Party Representation in Parliament since 1901 (Research Note 39 1997-98)

Research Note 39 1997-98

Party Representation in Parliament since 1901

Margaret Healy & Martin Lumb
Politics & Public Administration Group

The tables below show the state of the parties in the House of Representatives and the Senate after each election from 1901 to 1996. The tables show those occasions when the government held a majority in the Senate. Fluctuations in party numbers (not shown) between elections have arisen from party defections or Senate casual vacancies.

Between 1901 and 1910 no party had an absolute majority in the Senate or the House of Representatives, and there were coalition governments on two occasions, from 1904 to 1905 and from 1909 to 1910. In 1909 the non-Labor parties amalgamated (the 'Fusion') and later became the Liberal Party. W.M. Hughes and his supporters left the ALP in the 1916 conscription split, becoming National Labour, and in 1917 joined with the Liberal Party to form the Nationalist Party. The Country Party first won seats in 1919.

The ALP split in 1954 led to the formation of the Democratic Labor Party, which from 1955 to 1970 won Senate seats. In 1955, and then from 1961, the government formally lacked a majority, with no one group or person holding the balance. However, after the 1967 election there were five DLP/Independent Senators, and from 1970, eight. From the commencement of the new Senate term on 1.7.68 until 1974 the DLP held the balance of power. From 1980 the Australian Democrats and others have held the balance of power.

Table 1. House of Representatives: Party Representation, 1901 to 1996

Election	Govt(a)	ALP	FT	PROT	A-S	LIB	NAT	CP	UAP	Others(b)	Total
1901	PROT	14	28	31	-	-	-	-	-	2	75
1903	PROT	23	25	26	-	-	-	-	-	1	75
1906	PROT	26	-	16	27	-	-	-	-	6	75
1910	ALP	43	-	-	-	(c)31	-	-	-	1	75
1913	LIB	37	-	-	-	38	-	-	-	-	75
1914	ALP	42	-	-	-	32	-	-	-	1	75
1917	NAT	22	-	-	-	-	53	-	-	-	75
1919	NAT	26	-	-	-	-	37	11	-	1	75
1922(d)	NAT/CP	30	-	-	-	5	26	14	-	1	76
1925	NAT/CP	24	-	-	-	-	37	14	-	1	76
1928	NAT/CP	32	-	-	-	-	29	13	-	2	76
1929	ALP	47	-	-	-	-	14	10	-	5	76
1931	UAP	15	-	-	-	-	-	16	40	5	76
1934	UAP/CP	18	-	-	-	-	-	14	33	10	75
1937	UAP/CP	29	-	-	-	-	-	16	28	2	75
1940	UAP/CP	32	-	-	-	-	-	14	23	6	75
1943	ALP	49	-	-	-	-	-	12	12	2	75
1946	ALP	43	-	-	-	17	-	12	-	3	75

Election	Govt(a)	ALP	LIB	NPA(e)	DLP	AD	GRN	Others(b)	Total
1949	LIB/CP	48	55	19	-	-	-	1	123
1951	LIB/CP	54	52	17	-	-	-	-	123
1953(f)	LIB/CP	54	52	17	-	-	-	-	123
1954(d)	LIB/CP	59	47	17	-	-	-	-	123
1955	LIB/CP	49	57	18	-	-	-	-	124
1958	LIB/CP	47	58	19	-	-	-	-	124
1961	LIB/CP	(g)62	45	17	-	-	-	-	124
1963(d)	LIB/CP	52	52	20	-	-	-	-	124
1964(f)	LIB/CP	52	52	20	-	-	-	-	124
1966(d)	LIB/CP	41	61	21	-	-	-	1	124
1967(f)	LIB/CP	41	61	21	-	-	-	1	124
1969(d)	LIB/CP	59	46	20	-	-	-	-	125
1970(f)	LIB/CP	59	46	20	-	-	-	-	125
1972(d)	ALP	67	38	20	-	-	-	-	125
1974	ALP	66	40	21	-	-	-	-	127
1975	LIB/NCP	36	68	23	-	-	-	-	127
1977	LIB/NCP	38	67	19	-	-	-	-	124
1980	LIB/NCP	51	54	20	-	-	-	-	125
1983	ALP	75	33	17	-	-	-	-	125
1984	ALP	82	45	21	-	-	-	-	148
1987	ALP	86	43	19	-	-	-	-	148
1990	ALP	78	55	14	-	-	-	1	148
1993	ALP	80	49	16	-	-	-	2	147
1996	LIB/NPA	49	76	18	-	-	-	5	148

NOTE: Shading denotes elections when the Government gained an absolute majority in the Senate.

Simultaneous dissolution election years are in bold.

Table 2. Senate: Party Representation, 1901 to 1996

Election	Govt(a)	ALP	FT	PROT	LIB	NAT	CP	UAP	Others(b)	Total
1901	PROT	8	17	11	-	-	-	-	-	36
1903	PROT	14	12	8	-	-	-	-	2	36
1906	PROT	15	12	6	-	-	-	-	3	36
1910	ALP	23	-	-	(c)13	-	-	-	-	36
1913	LIB	29	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	36
1914	ALP	31	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	36
1917	NAT	12	-	-	-	24	-	-	-	36
1919	NAT	1	-	-	-	35	-	-	-	36
1922	NAT/CP	12	-	-	-	24	-	-	-	36
1925	NAT/CP	8	-	-	-	25	3	-	-	36
1928	NAT/CP	7	-	-	-	24	5	-	-	36
1929(d)	ALP	7	-	-	-	24	5	-	-	36
1931	UAP	10	-	-	-	-	5	21	-	36
1934	UAP/CP	3	-	-	-	-	7	26	-	36
1937	UAP/CP	16	-	-	-	-	4	16	-	36
1940	UAP/CP	17	-	-	-	-	3	16	-	36
1943	ALP	22	-	-	-	-	2	12	-	36
1946	ALP	33	-	-	2	-	1	-	-	36

Election	Govt(a)	ALP	LIB	NPA(e)	DLP	AD	GRN	Others(b)	Total
1949	LIB/CP	34	20	6	-	-	-	-	60
1951	LIB/CP	28	26	6	-	-	-	-	60
1953(f)	LIB/CP	29	26	5	-	-	-	-	60
1954(d)	LIB/CP	29	26	5	-	-	-	-	60
1955	LIB/CP	28	24	6	2	-	-	-	60
1958	LIB/CP	26	25	7	2	-	-	-	60
1961	LIB/CP	28	24	6	1	-	-	1	60
1963(d)	LIB/CP	28	24	6	1	-	-	1	60
1964(f)	LIB/CP	27	23	7	2	-	-	1	60
1966(d)	LIB/CP	27	23	7	2	-	-	1	60
1967(f)	LIB/CP	27	21	7	4	-	-	1	60
1969(d)	LIB/CP	27	21	7	4	-	-	1	60
1970(f)	LIB/CP	26	21	5	5	-	-	3	60
1972(d)	ALP	26	21	5	5	-	-	3	60
1974	ALP	29	23	6	-	-	-	2	60
1975	LIB/NCP	27	27	8	-	-	-	2	64
1977	LIB/NCP	26	29	6	-	2	-	1	64
1980	LIB/NCP	27	28	3	-	5	-	1	64
1983	ALP	30	24	4	-	5	-	1	64
1984	ALP	34	28	5	-	7	-	2	76
1987	ALP	32	27	7	-	7	-	3	76
1990	ALP	32	29	5	-	8	1	1	76
1993	ALP	30	30	6	-	7	2	1	76
1996	LIB/NPA	29	31	6	-	7	2	1	76

NOTE: Shading denotes elections when the Government gained an absolute majority in the Senate.

Simultaneous dissolution election years are in bold.

Abbreviations

AD-Australian Democrats; ALP-Australian Labor Party; A-S-Anti-Socialist Party; CP-Country Party; DLP-Democratic Labor Party; FT-Free Trade; GRN-Greens (various); LIB-Liberal Party of Australia; NAT-Nationalist Party; NCP-National Country Party; NAT-National Party of Australia; PROT-Protectionist Party; UAP-United Australia Party.

Notes for Tables 1 and 2

(a) Government after election.
(b) Othersinclude: House of Representatives: 1903-1 Revenue Tariff; 1906-4 Independent Protectionist and 2 Western Australia Party; 1919-1 Independent Nationalist; 1928-1 Country Progressive; 1929-3 Independent Nationalists and 1 Country Progressive; 1931-4 Lang Labor; 1934-9 Lang Labor; 1937-1 Independent UAP; 1940-4 Non-Communist Labor; 1966-1 Independent (formerly ALP). The remainder not specified herein are Independents. Senate: Various Independents such as Senators Turnbull and Harradine, Nuclear Disarmament Party members and former Liberals.
(c) Known as 'Fusion' in 1910.
(d) Separate House of Representatives election.
(e) Country Party (CP) until May 1975; National Country Party (NCP) from May 1975 to October 1982.
(f) Separate half-Senate election.
(g) Includes the two Territory members who did not have full voting rights (hence the LIB/CP government remained in office).

Elections

Except for simultaneous dissolutions, or as noted, elections are simultaneously held for the House of Representatives and half of the Senate.

Voting systems

House of Representatives: 1901-18 First-past-the-post voting; from 1918 Preferential voting.

Senate: 1901-18 First-past-the-post voting; 1919-48 Preferential voting; from 1949 Proportional representation.

These tables, together with a table of combined totals for both Houses, may be found in the Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia, 27^th edition, AGPS: Canberra, 1996, pp. 314-316.

Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior written consent of the Parliamentary Library, other than by Members of the Australian Parliament in the course of their official duties.

Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1998.

Research Note 39 1997-98

Party Representation in Parliament since 1901

Margaret Healy & Martin Lumb Politics & Public Administration Group

Margaret Healy & Martin Lumb
Politics & Public Administration Group