Firstly, apologies for such a long break in posts. This blog is far from over, but it turns out the semester just gone was far more time consuming than I had imagined. Either way, I should be able to get out a few more posts during the break.

So Australia has just conducted its 45th federal election, and it looks like there’s a chance we might end up with a minority government. I thought I’d turn the clock back and look at Australia’s first election, an election which, surprise surprise, also produced a minority government.

Although it’s logical if you think about it, Australia’s first federal election did not produce its first federal government. Who would have organised the election, otherwise? Instead, Australia’s first government was formed by its Prime Minister, who was in turn chosen by the Governor General. I say “chosen”; really the Governor General, John Adrian Louis Hope, Seventh Earl of Hopetoun, had his arm twisted by the total refusal of anyone to serve on the cabinet of his first choice for PM—William Lyne. The Governor General had selected Lyne on the basis that he was the Premier of NSW, the most senior colony, and had been knighted (always important).

The problem was that Lyne had been anti-Federation and most Australians thought this made him a poor choice for the first Prime Minister of said federation. Instead, everyone thought the job should go to the most famous federalist of the time, Edmund Barton. Lyne actually discussed this with Barton and promised him that he had spoken with the Seventh Earl of Hopetoun and was not a candidate for PM. The Governor General then promptly gave Lyne the Prime Ministership and Lyne set about trying to form government. So even 100 years ago “I don’t want to be PM” meant “I want to be PM.”

Nevertheless, while Lyne tried to tempt both Barton and Alfred Deakin, amongst others, into forming cabinet, all refused, and Lyne was forced to return his commission and advise the Governor General that Barton should be offered the position of Prime Minister. Although unknowingly, this effectively set the tone for the upcoming election, as it effectively became a vote of confidence in the incumbents.

This first government was a caretaker government, primarily concerned with the logistics of holding Australia’s first federal election. Apart from that, there was not a lot to do as Prime Minister of the newly formed nation. So little, that in the early days of Australia, Barton could carry around all of the government’s files in his briefcase. His position did have one important effect, however: the advantage of incumbency.

Although we cannot accuse Barton of using his position as PM for personal gain, he and his cabinet were not afraid to take advantage of their status to help their electoral chances. Principally, this was done by campaigning while going about ministerial business. Ministers would often arrive somewhere in the morning for business, and hold a campaign meeting in the afternoon, or vice versa. And that was before one considered the lavish functions put on for the new Prime Minister. For example, when Barton arrived in Brisbane, he was given a large formal reception by the Australian Natives Association (Indigenous Australians weren’t allowed to join, of course), followed by a banquet for 400 people.

Of course, these had to be 400 of the right people. Eligibility to vote in 1901 was state-based and therefore whether you could vote was largely determined by where you lived. South Australia and Western Australia, to their credit, had already extended women the vote in state elections, and therefore they were eligible to do so in the federal election. Barton campaigned on universal suffrage, and women in all states in Australia would be eligible to vote as of April the following year. This actually turned out to be a live issue Victoria, where legislation to extend the vote to women had recently been rejected. Alfred Deakin, future Prime Minister, was actually a big supporter of universal suffrage, saying that if not approved, Victoria would fall behind the other states. Interestingly, in NSW it didn’t appear to be such an issue. This could be in part because Rose Scott, the lead suffragist in NSW at the time, was an anti-Federalist and hardly referred to the 1901 election at all.

It must be acknowledged that when politicians at the time talked about “universal suffrage”, this didn’t include Indigenous Australians or other non-white races. Of course, on the state-by-state basis, the question was still muddied. Although Indigenous Australians didn’t formally get the vote until 1967, in 1901 they were treated as regular British subjects in all states except Western Australia and Queensland.

