AK's Australian Election Series - 1979 (Includes Referendum)

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Two weeks after the 1976 federal election, Australians had chosen a new national anthem, namely Waltzing Matilda, but their new government still wasn't quite determined, although pundits had been predicting a Liberal-National Country-Progress government, based on the three parties' united stance against Labor. On the final day of June, 1976, Gough Whitlam announced his retirement as Labor leader, and thus Prime Minister, effective as soon as the new government was formed. The following day, on the 1st of July, it was announced that the Liberal, National Country and Progress Parties had drawn up an agreement to form a government, with a majority of 10 over all other parties, almost three weeks after the election.

The agreement contained the following terms:

• The Progress Party would be entitled to four ministerial posts, namely the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, Employment and Industrial Relations, Productivity, and Post and Telecommunications.
• The National Country Party leader, namely Doug Anthony, would remain Deputy Prime Minister, despite the NCP winning fewer seats than the Progress Party. This was to ensure the stability between the Liberal and National Country Parties.
• Malcolm Fraser, leader of the Liberal Party, will serve as Prime Minister.
• The agreement will last until the next election, due in 1979, barring a double dissolution, in line with the 1974 amendment to the Constitution.
• No further expansion of the federal government will occur.
• A commitment to giving states back their traditional powers.
• A commitment to lowering taxes.
• A proposal to amend the Constitution of Australia to protect and enshrine freedom of speech and religion.
• A proposal to amend the Constitution of Australia to officially delegate powers not attributed to the federal government to the state governments, and by extension, local governments.
• These referenda would take place in conjunction with the next federal election.

Steele Hall and the Australia Party once again restated how they would not blindly rubber stamp the new government's agenda in the Senate, and that they would need to negotiate legislation with them to get it passed. The Australia Party would thus sit on the crossbenches in both chambers, along with the Communist Party, leaving Labor to form the Opposition. Meanwhile, Labor held a leadership ballot to replace Gough Whitlam, for their first new leader in 12 years. It came down to a battle between Jim Cairns, former Deputy PM, and Bill Hayden, former Treasurer. Hayden came out triumphant, as most Labor MPs did not want to elect a leader who had been tainted by the 1974/75 Loans Affair.

The Fraser Government's first Budget, in August of 1976, saw proposals to lower income taxes across the board significantly, re-grant the rights of tax raising to the states, in line with re-granting states their traditional powers, numerous cuts across the federal government, notably to the ABC,  a proposal to alter Medibank to allow the HIC (Health Insurance Commission) to enter the insurance business, a 20% paycut to all MPs and Senators, and a 10% paycut to all federal government employees. With four votes outside of the government coalition required for the budget to pass the Senate, negotiation with the Australia Party was required.

While the Australia Party agreed on the pay cuts for MPs, and were willing to accept the Medibank reforms, provided that the levy was neither raised nor expanded to lower-income Australians, they did not want to cut ABC funding to the extent the government did, and stated that the most they will cut from federal employees' salaries was 5%. After some negotiations, including income tax cuts not as deep as originally proposed (the top rate went down to 45%, as opposed to the 30% proposal), federal employees' salaries were cut by 7%, and the budget was passed after a few weeks, in September of 1976.

The government also upheld its commitment to allowing refugees from Vietnam to settle in Australia, and many thousands would come to Australia over the remainder of the decade. Tens of thousands of Asian migrants would also settle in Australia during this period, a trend which had increased over the 1970s, since the White Australia Policy was abolished at the start of the decade. By the end of 1976, Australia's inflation rate had started to come down, to 12%, although the unemployment rate had increased since the end of 1975 to 6.5%. The government stated that the effects of the 1970s oil crisis were still lingering, and to give their reforms a chance in improving the economy, and thus the country.

1977, the first full year of the Liberal-NCP-Progress Government, started with two tragedies - the first being the Connellan air disaster, in with an ex-employee of Connellan Airways took six lives with him, when he stole a plane and hit the Connellan building in Alice Springs. The second occurred a mere five days later, on the 10th of January, saw the murder of two inner Melbourne women, which would remain unsolved, although was later linked to an earlier murder in North Melbourne from 1975. Politically, early 1977 saw the creation of a special TV licence - namely for a proposed TV channel catering for Australia's growing ethnic minority population, although its funding model was not quite decided - ranging from  the Communist and Labor parties' desire of being 100% government funded, while at the other end of the spectrum, the Progress Party wanted it to be a private network like the other commercial channels.

