Australian general election, 1966
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Federal elections were held in Australia on November 26, 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives, no Senate seats were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. The election was a landslide win to the Coalition, which won twice as many seats as the ALP. Holt’s victory was greater than any of Menzies’, and it was seen as the high point of his Prime Ministership.
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[edit] Issues
The new Prime Minister, Harold Holt, was stylish, debonair and popular with the electorate. He cast a sharp contrast with the much rougher figure of Arthur Calwell, who had already lost two elections. Calwell held to the beliefs that had been central to the last Labor Government of 1941-1949, many of which were seen as being old-fashioned in 1966. For example, he was a defender of the White Australia Policy. In addition, a strong economy and initial enthusiasm for Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War virtually guaranteed the Coalition the election.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 2,291,964 | 40.14 | +3.05 | 61 | +9 | |
| Australian Labor Party | 2,282,834 | 39.98 | -5.49 | 41 | -9 | |
| Country Party | 561,926 | 9.84 | +0.90 | 21 | +1 | |
| Democratic Labor Party | 417,411 | 7.31 | -0.13 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 82,948 | 1.45 | +1.04 | 1 | +1 | |
| Other | 72,666 | 1.27 | +0.63 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 5,709,749 | 124 | +2 | |||
| LPA/NAT coalition | WIN | 56.90 | +4.30 | 82 | +10 | |
| Australian Labor Party | 43.10 | -4.30 | 41 | -9 |
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 2,489,990 | 45.03 | +0.36 | 13 | 27 | |
| Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) | 1,870,057 | 33.82 | -2.43 | 6 | * | |
| Democratic Labor Party | 540,006 | 9.77 | +1.38 | 2 | 4 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 450,454 | 8.15 | -0.10 | 7 | 21 | |
| Country Party | 44,862 | 0.81 | -0.40 | 1 | 7 | |
| Independents | 55,192 | 1.00 | +0.80 | 1 | 1 | |
| Other | 79,327 | 1.43 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5,529,888 | 30 | 60 |
[edit] References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- 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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