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House of Representatives                                Ch 13                                                 p 460

The 1974 double dissolution

On 2 December 1972 there was a general election and the Whitlam ALP Government was elected with a majority in the House of Representatives, but in the Senate the Government held only 26 of the 60 seats. During the course of the 28th Parliament six bills were considered by the Government to have fulfilled the constitutional requirements to be treated as double dissolution bills. ¹ The catalyst for the 1974 double dissolution, however, was not so much the defeat in the Senate of government legislation but the Senate’s threat to prevent passage of Appropriation Bills (Nos 3 and 5) 1973-74.

On 21 March 1974 Prime Minister Whitlam announced in the House that the Government had decided to invite the Governor-General to communicate with the State Governors proposing that the next election for half the Senate should be held on 18 May 1974. ²

On 2 April 1974 Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 1973-74 was introduced into the House of Representatives. ³ On 10 April the bill was passed by the House and sent to the Senate. ⁴ On 4 April Prime Minister Whitlam had informed the House that if the Senate rejected any ‘money’ bill he would advise the Governor-General to dissolve both Houses. ⁵ Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 1973-74 was introduced into the Senate on 10 April and debate on the second reading adjourned. A motion was then moved ‘That the resumption of the debate be an order of the day for a later hour of the day’, to which the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Withers) moved an amendment to add the following words to the motion:

. . . but not before the Government agrees to submit itself to the judgment of the people at the same time as the forthcoming Senate election . . .

The debate was interrupted to enable the Leader of the Government in the Senate (Senator Murphy) to announce that Prime Minister Whitlam had advised the Governor-General to grant a simultaneous dissolution of both Houses and that the Governor-General had agreed to do so on the condition that the necessary provisions were made for carrying on the Public Service. Senator Withers thereupon withdrew his amendment and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) was passed by the Senate, ⁶ together with Appropriation Bills (Nos 3 and 5) 1973-74 and Supply Bills (Nos 1 and 2) 1974-75 received from the House that day.

In his advice to the Governor-General, Mr Whitlam listed the progress on the six bills which he considered satisfied the requirements of section 57 of the Constitution. He also gave other examples of what he regarded as the Senate’s obstruction of the government program, stating that 21 out of the 254 bills put before Parliament in the first session had been rejected, stood aside or deferred by the Senate. ⁷ Mr Whitlam provided the Governor-General with a joint opinion from the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General which concluded that section 57 was applicable to more than one proposed law. ⁸ An opinion from the Attorney-General that the six bills had satisfied the requirements of section 57 accompanied the Prime Minister’s advice to the Governor-General. ⁹

In his letter to the Prime Minister, accepting his advice, the Governor-General stated:

As it is clear to me that grounds for granting a double dissolution are provided by the Parliamentary history of the six Bills listed above, it is not necessary for me to reach any judgment on the wider case you have presented that the policies of the Government have been obstructed by the Senate. It seems to me that this is a matter for judgment by the electors. ¹⁰

On 11 April 1974 the Governor-General, on the advice of the Government, issued a proclamation referring to the provisions of section 57, citing the six bills which satisfied its provisions and dissolving the Senate and the House of Representatives. ¹¹ The elections were held on 18 May 1974 and the Whitlam Government was returned with a majority of five seats in the House. In the Senate, the election resulted in the Government holding 29 seats, the Liberal-Country Party coalition also holding 29, the Liberal Movement one, and one seat being held by an independent Senator.

The new Parliament met on 9 July 1974 and on 10 July the six double dissolution bills were introduced into the House and declared urgen t bills. ¹² The Commonwealth Electoral Bill (No. 2), the Senate (Representation of Territories) Bill and the Representation Bill were passed by the House that day. ¹³ The Health Insurance Commission Bill, the Health Insurance Bill and the Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill were passed by the House on 11 July. ¹⁴ All six bills were negatived by the Senate at the second reading between 16 July and 24 July 1974. ¹⁵

The Government considered that these six bills had then fulfilled the constitutional requirements to be submitted to a joint sitting of the Houses (for a description of further proceedings and developments see p. 473).

For details of general Senate opposition to government activity and other political developments see Odgers , 6th edn, pp. 43 ff.

VP 1974/65.

VP 1974/77.

VP 1974/102-3.

H.R. Deb. (4.4.74) 1054.

J 1974/109-14.

Simultaneous dissolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives, 11 April 1974 , PP 257 (1975) 4.

PP 257 (1975) 30-1.

PP 257 (1975) 32.

PP 257 (1975) 38.

Gazette 31B (11.4.74).

VP 1974-75/17-18.

VP 1974-75/22-4.

VP 1974-75/26-8.

See Appendix 22 of first edition.