1963 Australian federal election

none April 2024 January 2023 1963 Australian federal election Australia parliamentary no 1961 Australian federal election 1961 1966 Australian federal election 1966 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1961–1963 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1963–1966 5,824,917 3.07% 5,575,977 (95.73%)(0.46 pp) All 124The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory each had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation. seats of the Australian House of Representatives62 seats were needed for a majority 30 November 1963 File:Robert Menzies 1960 colour (cropped).jpg 190x190px Sir Robert Menzies 23 September 1943 Liberal Party of Australia LiberalCountry Kooyong (Vic.) 62 seats 72 10 2,520,321 46.04% 3.95 52.60% 3.10 File:Arthur Calwell 1966.jpg Arthur Calwell 7 March 1960 Australian Labor Party Melbourne (Vic.) 60 seats 50 + NT + ACT 10 2,489,184 45.47% 2.43 47.40% 3.10 TPP TPP swing 1963 Australian federal election.svg 350px Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory. Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Primary A federal election was held in Australia on 30 November 1963. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. There was no Senate election until the 1964 Australian Senate election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies, won an increased majority over the opposition Labor Party, led by Arthur Calwell. This was the only time that a Federal Government won a seventh consecutive term in office. Background The election was held following the early dissolution of the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister of Australia, Sir Robert Menzies, gave as his reason for calling an election within two years that there was an insufficient working majority in the House.2005 http://www.aph.gov.au/house/pubs/practice/chapter3.htm House of Representatives Practice; Chapter 3 Elections and the electoral system Parliament of Australia, House of Representatives 4 April 2006 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20060525112517/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/pubs/practice/chapter3.htm 25 May 2006 The 1961 election had been won with a substantially reduced majority of only two seats. One of the consequences of an early House election was that there were separate Senate and House elections until 1974. This became a factor in the Gair Affair. The Coalition government of the Liberal Party led by Sir Robert Menzies and the Country Party led by John McEwen was returned with a substantially increased majority over the Australian Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. Indigenous Australians could vote in federal elections on the same basis as other electors for the first time in this election following an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act becoming law on 1 November. The amendment enfranchised Indigenous people in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Indigenous voting rights in other states had been in place since 1949. Issues State aid for non-government schools left|thumb|The toilets of St Brigid's; the reason for the 1962 school strike and the beginning of state aid to non-government schools. The election was notable for the issue of state aid to non-government schools being finally resolved. There was a school strike in Goulburn, New South Wales in 1962. Health officials had requested the installation of three extra toilets at a Catholic primary school. The Catholic Church declared it had no money to install the extra toilets. The archdiocese closed down its schools and sent the children to government schools. Nearly 1,000 children turned up to be enrolled locally and the state schools were unable to accommodate them. The strike received national attention. The Labor premier of New South Wales, Robert Heffron, had promised money for science labs at non-government schools. This policy was overturned by a meeting of the Labor Party's federal executive. Under ALP rules the federal executive had responsibility for party policy when the party's national conference was out of session. Menzies called a snap election with state aid for science blocks and Commonwealth scholarships for students at both government and non-government schools as part of his party's platform. This tended to woo Catholic voters away from the Labor Party which they traditionally supported; the wedge driven between the ALP and its Catholic constituency took nearly a decade to overcome. Most non-government schools were Catholic. The Labor Party suffered a first-preference swing of −2.43% and the loss of ten seats. The Country Party vote was higher than the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) vote for the first time since 1955; the DLP had evolved from the Catholic wing of the ALP. The Liberal Party was, however, not dependent on the state-aid issue to win the election; 1997 http://www.abc.net.au/time/episodes/ep7.htm The Battle for State Aid Timeframe Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2 April 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20140106061251/http://www.abc.net.au/time/episodes/ep7.htm 6 January 2014 dead other issues, such as the "36 faceless men" gibe, also did damage to the ALP. North-west Cape communications facility thumb|left|Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt, the