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 Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

from 1975 to 1978. The 13 December 1975 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 dissolutio ...

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 entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, and all 64 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.

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. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

had been commissioned as prime minister following the dismissal of

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

's Labor government by

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Sir John Kerr, on 11 November 1975. The same day, Fraser advised the calling of the election, in accordance with Kerr's stipulated conditions. Thus the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

, led by Fraser, with

Coalition A coalition is 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, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

partner the National 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 un ...

, went to the election as a

caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...

. The election resulted in the Coalition securing government with a 30-seat swing away from Labor in the House of Representatives. 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, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, following a double dissolution of Parliament, the terms for state senators commence on 1 July preceding the election, i.e., on 1 July 1975. The first five senators elected in each State were allocated full six-year terms ending on 30 June 1981 while the other half were allocated three-year terms ending on 30 June 1978. There were two significant changes that affected the composition of the Senate. *The

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

were to be represented in the Senate for the first time. The terms of senators representing the territories commenced on the date of the election and ended at the dissolution of the House of Representatives, in this case the December 1977 election. *A person appointed to a casual vacancy must be from the same political party as the original senator and is appointed until the end of the original term. Austin Lewis had been appointed under the former system, however his term was extended to the end of the original term of 30 June 1981 as a result of the 1977 referendum. The first vacancy occurring under the new process was caused by the resignation of

Steele Hall Raymond Steele Hall (30 November 1928 – 10 June 2024) was an 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 1 ...

, who had been a member of the Liberal Movement but had joined the Liberal party in 1976 on the break-up of the Liberal Movement. Janine Haines was appointed to replace Hall, having been third on the Liberal Movement ticket in 1975, however she was no longer a member of the Liberal Movement, having joined the .

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Members of the Australian Senate, 1975-1978 Members of Australian parliaments by term 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Senate lists