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Chris Watson, first federal Labour Party leader as of two months after the election, and would later be Prime Minister in 1904. The parties contesting the election were the Protectionist Party, led by Prime Minister of Australia Edmund Barton, and the Free Trade Party, unofficially led by former New South Wales Premier George Reid.
The current federal government structure was established in 1901 by the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1901. The first three national elections resulted in minority governments. The world’s first ever Labor Party Prime Minister took office in Australia in 1904, though Labor governed in minority.
Of the 65 federal electoral divisions first contested at the 1901 election, 33 are still in existence without ever being abolished.These are referred to as Federation Divisions, with the Australian Electoral Commission's redistribution guidelines stating that "Every effort should be made to retain the names of original federation divisions".
To date, the election is the most decisive result at any Australian state or federal election since Federation, in terms of both percentage of lower house seats controlled by the governing party (89.8%) and two-party preferred margin. [35] [36] Map displaying Labor's landslide victory at the 2021 Western Australian state election.
This article provides a timeline of elections in Australia, including all the colonial, state, territorial and federal elections. The information starts from when each state or territory held its first election, and continues through to the present day.
Federal and state electoral rolls are closed for new enrolments or update of details before each election. For federal elections, they are closed 7 days after the issue of writs for election. [5] [6] The closing dates vary for state and territory elections. Historically, most new applications and updates are received after an election is called ...
The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 (Cth) was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which set out who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections.The Act established, in time for the 1903 Australian federal election, suffrage for federal elections for those who were British subjects over 21 years of age who had lived in Australia for six months.
At the first federal election there were 65 members of the House of Representatives. In 1949, the number was increased from 74 to 121 (excluding the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory), [ 11 ] and in 1984 it was increased from 125 to 148. [ 12 ]