Australian general election, 1977
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Federal elections were held in Australia on December 10, 1977. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Malcolm Fraser with coalition partner the National Country Party led by Doug Anthony in government since 1975 defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Whitlam resigned following the result of the election.
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[edit] Background and Issues
The 1977 election was held a year earlier than required. In part, it was necessary to bring elections for the House and Senate back into line. A half-Senate election had to be held by the middle of 1978, since the double dissolution election of 1975 had resulted in the terms of senators being backdated to July 1975.
The election is remembered for the "fistful of dollars" advertisements run by the government, offering tax cuts to voters. The tax cuts were never delivered; instead a "temporary surcharge" was imposed in 1978. The election also coincided with the retirement of the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. Kerr had disgraced himself by a drunken appearance at the Melbourne Cup in November. His appointment as Ambassador to UNESCO never took place due to a public outcry.
[edit] Significance
The 1977 election had seen the ALP make gains, but they were limited. The Second Fraser Government still enjoyed the second-largest Parliamentary majority in Australian history (after the majority it won in the 1975 election. Gough Whitlam resigned as the leader of the ALP, his eventful political career over. The Australian Democrats contested their first election in 1977, gaining two Senators.
[edit] Results
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Australian Labor Party | 3,141,051 | 39.65 | -3.20 | 38 | +2 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 3,017,896 | 38.09 | -3.71 | 67 | -1 | |
| National Country Party | 793,444 | 10.01 | -1.24 | 19 | -4 | |
| Australian Democrats | 743,365 | 9.38 | * | 0 | 0 | |
| Other | 227,098 | 2.87 | +0.51 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 7,922,854 | 124 | -3 | |||
| LPA/NAT coalition | WIN | 54.60 | -1.10 | 86 | -5 | |
| Australian Labor Party | 45.40 | +1.10 | 38 | +2 |
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 2,718,876 | 36.76 | -4.15 | 14 | 27 | |
| Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) | 2,533,882 | 34.26 | -5.60 | 7 | ||
| Australian Democrats | 823,550 | 11.13 | * | 2 | 2 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 783,878 | 10.60 | -0.48 | 10 | 27 | |
| National Country Party | 36,619 | 0.50 | -0.04 | 0 | 6 | |
| Country Liberal Party | 15,463 | 0.21 | -0.01 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independents | 127,850 | 1.73 | +0.13 | 0 | 1 | |
| Other | 356,089 | 4.81 | +2.75 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 7,396,207 | 34 | 64 |
[edit] References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- AustralianPolitics.com 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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