Members of the Australian Senate, 1974–1975
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

This is a list of members of the
Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
from 1974 to 1975. The 18 May 1974 election was a
double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...
of both Houses, with all 127 seats in 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 ...
, and all 60 seats in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
up for election. The incumbent Labor Party led by
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
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 he ...
defeated the opposition
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
led by Billy Snedden and their
Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
partner the Country Party led by
Doug Anthony John Douglas Anthony, (31 December 192920 December 2020) was an Australian politician. He served as leader of the National Party of Australia from 1971 to 1984 and was the second and longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister, holding the position ...
. In accordance with section 13 of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
, following a double dissolution of Parliament, the terms for senators commence on 1 July preceding the election – i.e., on 1 July 1973. The first five senators elected in each state were allocated the full six-year terms ending on 30 June 1979 while the other half were allocated three-year terms ending on 30 June 1976. However, in fact, the Senate was dissolved on 11 November 1975 for another double dissolution election on 13 December 1975. The process for filling casual vacancies was complex. While senators were elected for a six-year term, people appointed to a casual vacancy only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate. It was an established convention that the state parliament choose (or the governor appoint) a replacement from the same
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
as their predecessor, however this convention was not always followed. There were two appointments to casual vacancies in this term however neither followed the convention with Labor Senator
Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...
being replaced by Independent
Cleaver Bunton Cleaver Ernest Bunton (5 May 190220 January 1999) was a long-serving Mayor of Albury, New South Wales, Australia, who came to national prominence in 1975 when he was controversially appointed to the Senate by New South Wales Liberal Party Premi ...
and Labor Senator
Bertie Milliner Bertie ("Bert") Richard Milliner (17 July 1911 – 30 June 1975) was an Australian trade unionist, politician and Senator, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He would have been a minor figure in Australia's political history but for ...
being replaced by
Albert Field Albert Patrick Field (11 October 19101 July 1990) was an Australian Labor Party member. In 1975 he was chosen as a Senator in unusual circumstances that played a significant role in precipitating the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. Gou ...
who was expelled as a member of the Labor party for accepting the appointment instead of Labor nomination
Mal Colston Malcolm Arthur Colston (5 April 1938 – 23 August 2003) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Queensland from 1975 to 1999. He was a member of the Labor Party until 1996, when he resigned to sit as an independent followi ...
. At the May 1974 election, Labor won 29 seats, the Coalition won 29 seats and the balance of power was shared by Liberal Movement Senator
Steele Hall Raymond Steele Hall (born 30 November 1928) is a former Australian politician who served as the 36th Premier of South Australia from 1968 to 1970. He also served in the federal Parliament as a senator for South Australia from 1974 to 1977 and f ...
and Independent
Michael Townley Michael Vernon Townley (born December 5, 1942, in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American-born former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the secret police of Chile during the regime of Augusto Pinochet. In 1978, Townley pled guilty t ...
. The
President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...
votes and if the votes are equal, the motion is defeated. Voting in the Senate. Thus the Labor government needed the support of both cross-bench senators to pass any legislation. The Coalition was increased to 30 seats when Townley joined the Liberal party in February 1975 and thus could effectively block any government legislation or motions, but could not pass any motion on their own. Labor was reduced to 27 seats by the replacement of 2 Labor senators with independents. Field was sworn in on 9 September 1975, however he was given leave from 1 October,A Senator can only be absent for 2 months with the permission of the Senate: Vacancy by absence. not to attend the Senate pending a High Court challenge to his eligibility. As a result, the Coalition had a majority in the Senate and as well as blocking supply, could also pass a motion to defer Supply until an election was called. Thus the casual appointments process contributed to the
1975 Australian constitutional crisis The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, also known simply as the Dismissal, culminated on 11 November 1975 with the dismissal from office of the prime minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), by Governor-General Sir Jo ...
. The controversial appointments of Senators Bunton and Field prompted the 1977 referendum to amend the Constitution to require a replacement senator to be a member of the same political party.''Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies)'' Act 1977 (Cth)


Notes


References

* *   {{DEFAULTSORT:Members of the Australian Senate, 1974-1975 Members of Australian parliaments by term 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Senate lists