AUSTRALIAN GENERAL ELECTION, 1969

Federal election major party leaders
1966 1969 1972
'Liberal' 'John Gorton' 'Prime Minister' 'Parliament': 20 years 'Leader since': 1968 'Division': Higgins 'WIN'
'Labor' 'Gough Whitlam' 'Opposition leader' 'Parliament': 17 years 'Leader since': 1967 'Division': Werriwa

'Federal elections' were held in Australia on October 25, 1969. All 125 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 John Gorton with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen (who had also served as Prime Minister for three weeks after Holts disappearance) defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Even though the ALP lost, the election was seen as a good result as it made significant gains against the Coalition.

'House of Reps (IRV) — 1969-72 — Turnout 94.97% (CV) — Informal 2.54%'

	'Party'	'Votes'	'%'	'Swing'	'Seats'	'Change'
	Australian Labor Party	2,870,792	46.95	+6.97	59	+18
	Liberal Party of Australia	2,125,987	34.77	-5.37	46	-15
	Country Party	523,232	8.56	-1.28	20	-1
	Democratic Labor Party	367,977	6.02	-1.29	0	0
	Australia Party	53,646	0.88	★	0	0
	Independents	141,090	2.31	+0.85	0	-1
	Other	31,394	0.51		0	0
	Total	6,114,118			'125'	+1
	'Liberal/Country coalition'	'WIN'	'49.80'	-7.10	'66'	-16
	Australian Labor Party		50.20	+7.10	59	+18

See Australian Senate election, 1967 and Australian Senate election, 1970 for Senate compositions.

Contents

Issues

References

Issues

The 1969 election centred heavily on the two leaders, John Gorton and Gough Whitlam. Both were leading their respective parties in an election for the first time. Gorton had initially been very popular, but he was gaining a reputation for being erratic. Whitlam, by contrast, had reformed the ALP and abandoned unpopular policies such as the once-dominant White Australia Policy, as well as the commitment to socialism still held by many members on the left of the party. He presented a sleek and modern image which was able to win over new voters to his cause. In addition, the Coalition had been in office for 20 years and was seen as becoming tired and unfocused, and there were growing concerns over Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The ALP went into the election with a small caucus and could have a good hope of gaining seats.

References

★ University of WA election results in Australia since 1890

★ AEC 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.