North-west Cape communications facility which was built in the 1960s Other key issues in the election included the proposal by the United States to build the North-west Cape communications facility which would support the US nuclear submarine capability. A special federal conference of the ALP was called in March 1963 which, by a narrow margin, supported the base. The Left faction was opposed to a foreign base on Australian soil, especially one which supported America's nuclear weapons capability.10 September 2004 http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2004/09/10-0002.html Boilermaker Bill's Jakarta jottings; Boilermaker Bill McKell Labor Legend Crikey 3 April 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20050911155450/http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2004/09/10-0002.html 11 September 2005 dead "36 faceless men" During the ALP Federal Conference in March 1963, journalist Alan Reid commissioned a photograph of Arthur Calwell and Gough Whitlam standing outside the conference venue at Kingston, a suburb of Canberra. Although Calwell was the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives and Whitlam was his deputy, neither man was eligible to attend the conference, which consisted of six members elected by each state ALP branch. Reid jibed that the ALP was ruled by "36 faceless men" – an accusation that was picked up by Menzies and the Liberal Party in its election material, and is still remembered more than 40 years later.http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2006/jul06/story-3.pdf The Ultimate Insider Stephen Holt National Library Australia News July 2006 16 10 3 November 2010http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2447684.htm Tracking the Red Fox Media Report ABC Radio National 18 December 2008 3 November 2010 Assassination of US President Kennedy The week before the election, on 22 November 1963, John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States, was assassinated. Alister McMullin, President of the Senate, represented Australia at the funeral in Washington.140-141 Four Days https://archive.org/details/fourdayshistoric00unit registration United Press International 1964 American Heritage Magazine New York American Heritage Pub. Co. United Press International American Heritage (magazine) It has been suggested that this tragedy helped to consolidate Menzies' position. Farnsworth Malcolm http://www.australianpolitics.com/elections/1972/1972_final-week.shtml It's Time; 1972 Federal Election: Sound Archives australianpolitics.com 4 April 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060509062028/http://www.australianpolitics.com/elections/1972/1972_final-week.shtml 9 May 2006 live Results Results of the 1963 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) + House of Reps (IRV) – 1963–66—Turnout 95.73% (CV) – Informal 1.82%alt=|center|300x300px Party First preference votes % Swing Seats Change   Liberal–Country coalition 2,520,321 46.04 +3.95 72 +10   Liberal100px 2,030,823 37.09 +3.51 52 +7   Country100px 489,498 8.94 +0.43 20 +3   Labor 2,489,184 45.47 –2.43 52Including Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory –10   Democratic Labor 407,416 7.44 –1.27 0 0   Communist 32,053 0.59 +0.11 0 0   Independents 25,739 0.47 –0.21 0 0   Total 5,474,713     122 Two-party-preferred (estimated)   Liberal–Country coalition Win 52.60 +3.10 72 +10   Labor 47.40 –3.10 50 –10 See 1961 Australian federal election and 1964 Australian Senate election for Senate compositions. First preference vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 45.47 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 37.09 Country National Party of Australia 8.94 DLP #008080 7.44 Communist #AA0000 0.59 Independents Independent (politician) 0.47 Two-party-preferred vote (estimated) var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Coalition Coalition (Australia) 52.60 Labor Australian Labor Party 47.40 Parliament seats var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Coalition Coalition (Australia) 59.02 Labor Australian Labor Party 40.98 Seats changing hands Seat Pre-1963 Swing Post-1963 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Bowman, Qld  Labor Jack Comber 1.9 3.3 1.4 Wylie Gibbs Liberal  Canning, WA  Liberal Neil McNeill N/A 17.9 2.2 John Hallett Country  Cowper, NSW  Labor Frank McGuren 1.8 4.8 3.0 Ian Robinson Country  Evans, NSW  Labor James Monaghan N/A 8.7 7.8 Malcolm Mackay Liberal  Hume, NSW  Labor Arthur Fuller 0.9 1.7 0.8 Ian Pettitt Country  Lilley, Qld  Labor Don Cameron 1.3 4.8 3.5 Kevin Cairns Liberal  Mitchell, NSW  Labor John Armitage 3.4 6.5 3.1 Les Irwin Liberal  Parkes, NSW  Labor Les Haylen 4.2 5.9 1.7 Tom Hughes Liberal  Petrie, Qld  Labor Reginald O'Brien 0.7 4.2 3.5 Alan Hulme Liberal  Phillip, NSW  Labor Syd Einfeld 1.4 4.2 2.8 William Aston Liberal  St George, NSW  Labor Lionel Clay 4.9 7.2 2.3 Len Bosman Liberal  See also Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1963 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1963–1966 Notes References University of WA https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ 18 January 2015 election results in Australia since 1890 AEC 2PP vote Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore, the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences. Australian federal election, 1963 federal Australia