13 December 1975 1977 → 61 seats 66 seats 30 30 | 21 March 1975 8 February 1967 91 seats 36 seats 55.70% 44.30% | |
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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.
Contents
Malcolm Fraser had been commissioned as caretaker prime minister following the dismissal of Gough Whitlam's three-year-old Labor government by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, on 11 November 1975. The same day, Fraser advised the calling of the election, in accordance with Kerr's stipulated conditions (see 1975 Australian constitutional crisis). The Coalition of Fraser's Liberal Party of Australia and Doug Anthony's National Country Party secured government in its own right, winning the largest majority government in Australian history. Although Fraser had no need for the support of the National Country Party, the Coalition was retained. Labor suffered a 30-seat swing and saw its House of Representatives numbers cut almost in half, to 36 seats—fewer than it had when Whitlam became leader in the aftermath of the Coalition landslide nearly 10 years earlier, in the 1966 election.
Results
Independent: Brian Harradine
Seats changing hands
Issues and significance
The election followed the controversial dismissal of the Whitlam government by Governor-General Sir John Kerr in the 1975 constitutional crisis. Labor campaigners hoped that the electorate would "maintain [its] rage" and punish the Coalition for its part in bringing down the government, proclaiming "Shame Fraser, Shame". However, the Coalition focused on economic issues following the 1973 oil crisis and 1973–75 recession, the so-called Loans Affair, alleged Labor mismanagement of inflation, and campaigned under the slogan "Turn on the lights, Australia" (drawing on a contemporary cynicism: "Would the last businessman leaving Australia please turn out the lights?").
The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory received an entitlement to elect two senators each as a consequence of the 1974 Joint Sitting of the Australian Parliament.