Australian federal election, 1972

Australian federal election, 1972

1969 ← 2 December 1972 → 1974

All 125 seats of the Australian House of Representatives 63 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Gough Whitlam William McMahon Party Labor Liberal/Country coalition Leader since 8 February 1967 10 March 1971 Leader's seat Werriwa Lowe Last election 59 seats 66 seats Seats won 67 seats 58 seats Seat change 8 8 Percentage 52.70% 47.30% Swing 2.50 2.50

Prime Minister before election William McMahon Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Gough Whitlam Labor

William McMahon
Liberal/Country coalition

Gough Whitlam
Labor

Federal elections for the House of Representatives were held in Australia on 2 December 1972, and were won by the Australian Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Labor won 67 of the 125 seats contested and defeated the Liberal Party led by Prime Minister William McMahon and Coalition partner the Country Party led by Doug Anthony. The elections ended 23 years of successive Coalition governments which held power since 1949.

See Australian Senate election, 1970 for Senate composition.

An election for a Queensland Senator was held to replace Liberal Senator Annabelle Rankin who resigned in 1971.Neville Bonner, who was appointed to fill the casual vacancy by the Queensland Parliament, won the Senate position. The election was held at the time of the House of Representatives elections as per Section 15 of the Constitution.

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