1966 Australian federal election

1966 Australian federal election

←  1963 26 November 1966 1969  →
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All 124 seats of the Australian House of Representatives 63 seats were needed for a majority
Registered	6,193,881 6.33%
Turnout	5,892,327 (95.13%) (0.60 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Harold Holt Arthur Calwell Party Liberal–Country Coalition Labor Leader since 20 January 1966 7 March 1960 Leader's seat Higgins (Vic.) Melbourne (Vic.) Last election 72 seats 50 seats Seats won 82 41 Seat change 10 9 Popular vote 2,853,890 2,282,834 Percentage 49.98% 39.98% Swing 3.94 5.49 TPP 56.90% 43.10% TPP swing 4.30 4.30
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Harold Holt Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Harold Holt Liberal/Country coalition

The 1966 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 26 November 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. There was no Senate election until the 1967 Australian Senate election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister Harold Holt, won an increased majority over the opposition Labor Party, led by Arthur Calwell, in a landslide. ^[1] The Liberal–Country coalition two-party-preferred vote was 56.90%, its highest in its history.

This was the first and only time that a Federal Government won an eighth consecutive term in office.

Government (82)
Coalition
  Liberal (61)
  Country (21)

Opposition (41)
  Labor (41)

Crossbench (1)
  Independent (1)  

Issues

Sir Robert Menzies had retired from politics in January; his successor, former treasurer Harold Holt, was stylish, debonair and popular with the electorate, contrasting sharply with the much rougher figure of Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell, who had already lost two elections.

Calwell also came across poorly on television compared to Holt, looking and sounding older than his 70 years. It did not help that also held to the beliefs that had been central to the previous Labor Government of 1941–1949, many of which were seen as being long outdated in 1966; for example, he still defended the White Australia policy and nationalisation, and also strongly supported socialism.

These factors, along with a strong economy and initial enthusiasm for Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, virtually guaranteed the Coalition another term. The Coalition campaigned with the slogan "Keep Australia secure and prosperous – play it safe". ^[2]

The election was a landslide win for the Coalition, which won twice as many seats as Labor. The Liberals arrived two seats short of a majority in their own right, the closest that the major non-Labor party had come to governing in its own right since adopting the Liberal banner. Holt's victory was also larger than any of Menzies' eight victories, and resulted in the largest majority government in Australian history at the time. It was later seen as the electoral high point of both Holt's prime ministership and the 23 years of continuous Coalition rule.

Calwell retired to the backbench a month after the crushing election loss, and was succeeded by his deputy, Gough Whitlam.

Results

Main article: Results of the 1966 Australian federal election (House of Representatives)

House of Reps (IRV) — 1966–69—Turnout 95.13% (CV) — Informal 3.10%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal–Country coalition		2,853,890	49.98	+3.94	82	+10
		Liberal	2,291,964	40.14	+3.05	61	+9
		Country	561,926	9.84	+0.90	21	+1
	Labor		2,282,834	39.98	–5.49	41	–9
	Democratic Labor		417,411	7.31	–0.13	0	0
	Liberal Reform		49,610	0.87	+0.87	0	0
	Communist		23,056	0.40	–0.19	0	0
	Independents		82,948	1.45	+0.98	1	+1
	Total		5,709,749			124	+2
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Liberal–Country coalition		Win	56.90	+4.30	82	+10
	Labor			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	Pat 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

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

See also

• 1964 Australian Senate election
• 1967 Australian Senate election
• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1966
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1966–1969

Notes

1. "Holt's 1966 landslide election victory". www.nfsa.gov.au. 1996. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
2. Young, Sally (2006). "Australian election slogans, 1949-2004". Australian Journal of Communication. 33 (1). Retrieved 9 August 2022.

References

• University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine 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.