1975 election

Background to the 1975 election 

On 11 November 1975, the Labor government of Gough Whitlam was dismissed from office by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, who appointed Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser in his place. It is the first and only time, so far, an Australian prime minister and their government has ever been dismissed. With the Coalition using its numbers in the Senate to defer a vote on the budget, Kerr's action resolved the deadlock and, once the supply bills had been passed, both Houses were dissolved. A total of 21 bills had yet to pass the Senate, which was used as justification for a double dissolution. It was the fourth double dissolution in history, and the second in eighteen months.  

Key dates  

Parliament dissolved: 11 November 1975 
Writs issued: 17-21 November 1975 
Nominations closed: 28 November 1975 
Election date: 13 December 1975 
New parliament met: 17 February 1976 

Parties and leaders 

Liberal Party: Malcolm Fraser (Prime Minister) 
National Country Party: Doug Anthony (Deputy Prime Minister) 
Australian Labor Party: Gough Whitlam (Leader of the Opposition) 

Campaign 

One of Labor's campaign slogans was 'restore democracy'. The dismissal of the Whitlam government was the focus of campaign messaging, with an emphasis on what Labor believed to be the unjust and unconstitutional 'coup' conducted by Kerr and Fraser. Labor's messaging urged Australian voters to undo the dismissal by restoring Whitlam and Labor to office. However, by the end of the campaign, polls showed a dwindling number of voters declaring the dismissal as their top issue.  

Liberal's campaign slogan was 'turn on the lights' and the Liberal–National Country Coalition correctly gambled that the outrage around the dismissal would fade in favour of more bread-and-butter issues. The Coalition's campaign lent heavily on the economic situation, including inflation, unemployment and taxation. Their platform contained a suite of economic pledges including reducing income tax, changes to tax law for small businesses, cutting 'red tape', exercising wage restraint, establishing a rural investment bank and reducing spending to reign in a growing deficit. 

Labor's campaign did not make new pledges on the economic situation, pledging to return to the policies Whitlam and his government had been carrying out. They warned of the unknowns and vague details in the Coalition's platform.     

1975 election results

Coalition landslide 

The Liberal-National Country Party Coalition, led by Malcolm Fraser and Doug Anthony, won a landslide victory. The Coalition won just over 53% of the vote, and 55% of the two-party preferred vote. They won 91 seats in the 127-seat House of Representatives; it was the first time a government had won more than 90 seats, and more than two-thirds of the House's total number. The Liberal Party won 68 seats, which would have allowed it to govern in its own right if it had chosen to, but the Coalition was maintained.  

'We've had the guts ripped out of us' 

Labor lost almost half its seats, winning just 36, down from 66 in 1974. The damage was worst in Queensland and Western Australia, where Labor won only a single seat each, and Tasmania where it didn't win any at all. It was Labor's worst result since 1931. Notably, the defeat of Joan Child meant the new House of Representatives was entirely male. On election night, future leader Bob Hawke watched in horror as seat after seat fell to the Coalition and tearfully lamented 'We've had the guts ripped out of us'.  

What happened after the 1975 election? 

Confirmed in office by the electorate, Fraser formed a new government. The second Fraser Ministry was sworn in on 22 December by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, and continued until 1977. Whitlam was re-elected as Leader of the Labor Party on 27 January 1976, surviving a challenge from Lionel Bowen and Frank Crean. The new parliament convened on 17 February; Labor members, still reeling from the dismissal, boycotted the opening ceremony.