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The 1901 Australian federal election for the inaugural
Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...
was held in Australia on Friday 29 March and Saturday 30 March 1901. The elections followed
Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
and the establishment of the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...
on 1 January 1901. All 75 seats in the
Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...
, six of which were uncontested, as well as all 36 seats in the
Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...
, were up for election. After the initial confusion of the Hopetoun Blunder, the first
Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
, Edmund Barton, went into the inaugural 1901 federal election as the appointed head of a
Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party, also known as the Protectionist Liberal Party or Liberal Protectionist Party, was an Politics of Australia, Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. T ...
caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...
. While the Protectionists came first on seats, they fell short of a majority. The incumbent government remained in office with the parliamentary support of the Labour Party, who held the balance of power, while the Free Trade Party formed the opposition. A few months prior to the 1903 election, Barton resigned to become a founding member of the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...
, and was replaced by
Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...
. Edmund Barton entered parliament at this election, as did six future prime ministers Alfred Deakin,
Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia from April to August 1904. He held office as the inaugural federal leader of the Au ...
,
George Reid Sir George Houston Reid (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was a Scottish-born Australian and British politician, diplomat, and barrister who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1904 t ...
, Joseph Cook, Andrew Fisher, and
Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...
and future opposition leader Frank Tudor.


Background

The
federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
of the colonies of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
,
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
, Victoria and
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
came into effect on 1 January 1901 to form the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...
. An election was held on Friday 29 March in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, and on Saturday 30 March 1901 in South Australia and Queensland, to elect the inaugural members of federal parliament. Floods in Queensland delayed polling in parts of the state until April. The 1901 election was the only one of two occasions in Australia's history that the entire country did not go to the polls on the same day in a general election, the second occasion being the 1993 "supplementary election" in the Division of Dickson. This election was also the only time that an election or any part thereof was held on a day other than a Saturday. In what would later be known as the Hopetoun Blunder, in December 1900 the
Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
, the 7th Earl of Hopetoun commissioned
William Lyne Sir William John Lyne Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (6 April 1844 – 3 August 1913) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901, and later as a federal cabinet minister under Edmund Barton ...
, the
Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...
, to form the first Commonwealth Government from 1 January 1901. The government was to conduct itself on a caretaker basis in the absence of a parliament. Lyne was unpopular and was unable to gain support, so he returned his commission. Edmund Barton was then called upon to form the interim government. Barton was sworn in as the inaugural
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, and his cabinet contested the poll as the incumbent government. Some candidates were still sitting members of a state parliament. William Lyne was a minister in Barton's interim government and a candidate for the
Division of Hume The Division of Hume is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It lies on the outskirts of southwestern Sydney. Geography Si ...
while still Premier of New South Wales, and used his official premier's car during the campaign, resigning on 27 March.


Parties contesting the election

The parties contesting the election were the
Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party, also known as the Protectionist Liberal Party or Liberal Protectionist Party, was an Politics of Australia, Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. T ...
, led by
Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
Edmund Barton, and the Free Trade Party, unofficially led by former New South Wales Premier
George Reid Sir George Houston Reid (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was a Scottish-born Australian and British politician, diplomat, and barrister who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1904 t ...
. There would not be a federal Labour Party until two months after the election, but in five of the six states local Labour parties contested the elections - in Tasmania, where there was no Labour party, King O'Malley was elected as an independent Labour candidate. There were also a number of independents of various political leanings and a New South Wales Senate ticket called the "Socialist Six", comprising Labour members in conflict with the official party. The Protectionists advocated the protection of local industries through the imposition of
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
s on imported goods, the construction of a transcontinental railway, a uniform railway gauge, uniform suffrage, aged pensions and defending the Australian constitution from radicals. The party used the colour red throughout the campaign. In addition to Barton, Protectionist candidates included many of the leading political figures from colonial Australia, including Charles Kingston, Sir John Forrest, and future Prime Minister
Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...
. The Free Traders (their official title was "Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association") advocated the dismantling of the tariff system, a transcontinental railway, and believed that aged pensions should be left to the states. As many of the policies of the Protectionists and Free Traders were similar, the Free Traders campaigned heavily on tariffs, with Reid stating that he wanted the election to be a plebiscite on tariffs. The party used the colour blue throughout the campaign. In addition to Reid, who believed he should have been appointed Prime Minister instead of Barton as he considered himself the bigger political figure, Free Trade candidates included Reid's unofficial deputy Paddy Glynn, William Irvine, and former state Labour leader and future
Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...
Prime Minister Joseph Cook. Labour advocated old age pensions, electoral reform, a national army, compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes and a national referendum to decide issues that would otherwise lead to a
double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolutio ...
of parliament. Senior Labour candidates included future Prime Ministers
Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia from April to August 1904. He held office as the inaugural federal leader of the Au ...
, Andrew Fisher and
Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...
. Labour candidates were elected as individual state-based candidates, who met before the first sitting of Parliament on 8 May 1901 and agreed to form a federal Labour Party. Chris Watson, a Sydney printer and former member of the
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
Parliament, was elected the inaugural leader of the Party. All parties were in support of a White Australia as was the norm at the time, with only a single parliamentarian, Free Trader Bruce Smith, fully opposing the legislation.Rutledge, M. (1988) Smith, Arthur Bruce (1851 - 1937), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11'', Melbourne University Press, Carlton.


