Members of the Australian Senate, 1974–1975

Senate composition at 9 July 1974
Government (29)
  Labor (29) - (2 seat minority)

Opposition (29)
Coalition
  Liberal (23)
  Country Party (6)

Crossbench (2)
  Liberal Movement (1)
  Independent (1)

  Changes in composition

 

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1974 to 1975. The 18 May 1974 election was a double dissolution of both Houses, with all 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate up for election. The incumbent Labor Party led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam defeated the opposition Liberal Party led by Billy Snedden and their Coalition partner the Country Party led by Doug Anthony.

In accordance with section 13 of the Constitution, 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 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 being replaced by Independent Cleaver Bunton and Labor Senator Bertie Milliner being replaced by Albert Field who was expelled as a member of the Labor party for accepting the appointment instead of Labor nomination Mal Colston.

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 and Independent Michael Townley. The President of the Senate votes and if the votes are equal, the motion is defeated. 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, 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 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.

Senator	Party		State	Term ending	Years in office
Sir Ken Anderson		Liberal	New South Wales	1976	1953–1975
Peter Baume		Liberal	New South Wales	1976	1974–1991
Eric Bessell		Liberal	Tasmania	1976	1974–1975
Reg Bishop		Labor	South Australia	1979	1961–1981
Neville Bonner		Liberal	Queensland	1979	1971–1983
Bill Brown		Labor	Victoria	1979	1969–1970, 1971–1978
Cleaver Bunton		Independent	New South Wales	1975	1974–1975
John Button		Labor	Victoria	1979	1974–1993
Don Cameron		Labor	South Australia	1976	1969–1978
John Carrick		Liberal	New South Wales	1979	1970–1987
Jim Cavanagh		Labor	South Australia	1979	1961–1981
Fred Chaney		Liberal	Western Australia	1976	1974–1990
Ruth Coleman		Labor	Western Australia	1976	1974–1987
Sir Magnus Cormack		Liberal	Victoria	1979	1951–1953, 1962–1978
Bob Cotton		Liberal	New South Wales	1979	1965–1978
Gordon Davidson		Liberal	South Australia	1976	1961, 1962, 1965–1981
Don Devitt		Labor	Tasmania	1979	1965–1978
Tom Drake-Brockman		Country	Western Australia	1979	1958, 1959–1978
Arnold Drury		Labor	South Australia	1976	1959–1975
Peter Durack		Liberal	Western Australia	1976	1970–1993
Merv Everett		Labor	Tasmania	1976	1974–1975
Albert Field		Independent	Queensland	1975	1975
George Georges		Labor	Queensland	1979	1967–1987
Arthur Gietzelt		Labor	New South Wales	1976	1970–1989
Ivor Greenwood		Liberal	Victoria	1979	1968–1976
Don Grimes		Labor	Tasmania	1976	1974–1987
Margaret Guilfoyle		Liberal	Victoria	1976	1970–1987
Steele Hall		Liberal Movement	South Australia	1979	1974–1977
Don Jessop		Liberal	South Australia	1976	1970–1991
Jim Keeffe		Labor	Queensland	1976	1964–1983
Sir Condor Laucke		Liberal	South Australia	1979	1967–1981
Ellis Lawrie		Liberal	Queensland	1976	1965–1975
John Marriott		Liberal	Tasmania	1976	1953–1975
Kathy Martin		Liberal	Queensland	1976	1974–1984
Ron Maunsell		Country	Queensland	1979	1967–1981
Ron McAuliffe		Labor	Queensland	1976	1970–1981
Doug McClelland		Labor	New South Wales	1979	1961–1987
Jim McClelland		Labor	New South Wales	1976	1970–1978
Gordon McIntosh		Labor	Western Australia	1976	1974–1987
Geoff McLaren		Labor	South Australia	1976	1970–1983
Jean Melzer		Labor	Victoria	1976	1974–1981
Bertie Milliner		Labor	Queensland	1979	1968–1975
Alan Missen		Liberal	Victoria	1976	1974–1986
Tony Mulvihill		Labor	New South Wales	1979	1964–1983
Lionel Murphy		Labor	New South Wales	1979	1962–1975
Justin O'Byrne		Labor	Tasmania	1979	1947–1981
George Poyser		Labor	Victoria	1976	1966–1975
Cyril Primmer		Labor	Victoria	1979	1971–1985
Peter Rae		Liberal	Tasmania	1979	1967–1986
Douglas Scott		Country	New South Wales	1976	1970, 1974–1985
Glen Sheil		Country	Queensland	1976	1974–1981
Peter Sim		Liberal	Western Australia	1979	1964–1981
Michael Townley		Independent/Liberal	Tasmania	1976	1970–1987
Peter Walsh		Labor	Western Australia	1976	1974–1993
James Webster		Country	Victoria	1976	1964–1981
John Wheeldon		Labor	Western Australia	1979	1964–1981
Don Willesee		Labor	Western Australia	1979	1950–1975
Reg Withers		Liberal	Western Australia	1979	1966, 1967–1987
Ian Wood		Liberal	Queensland	1979	1950–1978
Ken Wriedt		Labor	Tasmania	1979	1964–1980
Reg Wright		Liberal	Tasmania	1979	1950–1978
Harold Young		Liberal	South Australia	1979	1968–1981

References

• Journal of the Senate. Parliament of Australia. 1975.
• "Members of the Senate since 1901". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.