Federal elections were held in Australia on 25 October 1969. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Gorton with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen (who had also served as Prime Minister for three weeks after Harold Holt's disappearance) defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Even though the ALP lost,...
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Federal elections were held in Australia on 25 October 1969. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Gorton with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen (who had also served as Prime Minister for three weeks after Harold Holt's disappearance) defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Even though the ALP lost, the election was seen as a good result for the party as it made significant gains against the Coalition.
The 1969 election centred heavily on the two leaders, John Gorton and Gough Whitlam. Both were leading their respective parties in an election for the first time. Gorton had initially been very popular, and was publicly promoted as an "average Aussie bloke". This image was boosted by his record of wartime service and his craggy battered profile (the result of a wartime injury). However, he gradually gained a reputation for being erratic...
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