Australian legislative election, 1901

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Australian legislative election, 1901 was the first federal election held in Australia following the establishment of the Federation of Australia.

The election resulted in a win for Prime Minister Edmund Barton's Protectionist Party, but was more important for setting the template for future federal elections and the fact that those elected determined much of the character of Australian parliamentary democracy and protocol from then to the present day.

Contents 1 Background 2 Voting and Enrolment 3 Parties Contesting the Election 4 Electorates 5 Campaign 6 Election Day 7 Results 8 References

[edit] Background

Following the federation of the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania on 1 January 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia, an election was announced for 29 March (in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania) and 30 March 1901 (in South Australia and Queensland) to elect the inaugural members of federal parliament.

Edmund Barton had been called upon to form the first Commonwealth Cabinet in December 1900 and his cabinet would be contesting the poll as the incumbent government.

[edit] Voting and Enrolment

Voting franchise was according to each state's specific electoral laws. South Australian and Western Australian women were enfranchised while in the other states they could not vote. Tasmania retained a small property qualification for voting, but in the other states all males over 21 could vote. Only in South Australia and Tasmania, however, were indigneous Australians even theoretically entitled to vote. A few may have done so in South Australia.

Voting was voluntary throughout Australia and candidates were elected by a first past the post voting system. In South Australia, voters were required to mark the box opposite their preferred candidates while in other states voters were required to cross out the names of non-preferred candidates.

[edit] Parties Contesting the Election

The parties contesting the election were the Protectionist Party, led by Prime Minister Edmund Barton, and the Free Trade Party, unofficially led by former New South Wales Premier George Reid. There was no national Labour party, but in five of the six states local Labour parties contested the elections - in Tasmania, where there was no Labour party, King O'Malley was elected as an independent labour candidate. There were also a number of independents of various political leanings and a New South Wales Senate ticket called the "Socialist Six", comprising Labour members in conflict with the official party.

The Protectionists advocated the protection of local industries through the imposition of tariffs on imported goods, a White Australia, the construction of a transcontinental railway, a uniform railway gauge, uniform suffrage, aged pensions and defending the Australian constitution from radicals. The party used the colour red throughout the campaign. In addition to Barton, Protectionist candidates included many of the leading political figures from colonial Australia, including future Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, Charles Kingston and Sir John Forrest.

The Free Traders (to give their official title "Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association") advocated the dismantling of the tariff system, a transcontinental railway, a White Australia and believed that aged pensions should be left to the states. As many of the policies of the Protectionists and Free Traders were similar, the Free Traders campaigned heavily on tariffs, with Reid stating that he wanted the election to be a plebiscite on tariffs. The party used the colour blue throughout the campaign. In addition to Reid, who believed he should have been appointed Prime Minister instead of Barton as he considered himself the bigger political figure, Free Trade candidates included Reid's unofficial deputy Patrick Glynn, future Prime Minister Joseph Cook and William Irvine.

Labour advocated old age pensions, electoral reform providing one adult, one vote, the "total exclusion of coloured and other undesirable races" and a national referendum to decide issues that would otherwise lead to a double dissolution of parliament. Senior Labour candidates included future Prime Ministers Andrew Fisher, Billy Hughes and Chris Watson.

[edit] Electorates

The candidates were contesting 75 House of Representatives positions and 36 Senate seats. The 75 House of Representative seats were determined by population of each state, so that New South Wales was alllocated 26, Victoria 23, Queensland nine, South Australia seven, Western Australia five and Tasmania five. The South Australian and Tasmanian colonial parliaments had not legislated for single member electorates and so their House of Representative members were elected from a single state wide electorate. Each state elected six Senators regardless of population. The Senate was elected on a "winner take all" basis rather than the current proportional representation system.

[edit] Campaign

The campaign period officially commenced on 17 January 1901, although some candidates, particularly Reid, had been unofficially campaigning since December the previous year. The campaign was delayed when the death of Queen Victoria on 19 January caused a cessation of campaigning, but soon got into full swing as candidates travelled widely to address lively public meetings. Reid drew the biggest crowds, including 8000 to a rally in Newcastle and he campaigned widely, travelling to Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, while Patrick Glynn organised the Free Trade campaign in South Australia.

