin Charles Humphreys AM , Australian politician, is a former Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the Division of Griffith, Queensland from 1977 to 1996....	Labor
Indi, Vic Division of Indi The Division of Indi is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. It is located in north-eastern Victoria. Its northern border is formed by the Murray River...		National Country	Mac Holten Mac Holten Rendle McNeilage "Mac" Holten CMG was a leading Australian rules footballer, Australian politician and government minister.Holten was born in Melbourne and educated at Scotch College, Melbourne...	N/A	22.3	5.1	Ewen Cameron Ewen Cameron (Australian politician) Ewen Colin Cameron was an Australian politician. Born in Melbourne, he had been a farmer and member of Euroa Shire Council before entering federal politics. In 1977, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Indi, defeating Mac Holten, a member of the...	Liberal

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

Background and issues

The government offering tax cuts to voters and ran advertisements with the slogan "fistful of dollars". The tax cuts were never delivered; instead a "temporary surcharge" was imposed in 1978. The election coincided with the retirement of the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. Kerr had appeared drunk at the Melbourne Cup in November and the public outcry resulted in the cancellation of his appointment as Ambassador to UNESCO.

The 1977 election was held a year earlier than required, partly to bring elections for the House and Senate back into line. A half-Senate election had to be held by the middle of 1978, since the double dissolution election of 1975 had resulted in the terms of senators being backdated to July 1975.

Significance

Liberal Don Chipp

Don Chipp

Donald Leslie Chipp, AO was an Australian politician, and the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats.-Early life:...

had been dropped from the ministry after the 1975 election. He had formed a new political party, the Australian Democrats

Australian Democrats

The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...

, and had announced his intention to run for the Senate. Liberal Movement senator Steele Hall

Steele Hall

Raymond Steele Hall was the 36th Premier of South Australia 1968-70, a senator for South Australia 1974-77, and federal member for the Division of Boothby 1981-96.-Biography:...

resigned and was replaced by Janine Haines

Janine Haines

Janine Haines, AM , Australian politician, was the first female federal parliamentary leader of an Australian political party. An Australian Democrat, she was also the first member of that party to enter the federal parliament after the party's formation...

but lost her seat, however the party gained Chipp in Victoria and Colin Mason

Colin Mason

Colin Victor James Mason is a New Zealand-born Australian journalist, author and former politician.Mason worked for 14 years as the first foreign correspondent of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and became deeply involved in Asian affairs...

in New South Wales, with Haines being re-elected at the next election as popularity grew.

The ALP made limited gains in the election. The Second Fraser Government retained the second-largest parliamentary majority in Australian history after the majority it won in the 1975 election

Australian federal election, 1975

Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....

. Gough Whitlam resigned as the leader of the ALP in 1978.

Although there were a number of women candidates for the House of Representatives, no women were elected. Women have been elected at every general election from 1980 onwards.

Australian federal election, 1977

Results

Seats changing hands

Background and issues

Significance

See also