The

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United A ...

held a

leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (l ...

on 10 March 1971. Prime Minister

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...

called for a

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

in his leadership, which was tied, prompting Gorton to resign.

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, ...

subsequently defeated

Billy Snedden Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, (31 December 1926 – 27 June 1987) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1975. He was also a cabinet minister from 1964 to 1972, and Speaker of the House of Repres ...

for the leadership, and was sworn in as prime minister on the same day. Gorton was elected as his deputy, defeating

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

and David Fairbairn.

Background

On 8 March 1971, Defence Minister

resigned from cabinet, supposedly over Gorton's failure to support him in a dispute with Chief of the General Staff Thomas Daly. The following day, Fraser gave a statement to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in which he excoriated Gorton and called him "not fit to hold the great office of prime minister". Fraser's actions brought to a head tensions over Gorton's leadership style, particularly what his opponents viewed as his lack of consultation with cabinet. In response, Gorton called a partyroom meeting for 10 a.m. on 10 March.

Meeting

The partyroom meeting began with an open debate on the leadership. Gorton, who was chairing the meeting, then called for a

in his leadership, which was tied at 33 votes in favour and 33 votes opposed. Gorton supporter Duke Bonnett was the only absentee (due to illness); had he been present, Gorton would have received 34 votes. Under party rules of the time, Gorton could have retained the leadership. However, Gorton resigned, saying a tie vote was not a vote of confidence. He turned to Foreign Affairs Minister

and nominated him for the leadership, to the applause of his colleagues;

, the Minister for Labour and National Service, was the only other nominee. McMahon – who had been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since 1966 – defeated Snedden with what ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' called "a comparatively small majority".McMahon Becomes P.M.
''The Canberra Times'', 11 March 2017. The exact result was kept secret, as was the party's practice at the time, but has been estimated to have been 40 votes for McMahon to 26 for Snedden. After McMahon was elected as leader, there was a second ballot to elect his successor as deputy leader. Somewhat unexpectedly, Gorton put himself forward as a candidate and was elected, defeating Malcolm Fraser and backbencher David Fairbairn. McMahon was sworn in as prime minister by Governor-General Paul Hasluck later that afternoon; his full ministry was not sworn in until 22 March.

Candidates

, incumbent Deputy Leader,

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, Member for Lowe *

Minister for Labour and National Service The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations is a position currently held by Tony Burke in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. In the Government of Australia, the minister admini ...

, Member for Bruce

Results

The following table gives the ballot result:

Leadership ballot

Deputy leadership ballot

Aftermath

Gorton was sacked from cabinet for disloyalty in August 1971, and subsequently resigned the deputy leadership and was replaced by Snedden. McMahon lost the December 1972 federal election to the Labor Party, led by

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the h ...

.Australia's PMs > William McMahon > In office
National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 5 November 2017.

References

{{Leadership spills in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills March 1971 events in Australia 1971 elections in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill