RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2021–22   4 may 2022

Parliamentarians who were never elected: a quick guide

Nathan Church

Politics and Public Administration

Since its establishment in 1901, 1,783 people have been chosen to sit in the Australian Federal Parliament. The vast majority (over 90%) were elected directly by their constituents. However, when a vacancy in the Senate occurs, the Constitution allows for the respective state to ‘choose a person to hold the place until the expiration of the term’.0F0F¹ This has been the case for 160 senators. Most of those selected went on to contest and win subsequent election to either the Senate or House of Representatives. Yet for 39 of them this was not the result.

This quick guide identifies those senators who were appointed to the federal parliament and subsequently left without having ever been elected. Accordingly, this does not include the eight current senators who have filled a casual vacancy.1F1F² It also does not include senators who filled a vacancy caused by disqualification, such as holding dual citizenship. In these instances, the Court of Disputed Returns determines the incoming senators are elected via a countback of votes, rather than being appointed.2F2F³

Table 1 provides details of the 39 senators who have never been elected, including their name, party affiliation, state represented, period of service, reason for leaving the Senate, and whether they had any prior experience in local or state government, or as a party official.

• Almost two-thirds (24) were defeated at the election following their appointment, while seven did not contest. A further six resigned and two died in office, creating further casual vacancies.

• Additionally, the data indicates that in the first 50 years after Federation, the majority (88%) of identified senators had either state or local government experience. Conversely, since 1980 approximately just a third (6 of 17) have had similar experience.

• Instead, former party officials have become a significant demographic, with only two identified senators from this time not having served in such a role.

Table 1: List of federal senators who were never elected

Name

Term

Reason for leaving#

Local govt.

State govt.

Party official

Robert Reid (Free Trade, Vic)

21/1/1903 – 31/12/1903

retired

no

yes

no

Henry Saunders (Free Trade, WA)

20/5/1903 – 31/12/1903

defeated

yes

yes

no

Charles Mackellar (Protectionist, NSW)

8/10/1903 – 30/11/1903

resigned

no

yes

no

Edward Vardon (Nationalist, SA)

9/8/1921 – 15/12/1922

defeated

no

yes

no

Henry Garling (Nationalist, NSW)

15/12/1921 – 15/12/1922

defeated

yes

no

no

John Power (ALP, NSW)

20/11/1924 – 13/1/1925

died

yes

yes

yes

William Gibbs (ALP, NSW)

1/4/1925 – 13/11/1925

retired

no

no

yes

Henry Barwell (Nationalist, SA)

18/12/1925 – 22/3/1928

resigned

no

yes

no

John Verran (Nationalist, SA)

30/8/1927 – 16/11/1928

defeated

no

yes

no

Albert Robinson (Nationalist, SA)

18/4/1928 – 16/11/1928

defeated

no

yes

no

Richard Abbott (Country Party, Vic)

18/12/1928 – 30/6/1929

retired

yes

yes

no

Henry Kneebone (ALP, SA)

1/4/1931 – 18/12/1931

defeated

yes

yes

yes

Patrick Mooney (Lang Labor, NSW)

23/12/1931 – 30/6/1932

retired

yes

no

yes

James Arkins (UAP, NSW)

26/9/1935 – 22/10/1937

defeated

no

yes

yes

Charles Latham (Country Party, WA)

8/10/1942 – 20/8/1943

defeated

no

yes

yes

Alexander Fraser (Country Party, Vic)

15/5/1946 – 27/9/1946

defeated

no

no

no

William Robinson (Country Party, WA)

30/9/1952 – 8/5/1953

defeated

no

no

yes

George Whiteside (ALP, Qld)

9/10/1962 – 30/11/1963

defeated

no

no

yes

Martin Cameron (Liberal, SA)

23/5/1969 – 25/10/1969

defeated

no   

no

no

David Reid (Country Party, WA)

16/1/1974 – 18/5/1974

defeated

no

yes

no

Cleaver Bunton (Independent, NSW)

27/2/1975 – 11/11/1975

retired

yes

no

no

Albert Field (Independent, Qld)

3/9/1975 – 11/11/1975

defeated

no

no

no

Laurence Neal (Country Party, Vic)

11/3/1980 – 30/6/1981

retired

no

no

yes

John Olsen (Liberal, SA)

7/5/1990 – 4/5/1992

resigned

yes

yes

yes

Karin Sowada (Democrats, NSW)

29/8/1991 – 30/6/1993

defeated

no

no

yes

Christabel Chamarette (Greens, WA)

12/3/1992 – 30/6/1996

defeated

no

no

no

Tom Wheelwright (ALP, NSW)

24/5/1995 – 30/6/1996

defeated

no

no

yes

Karen Synon (Liberal, Vic)

13/5/1997 – 30/6/1999

defeated

no

no

yes

Geoff Buckland (ALP, SA)

14/9/2000 – 30/6/2005

retired

no

no

yes

John Cherry (Democrats, Qld)

31/7/2001 – 30/6/2005

defeated

no

no

yes

Santo Santoro (Liberal, Qld)

29/10/2002 – 11/4/2007

resigned

no

yes

yes

Lin Thorp (ALP, Tas)

20/6/2012 – 30/6/2014

defeated

no

yes

yes

Mehmet Tillem (ALP, Vic)

21/8/2013 – 30/6/2014

defeated

no

no

yes

Joanna Lindgren (Liberal, Qld)

21/5/2015 – 2/7/2016

defeated

no

no

yes

Robert Simms (Greens, SA)

22/9/2015 – 2/7/2016

defeated

yes

no

yes

Kimberley Kitching (ALP, Vic)

25/10/2016 – 10/3/2022

died

yes

no

yes

Kristina Keneally (ALP, NSW)*

14/2/2018 – 13/4/2022

resigned

no

yes

no

Duncan Spender (Lib Dem, NSW)

20/3/2019 – 30/6/2019

defeated

no

no

yes

Ben Small (Liberal, WA)*

25/11/2020 – 15/4/2022

resigned

no

no

yes

#Where a senator left mid-way through their term, they are designated as having resigned. Where a senator left at the expiration of their term and elected not to contest the next election,
they are designated as having retired.
*Having resigned from the Senate, Kristina Keneally and Ben Small have nominated as candidates in the upcoming federal election to be held on 21 May 2022.

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Notes

[←1]

. Australian Constitution, section 15. Prior to the Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977 Act, the appointment only lasted until the next federal election if the term had not yet expired. The legislative basis for filling the casual vacancies of ACT/NT senators is the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, section 44. For additional information on casual vacancy procedure see Damon Muller, ‘Casual re-employment: comings and goings due to Senate casual vacancies’, FlagPost, Parliamentary Library, 18 September 2018.

[←2]

. These are senators Wendy Askew, Dorinda Cox, Karen Grogan, Andrew McLachlan, Greg Mirabella, Jana Stewart, Amanda Stoker and Lidia Thorpe. Senator Jim Molan also filled a casual vacancy on 14 November 2019 but was previously elected (via countback) on 22 December 2017.

[←3]

. Australian Electoral Commission, Electoral Backgrounder: Constitutional disqualification and intending candidates, 4 April 2019.