The most notable political decision in 1977 was not by the federal government, but by the Queensland state government led by Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who banned street marches and demonstrations on the 4th of September. Bjelke-Petersen, who had won three elections as Queensland Premier for the National Country Party, was inspired to implement the ban from a march by university students the preceding year, which attracted more than a thousand protesters, and was stopped by the police. This was followed by a raid by the police on a northern Queensland hippie commune, in which the commune was destroyed on the suspicion marijuana was inside. Bjelke-Petersen stated "The days of street marches are over, don't even bother applying for a permit!" on the evening news, on the 4th of September. This did not affect the state election held late in 1977, the Bjelke-Petersen government was returned for a fourth time, amid the Queensland Liberals at both levels, and a significant number of the national NCP representatives, gritting their teeth,

After more negotiations, the proposed TV channel that would cater primarily for Australia's ethnic minority channel, was officially named the Special Broadcasting Service, and while it would be funded like the commercial channels, there would be some government guidance, primarily regarding content. It would broadcast on both VHF Channel 0 and UHF Channel 28, as virtually no Australians had UHF aerials at this time, with plans to switch to a UHF-only service by 1985. SBS was set to take the airwaves by no later than 1980. Meanwhile, in Tasmania, the Tasman Bridge was finally re-opened, almost three years after it was damaged in the disaster which saw Hobart very much divided. By the end of 1977, inflation was down to 8%, while unemployment fell slightly to 6%, although had fluctuated throughout the year in the 6-7% range.

1978, like 1977 before it, also started off relatively grim - Australia's first terrorist attack occurred on the 13th of February, when a bomb outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney killed three people and injured another 11, during the inaugural CHOGRM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting), a spinoff of the biennial CHOGM meetings. PM Fraser immediately called the army in for the rest of the meeting, and the instigators of the bombing were never found. Not long afterwards, Don Chipp, a Liberal MP from southeastern Melbourne, defected to the Australia Party, citing the government as becoming too extreme. This brought the government's majority down to 8. Not long afterwards, Liberal MP Peter Richardson from southern Perth defected to the Progress Party, which was already strong in Western Australia.

On the subject of CHOGM, 1977's CHOGM meeting in Scotland saw PM Fraser, like Whitlam before him, condemn apartheid South Africa, and other nations with a minority rule government, particularly Rhodesia. Back to 178, Cyclone Alby struck southwestern Western Australia on the 4th of April, killing five people and causing significant damage to the region. The 1978 budget would see the abolition of federal estate tax, or as some called it, death duties, lowering of tax on companies, along with some more federal tightening, particularly the restriction of Medibank to those earning under $30,000 a year, although this was amended to $35,000 in the Senate. Inflation was down to 7%, and unemployment was down to 5.5%, although this was still higher than it was at the end of 1975.

Before the end of 1978, commercial whaling came to an end in Australia, when the last whale caught by Cheynes Beach Whaling Company in Albany, Western Australia, was caught on the 20th of November, bringing an end to the last whaling company in the Southern Hemisphere. This was not the act of any government legislation, federal or state, rather local environmental lobbying in Western Australia, and the company had been struggling for the previous decade, courtesy of dwindling stocks and an increase in fuel costs. It was later converted into a museum about Albany's history of whaling, and a starting point for whale watching tours.

1979, prior to the impeding election due in the first half of the year, proved to be fairly uneventful, with the exception of Communist leader Ted Hill announcing his retirement post-election. Hill had stated "Clearly Communism in Australia needs a new direction, and thus a new leader". Hill also cited the party's declining fortunes as a reason for his retirement. Longtime Premier of South Australia, Labor's Don Dunstan, announced his retirement on the 15th of February, citing ill health. He was replaced by his deputy, Des Corcoran, who was quite similar to the old DLP in terms of political positions.

Party platforms in the next post.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

House of Representatives at dissolution:
Labor – 38 (nc)
Liberal – 33 (-2)
Progress – 19 (+1)
Australia Party – 18 (+1)
National Country – 15 (nc)
Communist – 3 (nc)

An election and three referendum questions have been called for the 19th of May, 1979.