Voting and enrolment

Voting franchise was according to each state's specific electoral laws. South Australian and Western Australian women were enfranchised, but in the other states, they could not vote. Tasmania retained a small property qualification for voting, but in the other states, all males over 21 were eligible to vote. In several states
Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
were technically allowed to vote, however, they faced voter suppression. In
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
for instance, Aboriginal men who voted were arrested by police for "double voting" with very little evidence to back up the case. Voting was voluntary throughout Australia and in most states candidates were elected by a "first past the post" voting system. In South Australia, voters were required to mark the box opposite their preferred candidates, while in other states voters were required to cross out the names of non-preferred candidates. The following table describes the varying electoral systems used to elect members of the House of Representatives.


Electorates

All seats were to be filled − 75 in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
and 36 in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. Six House seats were uncontested. There were 75 House of Representative seats to be filled. The initial number of seats for each state were set out in the Australian Constitution. New South Wales was allocated 26, Victoria 23, Queensland 9, South Australia 7, Western Australia 5 and Tasmania 5. The South Australian and Tasmanian colonial parliaments had not legislated for single-member electorates, so their House of Representative members were elected from a single statewide electorate. In South Australia, each elector cast seven votes, while in Tasmania, each elector cast one vote. Each state elected six Senators, in accordance with the Constitution. Senators in each state were elected on a statewide electorate basis by bloc voting rather than the
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
and
single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...
systems used in later elections.


Campaign

The campaign period officially commenced on 17 January 1901, although some candidates, particularly Reid, had been unofficially campaigning since December the previous year. The campaign was delayed due to the death of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
on 22 January, but soon got into full swing again as candidates travelled widely to address lively public meetings. Reid drew the biggest crowds, including 8,000 to a rally in Newcastle and he campaigned widely, travelling to Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, while Paddy Glynn organised the Free Trade campaign in South Australia. The Protectionists were forced to modify their immigration policy following an outcry from Queensland Protectionist candidates who feared that a White Australia policy would impinge on the importation of Kanakas to work on Queensland sugar plantations. Their policy was revised to read that Kanakas would be only be sent back to their country of origin when they were no longer of any use to the sugar industry. On the whole, however, a white Australia was extremely popular with the electorate and most candidates outdid themselves to prove how much they supported it. It was left to Free Trade candidate for Parkes, Bruce Smith (a leading representative of the employers), to oppose anti-immigration measures. Andrew Fisher argued that any Kanaka who had converted to Christianity and married should be allowed to remain in Australia. Both were elected comfortably. The Free Traders also had to modify part of their election platform when they realised that to advocate for the removal of all tariffs protecting Australian industries would be political suicide. Many employees in these industries considered the removal of tariffs as likely to mean the end of their jobs. The Protectionists enjoyed the support of the powerful
Australian Natives' Association The Australian Natives' Association (ANA) was a mutual society founded in Melbourne, Australia in April 1871. It was founded by and for the benefit of White native-born Australians, and membership was restricted to that group. The Association's ...
(ANA) throughout the campaign as well as the endorsements of ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' and '' The Sydney Bulletin'', while Free Trade received support from business interests and the endorsements of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'', ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', ''
The Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...
'', Melbourne's '' The Argus'' and ''The Adelaide Register''. Labour could only rely on union-owned newspapers, although some of these enjoyed a great level of influence in some electorates (the ''Gympie Truth'' for example is considered to have played an important role in the election of its part-owner, Andrew Fisher, in Wide Bay). Only two cars were used in the 1901 election campaign:
William Lyne Sir William John Lyne Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (6 April 1844 – 3 August 1913) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901, and later as a federal cabinet minister under Edmund Barton ...
, who was a candidate for the
Division of Hume The Division of Hume is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It lies on the outskirts of southwestern Sydney. Geography Si ...
while still Premier of New South Wales, used his official Premier's car to great advantage; and the shipping magnate and candidate for
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
Sir Malcolm McEacharn enjoyed the use of his car while travelling around his electorate.


