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1906 Australian federal election

Election for the 3rd Parliament of Australia

Field	Value
election_name	1906 Australian federal election
country	Australia
flag_year	1903
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1903 Australian federal election
previous_year	1903
next_election	1910 Australian federal election
next_year	1910
outgoing_members	Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1903–1906
elected_members	Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1906–1910
registered	2,109,562 11.41%
turnout	1,001,593 (47.48%)
(8.43 pp)
seats_for_election	All 75 seats in the House of Representatives
38 seats were needed for a majority in the House
18 (of the 36) seats in the Senate
election_date
image1	Image:ChrisWatsonSepia crop.jpg
image_size	190x190px
leader1	Chris Watson
leader_since1
party1	Labour
color1	DE3533
leaders_seat1	South Sydney (NSW)
swing1	6.86%
last_election1	22 seats
seats_needed1	16
seats1	26 seats
popular_vote1	348,712
percentage1	36.64%
seat_change1	4
image2	Image:George Reid crop.jpg
leader2	George Reid
leader_since2
party2	Anti-Socialist Party
leaders_seat2	East Sydney (NSW)
swing2	4.60%
last_election2	24 seats
seats_needed2	14
seats2	26 seats
popular_vote2	345,781
percentage2	36.33%
seat_change2	2
image4	Image:Portrait of Alfred Deakin seated at his desk (cropped).jpg
leader4	Alfred Deakin
leader_since4
party4	Protectionist Party
leaders_seat4	Ballaarat (Vic.)
swing4	12.84%
last_election4	26 seats
seats_needed4	12
seats4	16 seats
popular_vote4	155,991
percentage4	16.39%
seat_change4	10
image5	Image:JohnForrest1909.jpg
leader5	John Forrest
leader_since5
party5	Western Australian Party
colour5	01FFFF
leaders_seat5	Swan (WA)
swing5	2.33%
last_election5	New party
seats_needed5	38
seats5	2 seats
popular_vote5	22,154
percentage5	2.33%
seat_change5	2
map_image	1906 Australian federal election.svg
map_size	350px
map_caption	Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
title	Prime Minister
posttitle	Subsequent Prime Minister
before_election	Alfred Deakin
before_party	Protectionist Party
after_election	Alfred Deakin
after_party	Protectionist Party

(8.43 pp) 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 18 (of the 36) seats in the Senate

The 1906 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 12 December 1906. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Protectionist Party minority government led by Prime Minister Alfred Deakin retained government, despite winning the fewest House of Representatives votes and seats of the three parties. Parliamentary support was provided by the Labour Party led by Chris Watson, while the Anti-Socialist Party (renamed from the Free Trade Party), led by George Reid, remained in opposition.

Watson resigned as Labour leader in October 1907 and was replaced by Andrew Fisher. The Protectionist minority government fell in November 1908 to Labour, and a few days later Reid resigned as Anti-Socialist leader, being replaced by Joseph Cook. The Labour minority government fell in June 1909 to the newly formed Commonwealth Liberal Party led by Deakin; this Party was formed on a shared anti-Labour platform as a merger organised between Deakin, the leader of the Protectionists, and Cook, the leader of the Anti-Socialists, to counter Labour's growing popularity. The merger did not sit well with several of the more progressive Protectionists, who defected to Labour or sat as independents.

The merger would allow the Deakin Commonwealth Liberals to construct a mid-term parliamentary majority, however less than a year later, at the 1910 election, Labour won both majority government and a Senate majority, representing a number of firsts: it was Australia's first elected federal majority government, Australia's first elected Senate majority, the world's first Labour Party majority government at a national level, and after the 1904 Watson minority government, the world's second Labour Party government at a national level.

Results

House of Representatives

Western Australian: 1 seat}}

Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labour	348,712	36.64	+6.86	26
	Anti-Socialist	345,781	36.33	+4.60	26
	Protectionist	155,991	16.39	–12.84	16
	Western Australian	22,154	2.33	+2.33	2
	Independents/Other	79,051	8.31	−0.46	5
Total	951,689			75
	Protectionist/Labour	Win			42
	Anti-Socialist				26

Senate

Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Anti-Socialist	469,917	47.4	+15.6	12	17
	Labour	384,171	38.7	+5.7	5	15
	Protectionist	92,931	9.4	−6.7	1	3
	Independents/Other	44,871	4.5		0	1
Total	991,850			18	36

Significance

It was the third federal election in Australia following the adoption of the federal government. The election was largely important as it would demonstrate which of the parties (if any) could hold together a stable government after the unstable second term of the previous one, which saw four different governments in power. It would also see if all parties could survive the implementation of protectionist policies which differentiated the two. This was also the first election where all seats for the House of Representatives were voted for via a First-past-the-post system (at previous elections some states voted as one electorate, using a bloc vote), and the first time that Tasmania was divided into separate electorates. The election result was the continuation of a Protectionist government led by Deakin and supported by Labour, which remained in power largely due to the unwillingness of the Anti-Socialist Party to support a vote of no confidence against it.

