1970 Australian Senate election

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An election was held on 21 November 1970 to elect 32 of the 60 seats in the Australian Senate. This is the most recent occasion on which a Senate election has been held with no accompanying election to the House of Representatives; the two election cycles had been out of synchronisation since 1963.

Key dates[]

Date Event
16 October 1970 Writs were issued by the respective State Governors to proceed with an election.[1][2][3]
29 October 1970 Close of nominations, at 12pm.
21 November 1970 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
17 December 1970 Declaration of the poll for South Australia.[4]
7 January 1971 Return of the writs.

Results[]

The governing Coalition and the opposition Australian Labor Party won 13 and 14 seats respectively, resulting in a total of 26 seats each, while the Democratic Labor Party and three independents (two newly elected) held the remaining seats.

Senate (STV) — 1970–74—Turnout 93.98% (CV) — Informal 9.41%
Party Votes % Swing Seats won Seats held Change
  Labor 2,376,215 42.22 –2.81 14 26 –1
  Liberal–Country coalition (total) 2,149,023 38.18 –4.59 13 26 –2
  Liberal–Country joint ticket 1,098,134 19.51 –14.31 4 * *
  Liberal 991,473 17.61 +9.47 8 21 0
  Country 59,416 1.06 +0.24 1 5 –2
  Democratic Labor 625,142 11.11 +1.34 3 5 +1
  Australia 163,343 2.90 +2.90 0 0 0
  Pensioner Power 28,983 0.51 +0.51 0 0 0
  Defence of Government Schools 27,796 0.49 +0.49 0 0 0
  National Socialist 24,017 0.43 +0.43 0 0 0
  Independent / Other 234,314 4.16 +2.46 2 3 +2
  Total 5,628,833     32 60
Notes
  • In New South Wales and Queensland, the coalition parties ran a joint ticket. Of the four senators elected on a joint ticket, three were members of the Liberal Party and one was a member of the Country Party. In Western Australia, the coalition parties ran on separate tickets. In South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria, only the Liberal Party ran a ticket.
  • Two independents were elected – Michael Townley of Tasmania and Syd Negus of Western Australia. This brought the total number of independents in the Senate to three, the other being Reg Turnbull of Tasmania.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ * "Election of Senators Act, 1903. Proclamation" (PDF). Western Australia Government Gazette. 7 October 1970. p. 3117.
  2. ^ "Senate Elections Act 1958 (No. 6365) (per 9145/70)". Victorian Government Gazette. 7 October 1970. p. 3309.
  3. ^ "Senators' Elections Act 1903: Order under Section 3 (136)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 14 October 1970. p. 4142. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Election of Senators for the State of South Australia (Proclamation) (44)" (PDF). South Australian Government Gazette. Government of South Australia. 6 October 1970. p. 1501. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  5. ^ Parliamentary Handbook – Members of the Senate since 1901 Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine

External links[]

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