ID 0788

Commonwealth Parliament, Senate election

Election of 18 May 1974

Show only vote and seat summary details

Previous election in this series | Next election in this series
General election for the Senate
Commonwealth of Australia
Date of election
18 May 1974
Type of Senate election
Double Dissolution of Senate and House of Representatives

Government in office at Senate election

Prime Minister in office at date of Senate election. (check notes to Senate national summary table to see if change of Prime Minister since previous election)
Edward Gough Whitlam
Prime Minister's party affiliation
Australian Labor Party
Government majority in Senate at date of election
No
Change of government
No
Government majority in new Senate
No
If coalition, coalition partner(s)

Senate enrolment and voting

Total number of voters on the roll
7,759,571
Total ballots cast (may differ from number of votes in multiple voting systems)
7,410,511
Turnout (rate of voting in contested seats)
95.50%
Total valid votes
6,612,385
Rate of informal (invalid) voting
10.77%

Electoral composition of the Senate for this election

Total number of seats in the Senate
60
Total number of seats for each state
10
Number of seats for each territory
Seats to be filled at this Senate election
60
Casual vacancies/additional seats included in seats to be filled
0
Electoral System
Adult franchise at 18 years (from 1974); multimember districts, proportional representation by the single transferable vote method (STV); compulsory preferences; compulsory voting

Senate votes and seats won, and seats held, national summary

Display Chart

Election held on 18 May 1974
Criteria for the inclusion of parties in this table are set out in the Glossary under 'listed party'

* to view table drag left or right.
Party Name First preference vote n First preference vote share % Change from previous election % Seats won by ticket n Seats won by ticket % Seats won by party n Seats won by party % Seats held by party n Seats held by party %
Australian Labor Party   3,127,197  47.29  +5.08  29  48.33  29  48.33  29  48.33 
Liberal Party - Country Party (joint ticket)  2,298,816  34.77  +15.26  16  26.67         
Liberal Party  516,919  7.82  -9.80  12  20.00  23  38.33  23  38.33 
Democratic Labor Party  235,343  3.56  -7.55  0           
Independents  121,396  1.84  +0.13  1  1.67  1  1.67  1  1.67 
Australia Party  92,107  1.39  -1.51  0           
Country Party  85,719  1.30  +0.24  1  1.67  6  10.00  6  10.00 
Liberal Movement (SA)  63,032  0.95  *  1  1.67  1  1.67  1  1.67 
Votes for other than listed parties 71,856 1.09 -2.81             
Totals 6,612,385  100.00    60  100.00  60  100.00  60  100.00 

Previous election in this series | Next election in this series | Display Chart


* Party did not contest previous election or did not meet criteria for listing, or contested previous election under a different party name.

Notes

In the table above, see the Glossary distinctions between Seats won by ticket and Seats won by party, and between Seats won by party and Seats held by party.

In the national summary for the Senate for this election, the votes and seats won by the Country Party include the votes cast for the National Alliance and the seat it won in Western Australia.

Sources

Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1965-1974, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1977 (ISBN 0708113400); Gerard Newman, Federal Election Results 1949-2001, Canberra: Commonwealth Parliament, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Information and Research Services, Research Paper 9 2001-02, 2002 (ISSN 13287478).


Top