Australian federal election, 1977

10 December 1977

All 124 seats of the Australian House of Representatives 63 seats were needed for a majority in the House 34 (of the 64) seats of the Australian Senate

	First party	Second party

Leader	Malcolm Fraser	Gough Whitlam
Party	Liberal/National coalition	Labor
Leader since	21 March 1975	8 February 1967
Leader's seat	Wannon	Werriwa
Last election	91 seats	36 seats
Seats won	86 seats	38 seats
Seat change	5	2
Percentage	54.60%	45.40%
Swing	1.10	1.10

Prime Minister before election

Malcolm Fraser
Liberal/National coalition

Subsequent Prime Minister

Malcolm Fraser
Liberal/National coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 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, was elected to a second term over the Australian Labor Party Opposition led by Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam. While the Coalition suffered a five-seat swing, it still had a substantial 48-seat majority in the House. Whitlam was unable to recover much of the ground Labor had lost in its severe defeat of two years prior, and resigned as leader shortly after the election.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1977–80—Turnout 95.08% (CV) — Informal 2.52%
	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	0
Total	7,922,854			124	−3
Liberal/National coalition	WIN	54.60	−1.10	86	-5
Australian Labor Party		45.40	+1.10	38	+2

Popular Vote

Labor			39.65%
Liberal			38.09%
National			10.01%
Democrats			9.38%
Other			2.87%

Two Party Preferred Vote

Coalition			54.60%
Labor			45.40%

Parliament Seats

Coalition			69.35%
Labor			30.65%

Senate (STV) — 1977–80—Turnout 95.08% (CV) — Informal 9.00%
	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held	Change
Australian Labor Party	2,718,876	36.76	−4.15	14	27	0
Liberal/National (Joint Ticket)	2,533,882	34.26	−5.60	7
Australian Democrats	823,550	11.13	*	2	2	+2
Liberal Party of Australia	783,878	10.60	−0.48	10	27	+1
National Country Party	36,619	0.50	−0.04	0	6	−2
Country Liberal Party	15,463	0.21	−0.01	1	1	0
Independents	127,850	1.73	+0.13	0	1	0
Other	356,089	4.81	+2.75	0	0	−1
Total	7,396,207			34	64

Independent: Brian Harradine

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1977				Swing	Post-1977
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	Margin	Member	Party
Capricornia, Qld		National Country	Colin Carige	0.1	2.7	1.2	Doug Everingham	Labor
Griffith, Qld		Liberal	Don Cameron	8.0	5.0	3.5	Ben Humphreys	Labor
Indi, Vic		National Country	Mac Holten	N/A	22.3	5.1	Ewen Cameron	Liberal

Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Background and issues

The Gallagher Index result: 15.16

The government offering tax cuts to voters and ran advertisements with the slogan "fistful of dollars". The tax cuts were never delivered; instead a "temporary surcharge" was imposed in 1978. The election coincided with the retirement of the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr. Kerr had appeared drunk at the Melbourne Cup in November and the public outcry resulted in the cancellation of his appointment as Ambassador to UNESCO.

The 1977 election was held a year earlier than required, partly 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.

Significance

Liberal Don Chipp had been dropped from the ministry after the 1975 election. He had formed a new political party, the Australian Democrats, and had announced his intention to run for the Senate. Liberal Movement senator Steele Hall resigned and was replaced by Janine Haines, but she lost her seat; however, the party gained Chipp in Victoria and Colin Mason in New South Wales, with Haines being re-elected at the next election as the new party's popularity grew.

The ALP made limited gains in the election. The second Fraser Government had 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 in 1978.

This was the last Australian federal election for the House of Representatives at which no women were elected, although there were a number of women candidates. Women have been elected at every federal election from 1980 onwards.

References

AustralianPolitics.com election details
University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
AEC 2PP vote

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