spill A spill occurs when the contents of something, usually in liquid form, are emptied out onto a surface, person or clothes, often unintentionally. Spill may also refer to: * Oil spill *Chemical spill *Data spill *Leadership spill *Spill (audio), wh ...

of the leadership of 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 Au ...

took place on 21 March 1975. It came about as a result of

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 ...

's continued dissatisfaction with the party's direction under Billy Snedden. Fraser's challenge was successful – he defeated Snedden by 37 votes to 27, thus becoming Leader of the Opposition.

Background

Snedden and Fraser both entered parliament at the 1955 federal election, and were soon being touted as future Liberal leaders. In 1971, both men were candidates for the deputy leadership vacated by

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 ...

, with Snedden winning. After the party lost the 1972 election, both men were candidates to replace

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, ...

as leader. Snedden won the leadership election by a single vote over

Nigel Bowen Sir Nigel Hubert Bowen, AC, KBE, QC (26 May 191127 September 1994) was an Australian lawyer, politician and judge. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1964 to 1973, representing the New South W ...

, with Fraser eliminated on the third ballot. In the new shadow ministry, Snedden made Fraser the spokesman for the primary industry, which was widely seen as a snub.

Failed 1974 spill motion

After the Liberals lost the May 1974 election, dissatisfaction began to grow with Snedden's leadership. Later that year,

Tony Staley Anthony Allan Staley (born 15 May 1939) is an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he held the Victorian seat of Chisholm from 1970 to 1980 and served as Minister for the Capital Territory (1976–1977) and Minister for Post ...

began openly organising against Snedden, initially without Fraser's knowledge. On 26 November, a group of MPs confronted Snedden in his office and asked him to resign. He refused, but called a partyroom meeting the next day. Staley moved that the leadership be declared vacant, seconded by John Bourchier, but the motion was defeated. Fraser never formally announced himself as a candidate for the leadership.

Events of 1975

On 30 January 1975, following continuing media speculation, Snedden met with Fraser and asked for a public declaration of loyalty. Fraser issued a statement that, although approved by Snedden, was widely seen as equivocating about his future plans. Over the following weeks, according to Paul Kelly, "a number of Fraser supporters established a solid and regular rapport with senior newspaper correspondents, and the psychology of crisis ..afflicting the leadership was further exacerbated... the more it was written about, the more real it became". Opinion polling by '' The Bulletin'' in early March put Snedden's approval rating at 28 percent. On Friday, 14 March,

Andrew Peacock Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the pa ...

– previously a Snedden supporter – publicly called for the leadership to be put to a vote. The following Monday, Snedden agreed to call a leadership ballot for Friday, 21 March. Fraser announced himself as a candidate on 18 March, and

and James Killen announced their own candidacies the following day; both subsequently dropped out. Fraser eventually defeated Snedden by 37 votes to 27.

Candidates

* Billy Snedden, incumbent Leader, Member for Bruce *

, Shadow Minister for Labour, Member for Wannon

Withdrawn candidates

* James Killen, Shadow Minister for Education, Member for

Moreton Moreton may refer to: People Given name * Moreton John Wheatley (1837–1916), British Army officer and Bailiff of the Royal Parks Surname * Alice Bertha Moreton (1901–1977), English sculptor, draughtsman and artist * Andrew Moreton, a p ...

, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, External Territories, Member for Kooyong

Results

The following table gives the ballot result:

Leadership ballot

Notes

References

{{Leadership spills in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills 1975 elections in Australia March 1975 events in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill