Elections were held on 25 November 1967 to elect half of the 60 seats in the Australian Senate. There was no accompanying election to the House of Representatives as the two election cycles had been out of synchronisation since 1963. The results were a setback for the government of Harold Holt. Having won a landslide victory at the House-only election the previous year, the Coalition instead lost two seats in the Senate. The Labor Party failed to make any gains in Gough Whitlam's first election as leader; the Democratic Labor Party gained two seats and would hold the balance of power until 1974.
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a total of 76 Senators: 12 are elected from each of the six states regardless of population and 2 from each of the two autonomous internal territories. Senators are popularly elected under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation.
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
Harold Edward Holt,, was an Australian politician who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1966 until his presumed drowning death in 1967. He was the leader of the Liberal Party during that time.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 2,489,990 | 45.03 | +0.36 | 13 | 27 | 0 | ||
| Liberal–Country coalition (total) | 2,365,373 | 42.77 | –2.93 | 14 | 28 | –2 | ||
| Liberal–Country joint ticket | 1,870,057 | 33.82 | +9.41 | 6 | * | * | ||
| Liberal (separate ticket) | 450,454 | 8.15 | –11.93 | 7 | 21 | –2 | ||
| Country (separate ticket) | 44,862 | 0.81 | –0.40 | 1 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Democratic Labor | 540,006 | 9.77 | +1.38 | 2 | 4 | +2 | ||
| Reform Movement | 58,679 | 1.06 | +1.06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Communist | 20,648 | 0.37 | –0.36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Independent / Ungrouped | 55,192 | 1.00 | +0.48 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5,529,888 | 30 | 60 | |||||
- Notes
- In New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, the coalition parties ran a joint ticket. Of the six senators elected on a joint ticket, three were members of the Liberal Party and three were members of the Country Party. In Western Australia, the coalition parties ran on separate tickets. In South Australia and Tasmania, only the Liberal Party ran a ticket.
- The sole independent elected was Reg Turnbull of Tasmania.
New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Tasman Sea to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, which is also Australia's most populous city. In March 2018, the population of New South Wales was over 7.9 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.1 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen.
Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).
Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state and its second-most populous state overall, thus making it the most densely populated state overall. Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea to the east, and South Australia to the west.
