Australian federal election, 1966

Australian federal election, 1966
Australia
26 November 1966

All 124 seats of the Australian House of Representatives
63 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Harold Holt Arthur Calwell
Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor
Leader since 26 January 1966 7 March 1960
Leader's seat Higgins Melbourne
Last election 72 seats 50 seats
Seats won 82 seats 41 seats
Seat change Increase10 Decrease9
Percentage 56.90% 43.10%
Swing Increase4.30 Decrease4.30

Prime Minister before election

Harold Holt
Liberal/Country coalition

Subsequent Prime Minister

Harold Holt
Liberal/Country coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 26 November 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives 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, was elected to an eighth term in government, defeating the Australian Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell.

The election was a landslide win for the Coalition, which won twice as many seats as Labor. Holt's victory was greater than any of Menzies', and it was seen as the high point of both his Prime Ministership and the 23 years of continuous Coalition rule.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1966–69—Turnout 95.13% (CV) — Informal 3.10%
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 0
  Total 5,709,749     124 +2
  Liberal/Country coalition WIN 56.90 +4.30 82 +10
  Australian Labor Party 43.10 4.30 41 9

Independents: Sam Benson

Popular Vote
Liberal
 
40.14%
Labor
 
39.98%
Country
 
9.84%
DLP
 
7.31%
Independents
 
1.45%
Other
 
1.27%
Two Party Preferred Vote
Coalition
 
56.90%
Labor
 
43.10%
Parliament Seats
Coalition
 
66.13%
Labor
 
33.06%
Independents
 
0.81%

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1966 Swing Post-1966
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Adelaide, SA   Labor Joe Sexton 7.2 10.0 2.8 Andrew Jones Liberal  
Barton, NSW   Labor Len Reynolds 0.7 2.9 2.2 Bill Arthur Liberal  
Batman, Vic   Labor Sam Benson N/A 8.7 7.8 Sam Benson Independent  
Eden-Monaro, NSW   Labor Allan Fraser 2.7 3.4 0.7 Dugald Munro Liberal  
Grey, SA   Labor Jack Mortimer 4.8 7.8 3.0 Don Jessop Liberal  
Griffith, Qld   Labor Wilfred Coutts 5.8 6.9 1.1 Don Cameron Liberal  
Herbert, Qld   Labor Ted Harding 3.2 4.3 1.1 Robert Bonnett Liberal  
Hughes, NSW   Labor Les Johnson 2.7 4.7 2.0 Don Dobie Liberal  
Kennedy, Qld   Labor Bill Riordan 13.5 15.0 1.5 Bob Katter Country  
Kingston, SA   Labor Patrick Galvin 4.5 12.7 8.2 Kay Brownbill Liberal  
Lalor, Vic   Labor Reg Pollard 7.0 7.7 0.7 Mervyn Lee Liberal  
Northern Territory, NT   Labor Jock Nelson 100.0 51.7 1.7 Sam Calder Country  

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, nationalization. He also came across poorly on television compared to Holt, and looked and sounded older than his 70 years.

In addition, a strong economy and initial enthusiasm for Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War virtually guaranteed the Coalition the election who campaigned with the slogan "Keep Australia secure and prosperous – play it safe".[1] Calwell retired a month after the election and was succeeded by Deputy Labor leader Gough Whitlam.

See also

Notes

References

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