1966 Australian federal election

Summary

The 1966 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 26 November 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister Harold Holt, won an increased majority over the opposition Labor Party, led by Arthur Calwell, in a landslide.[1] This was the first and only time that a Federal Government won an eighth consecutive term in office.

1966 Australian federal election

← 1963 26 November 1966 1969 →

All 124 seats of the Australian House of Representatives
63 seats were needed for a majority
Registered6,193,881 Increase 6.33%
Turnout5,892,327 (95.13%)
(Decrease0.60 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Harold Holt Arthur Calwell
Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor
Leader since 20 January 1966 7 March 1960
Leader's seat Higgins (Vic.) Melbourne (Vic.)
Last election 72 seats 50 seats
Seats won 82 seats 41 seats
Seat change Increase 10 Decrease 9
Popular vote 2,853,890 2,282,834
Percentage 49.98% 39.98%
Swing Increase 3.94 Decrease 5.49
TPP 56.90% 43.10%
TPP swing Increase 4.30 Decrease 4.30

Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.

Prime Minister before election

Harold Holt
Liberal/Country coalition

Subsequent Prime Minister

Harold Holt
Liberal/Country coalition

This was the first federal election since Australia was decimalised on the 14th of February in the same year.

Government (82)
Coalition
  Liberal (61)
  Country (21)

Opposition (41)
  Labor (41)

Crossbench (1)
  Independent (1)  

Issues edit

Sir Robert Menzies had retired from politics in January; his successor, former Treasurer Harold Holt, was stylish, debonair and popular with the electorate, contrasting sharply with the much rougher figure of Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell, who had already lost two elections.

Calwell also came across poorly on television compared to Holt, looking and sounding older than his 70 years. It did not help that also held to the beliefs that had been central to the previous Labor Government of 1941–1949, many of which were seen as being long outdated in 1966; for example, he still defended the White Australia policy and nationalisation, and also strongly supported socialism.

These factors, along with a strong economy and initial enthusiasm for Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, virtually guaranteed the Coalition another term. The Coalition campaigned with the slogan "Keep Australia secure and prosperous – play it safe".[2]

The election was a landslide win for the Coalition, which won twice as many seats as Labor. The Liberals arrived two seats short of a majority in their own right, the closest that the major non-Labor party had come to governing in its own right since adopting of the Liberal banner. Holt's victory was also larger than any of Menzies' eight victories, and resulted in the largest majority government in Australian history at the time. It was later seen as the electoral high point of both Holt's Prime Ministership and the 23 years of continuous Coalition rule.

Calwell retired to the backbench a month after the crushing election loss, and was succeeded by his deputy, Gough Whitlam.

Results edit

House of Reps (IRV) — 1966–69—Turnout 95.13% (CV) — Informal 3.10%
 
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Liberal–Country coalition 2,853,890 49.98 +3.94 82 +10
  Liberal  2,291,964 40.14 +3.05 61 +9
  Country 561,926 9.84 +0.90 21 +1
  Labor 2,282,834 39.98 –5.49 41 –9
  Democratic Labor 417,411 7.31 –0.13 0 0
  Liberal Reform 49,610 0.87 +0.87 0 0
  Communist 23,056 0.40 –0.19 0 0
  Independents 82,948 1.45 +0.98 1 +1
  Total 5,709,749     124 +2
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
  Liberal–Country coalition Win 56.90 +4.30 82 +10
  Labor 43.10 −4.30 41 −9

Independents: Sam Benson

Popular vote
Liberal
40.14%
Labor
39.98%
Country
9.84%
DLP
7.31%
Independents
1.45%
Other
1.27%
Two-party-preferred vote
Coalition
56.90%
Labor
43.10%
Parliament seats
Coalition
66.13%
Labor
33.06%
Independents
0.81%

Seats changing hands edit

Seat Pre-1966 Swing Post-1966
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Adelaide, SA   Labor Joe Sexton 7.2 10.0 2.8 Andrew Jones Liberal  
Barton, NSW   Labor Len Reynolds 0.7 2.9 2.2 Bill Arthur Liberal  
Batman, Vic   Labor Sam Benson N/A 8.7 7.8 Sam Benson Independent  
Eden-Monaro, NSW   Labor Allan Fraser 2.7 3.4 0.7 Dugald Munro Liberal  
Grey, SA   Labor Jack Mortimer 4.8 7.8 3.0 Don Jessop Liberal  
Griffith, Qld   Labor Wilfred Coutts 5.8 6.9 1.1 Don Cameron Liberal  
Herbert, Qld   Labor Ted Harding 3.2 4.3 1.1 Robert Bonnett Liberal  
Hughes, NSW   Labor Les Johnson 2.7 4.7 2.0 Don Dobie Liberal  
Kennedy, Qld   Labor Bill Riordan 13.5 15.0 1.5 Bob Katter Country  
Kingston, SA   Labor Pat Galvin 4.5 12.7 8.2 Kay Brownbill Liberal  
Lalor, Vic   Labor Reg Pollard 7.0 7.7 0.7 Mervyn Lee Liberal  
Northern Territory, NT   Labor Jock Nelson 100.0 51.7 1.7 Sam Calder Country  
  • Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/holts-1966-landslide-election-victory
  2. ^ Young, Sally (2006). "Australian election slogans, 1949-2004". Australian Journal of Communication. 33 (1). Retrieved 9 August 2022.

References edit

  • University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890
  • AEC 2PP vote
  • Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore, the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.