Party platforms at this election:

Liberal Party – Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and the Liberal Party are campaigning on their success in reining in inflation, the lower trend in unemployment, the tax reforms undertaken by the government, and their successes in foreign and immigration policies. Looking towards the 1980s, the Liberals are campaigning on continuing on the same course as the past three years, with more economic liberalisations planned, re-organisation of Commonwealth police forces, particularly in the wake of the Hilton bombing the preceding year, and the continuation of a federalist approach in the federal-state balance. The Liberals' 1979 slogan is "Getting Australia Back On Track".

National Country Party – Doug Anthony and the National Country Party have faced some of their largest challenges in the party's history, namely the emergence of the Progress Party, particularly in WA and the NT. The NCP's economic platform has now become decidedly centrist, in order to maintain a true identity from the Progress Party, and the traditional NCP social conservatism remains part of their platform. In a move distancing themselves from the Bjelke-Petersen government, Anthony has stated "there will be no federal attacks on free speech". The NCP's 1979 slogan is "The True Rural Australian Voice".

Progress Party – John Singleton and the Progress Party are running on their success in lowering tax rates, slashing inflation, and setting the scene for more individual freedoms, although Singleton has stated there is much more to be done. Singleton is calling for simplification of the tax code, including lower income tax rates, although not a flat rate, and a value added tax. The Progress Party's slogan for 1979 is "Vote For Freedom, Vote Progress".

Labor Party – Opposition Leader Bill Hayden and Labor are running on a platform slightly to the right of Whitlam's, although still remains very centre-left and centralist. Hayden is calling for  a return to the more centralist method of governing, and are once again reiterating the achievements of the Whitlam era, along with matching the Liberals' commitment to Commonwealth police force reorganisation. Labor's campaign slogan for 1979 is "Setting The Right Course For The 1980s".

Australia Party – Steele Hall and the Australia Party are running on their record of keeping the government on track, as Hall put it, "ensuring Australia didn't go off the deep end", and remaining a moderate voice of reason against both the incumbent government and Labor alike. "Leave The Extremes" is the Australia Party's 1979 slogan.

Communist Party – Ted Hill, who has announced this will be his last election as Communist leader, and the Communists are once again pitching themselves as the hard-left alternative to the Labor Party, who want to abolish the state and local governments. The Communist slogan for 1979 is "Unite As One".

Referendum question A:

“Do you support the proposed amendment to the Constitution of Australia that would enshrine freedom of speech and religion for all Australians?”

Referendum question B:

"Do you support the proposed amendment to the Constitution of Australia that would give state and local governments responsibility for matters not covered by the Commonwealth Government?"

Referendum question C:

"Do you support the proposal to alter the Constitution as to mandate a retirement age for federal judges?"

Voting is open for three days as usual.

Me: I'm getting on the Progress train! And YES to all the referenda questions.

[RogueBeaver]

Liberal and YES on all 3 referendum questions.

[ElectionsGuy]

Progress, Yes to all three referendums.

[Goldwater]

Progress, Yes to all three referendums.

[Cassius]

National Country, No, Yes and No.

[Knives]

You should have made Cairns leader, a truly great Aussie.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

You should have made Cairns leader, a truly great Aussie.

I considered making Cairns leader when I did the write-up, maybe I should have, who knows.

On another note, look how badly both the Liberals and Labor are polling!

[Cranberry]

Labor, as usual

YES, NO, YES

[TNF]

Communist - Yes, No, Yes

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Does Referendum One count out the obvious caveats (i.e. vulnerable to a "Citizens United but in Australia"). If not, then No. (and then No, and Yes)

[H. Ross Peron]

Labor, as usual

YES, NO, YES

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Does Referendum One count out the obvious caveats (i.e. vulnerable to a "Citizens United but in Australia"). If not, then No. (and then No, and Yes)

'

Referendum One is very much based on the American First Amendment, if that helps.

[PPT Spiral]

Progress, Yes on all referendums

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Bumping, with a reminder that voting closes tomorrow at 9.30am AWST, or in just over 24 and a half hours.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Final bump, with 12 hours left to vote.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Voting is now closed, thank you all for your participation.