Australian general election, 1972
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Federal elections were held in Australia on December 2, 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, no Senate seats 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 led by Doug Anthony, but were defeated by the Australian Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam.
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[edit] Issues
At the 1972 election, the Coalition of the Liberal and Country parties had been in Government for 23 years. Many commentators believed that it was tired, and had little further energy or ideas for the future. In addition, Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War had become unpopular, especially the need to conscript soldiers to fight. Incumbent Prime Minister Billy McMahon came across badly on television, and he was no match in parliamentary debates for Whitlam, a witty and powerful orator. He was further weakened by concerns about inflation and negative press coverage. For example, Rupert Murdoch and his Australian newspaper supported the ALP. The ALP ran a strong campaign under the famous slogan, ‘It’s Time’.
[edit] Results
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Australian Labor Party | 3,273,549 | 49.59 | +2.64 | 67 | +8 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 2,115,085 | 32.04 | -2.73 | 38 | -8 | |
| Country Party | 622,826 | 9.44 | +0.88 | 20 | 0 | |
| Democratic Labor Party | 346,415 | 5.25 | -0.77 | 0 | 0 | |
| Australia Party | 159,916 | 2.42 | +1.55 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other | 83,259 | 1.26 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 6,601,050 | 125 | ||||
| Australian Labor Party | WIN | 52.70 | +2.50 | 67 | +8 | |
| LPA/NAT coalition | 47.30 | -2.50 | 58 | -8 |
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 2,376,215 | 42.22 | -2.81 | 14 | 26 | |
| Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) | 1,098,134 | 19.51 | -14.31 | 4 | * | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 991,473 | 17.61 | +9.47 | 8 | 21 | |
| Democratic Labor Party | 625,142 | 11.11 | +1.34 | 3 | 5 | |
| Australia Party | 163,343 | 2.90 | * | 0 | 0 | |
| Country Party | 59,416 | 1.06 | +0.24 | 1 | 5 | |
| Independents | 95,902 | 1.70 | +0.71 | 2 | 3 | |
| Other | 219,208 | 3.89 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5,628,833 | 32 | 60 |
[edit] Significance
The 1972 election ended 23 years of unbroken conservative Government. The new Labor Government of Gough Whitlam was eager to make long-planned reforms, although it struggled against a lack of experience in its cabinet. The 1972 election is also unusual as Whitlam only scraped into office with a thin majority of 9 seats. Typically, elections where Governments change in Australia are decisive (see the 1996 election, for example). In addition, the Senate was hostile to Whitlam, with the Coalition and Democratic Labor Parties holding more seats than the ALP. This would make governing difficult and lead to the early double dissolution election of 1974.
[edit] References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- AustralianPolitics.com 1972 election details
- AustralianPolitics.com 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.
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Australian general elections
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