Election day

Complaints were received by polling officials about the earlier-than-advertised closing of polling booths in some electorates, the poor-quality pencils supplied to fill in ballot papers (they apparently blunted easily, leaving many votes incomprehensible to officials) and the Senate ballot paper in New South Wales which listed 50 candidates, confusing many voters and leading to a significant number of informal votes. These complaints aside, the administering of the first federal election was seen as a great success and a credit to the polling officials who, in some cases, were responsible for electorates larger than some European countries.


Results


House of Representatives


Senate


Analysis

The Free Traders won most of the seats in New South Wales, apart from the border areas where the Protectionists were strong. The Protectionists won most of the seats in their stronghold, Victoria. Labour won some inner urban seats but most of its members represented pastoral and mining areas. In the smaller states many members had no fixed party loyalty and saw themselves as representing the interests of their states. Seven Prime Ministers of Australia (Barton, Deakin, Watson, Reid, Fisher, Joseph Cook and Hughes) were elected at this election, as were a number of influential former state Premiers (Sir John Forrest, Lyne, George Turner, Anderson Dawson, Philip Fysh and Charles Kingston among them). With no past to live down, Barton's Protectionist ministry had all the advantages of incumbency with none of the problems, which meant that a Protectionist victory was almost a certainty, and Barton had been confident of obtaining a comfortable majority in parliament.Bastian, p. 82. However, while Barton and his ministry were returned, they had to rely on Labour support to pass legislation. Although the Protectionists remained in government, however, many observers saw the result as a moral victory for Free Trade (who won more seats than the Protectionists in the three smallest states of South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia). Labour also performed better than expected, particularly after the post-election recruitment of O'Malley. Labour was the smallest of the three parties in the House but held the balance of power. Chris Watson pursued the same policy as Labour had done in the colonial parliaments. He kept the
Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
governments of Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin in office, in exchange for legislative concessions including the immensely popular White Australia policy. Such was the overwhelming support for a White Australia by the electorate and the three political parties that the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was the seventeenth piece of legislation passed by the nascent parliament. The average national voting turnout was 60% of enrolled voters, with the
Division of Newcastle The Division of Newcastle is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determine ...
achieving the highest turnout on 97%, while the Division of Fremantle recorded the lowest turnout on 30%. Of the two elected independents, both were from
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
.
James Wilkinson James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American army officer and politician who was associated with multiple scandals and controversies during his life, including the Burr conspiracy. He served in the Continental Army du ...
, elected to the seat of Moreton, was a former member of the Labour Party, and rejoined the party in 1903. Alexander Paterson, representing Capricornia, had no political affiliation, and retired in 1903.


Pendulum

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
and
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
went to the election as single multi-member constituencies. South Australia elected seven members, each elector casting seven votes: four Free Traders ( Paddy Glynn, 59.5%; Frederick Holder, 59.5%; Alexander Poynton, 41.1%; and Vaiben Louis Solomon, 43.0%), two Protectionists ( Charles Kingston, 65.9%;
Langdon Bonython Sir John Langdon Bonython (;Charles Earle Funk, ''What's the Name, Please?'' (Funk & Wagnalls, 1936). 15 October 184822 October 1939) was an Australian editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist, journalist and politician who served ...
, 62.7%) and one Labour member ( Lee Batchelor, 50.3%). Tasmania elected five members, each elector casting one vote: three Free Traders ( Edward Braddon, 26.2%; Norman Cameron, 11.6%; Frederick Piesse, 10.1%), one Protectionist ( Philip Fysh, 9.9%) and one Independent/Labour member ( King O'Malley, 21.9%).


See also

* Candidates of the 1901 Australian federal election * Results of the 1901 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) * Results of the 1901 Australian federal election (Senate) * Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1901–1903 * Members of the Australian Senate, 1901–1903


Notes


References


Sources

*
State and federal election results
in Australia since 1890 * *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Federal Election, 1901 1901 elections in Australia March 1901 Federal elections in Australia