Of course, being a British citizen hardly guaranteed you the vote. The states’ restrictions on the franchise were diverse. While most states had removed property ownership restrictions for voting for the House of Representatives, many still had them for voting for the Senate. Equally, while Indigenous voters were explicitly excluded in WA and QLD, if they passed the property test, they could vote. In Queensland, you couldn’t vote if you were in the police, military or navy, or if you were receiving aid from a charitable institution. Victoria had excluded the illiterate from voting in 1857. And then excluded them again in 1865, with everyone apparently having forgotten the legislation passed eight years earlier.

But who was the opposition that Barton and his cabinet campaigned so hard against? George Reid effectively took on the role of opposition leader. Although a wealthy man, Reid was liked by workers for his self-depreciating humour. Famed for being massively obese, he was once asked what he would call his stomach. His response: “It’s all piss and wind. I’ll call it after you” (Tink, p. 4).

The major issue of the election was free-trade versus protectionism, with Reid lining up in the first corner and Barton in the second. At first, Barton tried a compromise position, but Reid had picked his battleground, and it was the issue the election was primarily fought on. This effectively split the states, with New South Wales possessing a firmly free-trade tradition, and Victoria a staunchly protectionist one. The other states stood in between, but with more protectionist leanings. It should be noted that these were not absolute positions, as Protectionists did not want to prohibit trade, and Free Traders still wished to raise revenues from tariffs. The question was more around how much protection was to be offered.

The last major contender in the election was Labor. Although they had aspired to have a federal party for the 1901 election, no agreement was reached, and so across the country, the election was treated as a state-based affair. Labor candidates actually had a free vote on the issue of protectionism, though because of its ties to manufacturing, the party had protectionist leanings. This ended up being the deciding factor for the 1901 elections.

Just like the most recent one, Australia’s first election was a surprisingly close affair. Barton’s Protectionists secured 31 seats, and Reid’s Free Traders 28; neither of which was enough to form government in the 75 seat House of Reps. Fourteen of the remaining 16 seats went to the various Labor parties. Those protectionist leanings ended up being crucial for Barton, as after negotiations Labor sided with the Protectionists as a block, delivering Barton the election. In this way, especially with the Free Traders gaining more seats than the Protectionists in the Senate, Australia’s first government was a minority one, delivered by Labor. This is a lesson that has stuck with the party ever since, determining their high esteem for, and willingness to compromise with the minor parties.

Election 2016: Tell him he’s dreaming: Bill Shorten refuses any deal with Greens

Labor leader Bill Shorten has ruled out forming a coalition government with the Greens, should the July 2 election produce a hung Parliament.

Academic Sources

Australian Politics and Elections Database, The University of Western Australia, Perth, accessed from: <http://elections.uwa.edu.au/>.

Carrol, B 2004, Australia’s Prime Ministers: From Barton to Howard, Rosenberg Publishing, Kenthurst, New South Wales.

Fleming, J & Weller, P 2001, “‘The ballot is the thing’: the labour parties” in Marian Simms (ed.) 1901 : the forgotten election, University of Queensland Press in association with the API Network and Curtin University of Technology, St Lucia, Queensland.

Jaensch, D & Manning, H 2001, “‘We want a white man’s continent’: the free trade and protection campaigns” in Marian Simms (ed.) 1901 : the forgotten election, University of Queensland Press in association with the API Network and Curtin University of Technology, St Lucia, Queensland.

Jupp, J 2001, “Ethnicity, race and sectarianism” in Marian Simms (ed.) 1901 : the forgotten election, University of Queensland Press in association with the API Network and Curtin University of Technology, St Lucia, Queensland.

Simms, M 2001, “Election days: overview of the 1901 election” in Marian Simms (ed.) 1901 : the forgotten election, University of Queensland Press in association with the API Network and Curtin University of Technology, St Lucia, Queensland.

Simms, M 2001, “Voting and enrolment provisions” in Marian Simms (ed.) 1901 : the forgotten election, University of Queensland Press in association with the API Network and Curtin University of Technology, St Lucia, Queensland.

Tink, A 2014, Australia 1901 – 2001: A narrative history, NewSouth Publishing, Sydney.