1966 Australian federal election


The 1966 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 26 November 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister Harold Holt, won an increased majority over the opposition Labor Party, led by Arthur Calwell.

Issues

had retired from politics in January. His successor, former Treasurer Harold Holt, was stylish, debonair and popular with the electorate. He contrasted sharply with the much rougher figure of Arthur Calwell, who had already lost two elections. Calwell held to the beliefs that had been central to the last Labor Government of 1941–1949, many of which were seen as being old-fashioned in 1966; for example, he still defended socialism, the White Australia Policy, and nationalization. He also came across poorly on television compared to Holt, and looked and sounded older than his 70 years.
In addition, a strong economy and initial enthusiasm for Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War virtually guaranteed the Coalition another term. The Coalition campaigned with the slogan "Keep Australia secure and prosperous – play it safe".
The election was a landslide win for the Coalition, which won twice as many seats as Labor. The Liberals arrived two seats short of a majority in their own right, the closest that the major non-Labor party had come to governing in its own right since adopting the Liberal banner. Holt's victory was greater than any of Menzies' eight victories, and resulted in the largest majority government in Australian history at the time. It was later seen as the electoral high point of both Holt's Prime Ministership and the 23 years of continuous Coalition rule.
Calwell retired to the backbench a month after the election and was succeeded by Deputy Labor leader Gough Whitlam.

Results

Independents: Sam Benson

Seats changing hands