George Reid adopted a strategy of trying to reorient the party system along Labour vs non-Labour lines – before the election, he renamed his Free Trade Party to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with the Protectionist Party in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in the Westminster tradition and regarded a two-party system as very much the norm.

Since the Protectionist primary platform of government tariffs had been dealt with by previous governments, the party had become somewhat redundant. Those who remained were largely supporting the Party's leader, Alfred Deakin, rather than its policies. Of the three, the Labour Party, led by Chris Watson, now had the most realistic chance of becoming the dominant party after their gains in the 1903 election and after their leading status in the four minor states they were looking to make the same type of gains in Victoria and New South Wales.

The first federal referendum in Australia's history was held in conjunction with the election. The proposed alteration to the Constitution, to change the start date of Senators' terms from 1 January to 1 July, passed in all states and was carried.

Seats changing hands

Seat	Swing	Post-1906	Party	Member	Margin	Margin	Member	Party
Balaclava, Vic		Protectionist	George Turner	100.0	41.8	4.0	Agar Wynne	Ind. Protectionist
Barker, SA		Protectionist	Langdon Bonython	100.0	58.1	8.1	John Livingston	Anti-Socialist
Batman, Vic	new division				1.7	Jabez Coon	Protectionist
Bendigo, Vic		Protectionist	John Quick	1.1	51.7	1.7	John Quick	Ind. Protectionist
Brisbane, Qld		Labour	Millice Culpin	2.1	13.4	11.3	Justin Foxton	Anti-Socialist
Capricornia, Qld		Labour	David Thomson	9.6	15.2	5.6	Edward Archer	Anti-Socialist
Cowper, NSW		Anti-Socialist	Henry Lee	13.0	13.9	0.9	John Thomson	Protectionist
Denison, Tas		Protectionist	Philip Fysh	0.2	15.1	10.5	Philip Fysh	Anti-Socialist
Fawkner, Vic	new division				13.9	George Fairbairn	Ind. Protectionist
Franklin, Tas		Revenue Tariff	William McWilliams	4.6	100.0	100.0	William McWilliams	Anti-Socialist
Fremantle, WA		Labour	William Carpenter	11.3	12.2	0.9	William Hedges	Western Australian
Indi, Vic		Protectionist	Isaac Isaacs	100.0	44.4	2.7	Joseph Brown	Anti-Socialist
Macquarie, NSW		Anti-Socialist	Sydney Smith	4.0	51.3	1.3	Ernest Carr	Labour
Maribyrnong, Vic	new division				6.9	Samuel Mauger	Protectionist
Melbourne Ports, Vic		Protectionist	Samuel Mauger	6.8	9.4	2.6	James Mathews	Labour
Moreton, Qld		Ind / Labour	James Wilkinson	5.8	18.3	12.5	Hugh Sinclair	Anti-Socialist
New England, NSW		Anti-Socialist	Edmund Lonsdale	1.9	51.8	1.8	Frank Foster	Labour
Oxley, Qld		Protectionist	Richard Edwards	2.3	14.3	16.6	Richard Edwards	Anti-Socialist
South Sydney, NSW		Anti-Socialist	George Edwards	6.0	12.4	6.4	Chris Watson	Labour
Wannon, Vic		Anti-Socialist	Arthur Robinson	2.9	5.7	2.8	John McDougall	Labour
Werriwa, NSW		Anti-Socialist	Alfred Conroy	18.7	20.5	1.8	David Hall	Labour
Wimmera, Vic		Protectionist	Pharez Phillips	0.1	14.6	14.2	Sydney Sampson	Ind. Protectionist

Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Post-election pendulum

Hindmarsh (SA)	James Hutchison	LAB	unopposed

Swan (WA)	John Forrest	WAP	16.2 vs LAB

Notes

References

"House of Representatives election 1906". The University of Western Australia.
(7 December 1906). "Federal elections". [[Evening Journal (Adelaide).
Carr, Adam. "1906 legislative election: House of Representatives, South Australia".
"Election of 12 December 1906 Senate: National summary". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive.
[https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2015/04/images/stories/policy-magazine/2009-autumn/25-1-09-charles-richardson.pdf Fusion: The Party System We Had To Have? - by Charles Richardson CIS 25 January 2009]
Carr, Adam. "1903 legislative election: House of Representatives, Queensland".

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