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 ...

in the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

, the party of opposition in the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

, was held on 27 January 1976, the date of the first Caucus meeting following the 1975 election. Dismissed Prime Minister

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 ...

was comfortably re-elected leader of the ALP ahead of senior MPs

Lionel Bowen Lionel Frost Bowen, AC (28 December 1922 – 1 April 2012) was an Australian politician and senior Labor Party figure, serving in the ministries of Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 199 ...

and

Frank Crean Francis Daniel Crean (28 February 1916 – 2 December 2008) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1951 to 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was a minister in the Whitlam Government, in ...

on the first ballot. A much more extensive series of ballots was required to fill the deputy leadership with eight contenders narrowed down to a final ballot seeing

Tom Uren Thomas Uren (28 May 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Australian politician and Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1975 to 1977. Uren served as the Member for Reid in the Australian House of Representatives from 1958 to 1990, bei ...

narrowly defeat

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

33 votes to 30. To date, this is the last Australian Labor Party leadership spill at the federal level to be contested by more than two candidates.

Candidates

, former Minister for Manufacturing Industry, Member for Kingsford Smith *

, incumbent Deputy Leader, former Minister for Overseas Trade, Member for

Melbourne Ports The Division of Melbourne Ports was an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was located to the south of Melbourne's central business district and covered an area of appro ...

, incumbent Leader, Member for

Werriwa The Division of Werriwa is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The name Werriwa derives from a local Aboriginal name for Lake George, which was located in the division when it was established in 1900. The division ...

Withdrawn candidates

* Gordon Bryant, former Minister for the Capital Territory, Member for Division of Wills, Wills

Potential candidates who declined to run

* Bill Hayden, former Treasurer of Australia, Treasurer, Member for Division of Oxley, Oxley

Results

Leader

The following table gives the ballot results:

Deputy leader