The Protectionists were forced to modify their immigration policy following an outcry from Queensland Protectionist candidates who feared that a White Australia policy would impinge on the importation of Kanakas to work on Queensland sugar plantations. Their policy was revised to read that Kanakas would be only be sent back to their country of origin when they were no longer of any use to the sugar industry. On the whole, however, a white Australia was extremely popular with the electorate and most candidates outdid themselves to prove how much they supported it. It was left to Free Trade candidate for Parkes Bruce Smith (a leading representative of the employers) to oppose anti-immigration measures. Andrew Fisher argued that any Kanaka who had converted to Christianity and married should be allowed to remain in Australia. Both were elected comfortably.

The Free Traders also had to modify part of their election platform when they realised that to advocate for the removal of all tariffs protecting Australian industries would be political suicide. Many employees in these industries considered the removal of tariffs as likely to mean the end of their jobs.

The Protectionists enjoyed the support of the powerful Australian Natives Association (ANA) throughout the campaign as well as the endorsements of The Age and The Sydney Bulletin while Free Trade received support from business interests and the endorsements of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph, The Brisbane Courier, Melbourne's The Argus and The Adelaide Register. Labour could only rely on union owned newspapers, although some of these enjoyed a great level of influence in some electorates (the Gympie Truth for example is considered to have played an important role in the election of its part-owner, Andrew Fisher, in Wide Bay).

There were only two cars used in the 1901 election campaign; William Lyne, who was a candidate for the Division of Hume while still Premier of New South Wales, used his official Premier's car to great advantage while the shipping magnate and candidate for Melbourne Sir Malcolm McEacharn, enjoyed the use of his car while travelling around his electorate.

[edit] Election Day

Floods in Queensland delayed polling in parts of the state until April while complaints were received by polling officials about the earlier than advertised closing of polling booths in some electorates, the poor quality pencils supplied to fill in ballot papers (they apparently blunted easily, leaving many votes incomprehensible to officials) and the Senate ballot paper in New South Wales which listed 50 candidates, confusing many voters and leading to an increase of informal votes.

These complaints aside, the administering of the first federal election was seen as a great success and a credit to the polling officials who, in some cases, were responsible for electorates larger than some European countries.

[edit] Results

The results showed the strong regional basis that has always characterised Australian politics. The Free Traders won most of the seats in New South Wales, apart from the border areas where the Protectionists were strong. The Protectionists won most of the seats in their stronghold, Victoria. Labour won some inner urban seats but most of their members represented pastoral and mining areas. In the smaller states many members had no fixed party loyalty and saw themselves as representing the interests of their states. Seven Prime Ministers of Australia (Barton, Deakin, Watson, Reid, Fisher, Joseph Cook and Hughes) were elected at this election, as were a number of influential former state Premiers (Sir John Forrest, Lyne, George Turner, Anderson Dawson, Philip Fysh and Charles Kingston among them).

Further information: Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1901-1903 & Members of the Australian Senate, 1901-1903

House of Representatives
Enrolled Voters		987 754
Party		%	Seats
	Protectionist Party	43.7	32
	Free Trade Party	35.7	27
	Labour	18.7	16
	Other	2.0	0
Total			75

Senate
Enrolled Voters		988 629
Party		%	Seats
	Protectionist Party	44.9	11
	Free Trade Party	39.4	17
	Labour	13.5	8
	Other	2.2	0
Total			36

With no past to live down, Barton's Protectionist ministry had all the advantages of incumbency with none of the problems, which meant that a Protectionist victory was almost a certainty. Barton and his ministry were returned, although they had to rely on Labour support to pass legislation. Although the Protectionists remained in government, however, many observers saw the result as a moral victory for Free Trade (who won more seats than the Protectionists in the three smallest states of South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia). Labour also performed better than expected, particularly after the post-election recruitment of O'Malley. Labour's success was attributed to its strong support for a White Australia. Such was the overwhelming support for a White Australia by the electorate and the new elected members of parliament that the Immigration Restriction Act was the first piece of legislation passed by the nascent parliament.

The average national voting turnout was 60% of enrolled voters, with the Division of Newcastle gaining the best result of 97% while the Division of Fremantle recorded the lowest turnout (30%).

[edit] References

• McMinn, W.G. (1989). George Reid. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. ISBN 0-522-84373-5.
• McMullin, R. (1991). The Light on the Hill; the Australian Labor Party 1891-1991. Oxford University Press, South Melbourne. ISBN 0-19-554966-X.
• Simms (ed.), M. (2001). 1901: The forgotton election. University of Queensland Press, Brisbane. ISBN 0-7022-3302-1.
• Reynolds, J. (1999). Edmund Barton. Bookman Press, Sydney. ISBN 1-86395-377-9.