4
May 2022
PDF version [299KB]
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’.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3]
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.
[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.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.
© Commonwealth of Australia
Creative Commons
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and to the extent that copyright subsists in a third party, this publication, its logo and front page design are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence.
In essence, you are free to copy and communicate this work in its current form for all non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to the author and abide by the other licence terms. The work cannot be adapted or modified in any way. Content from this publication should be attributed in the following way: Author(s), Title of publication, Series Name and No, Publisher, Date.
To the extent that copyright subsists in third party quotes it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the publication are welcome to webmanager@aph.gov.au.
This work has been prepared to support the work of the Australian Parliament using information available at the time of production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position of the Parliamentary Library, nor do they constitute professional legal opinion.
Any concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary Librarian. Parliamentary Library staff are available to discuss the contents of publications with Senators and Members and their staff. To access this service, clients may contact the author or the Library‘s Central Entry Point for referral.