Conducting the first federal election

Seventy-five members of the House of Representatives, and thirty-six senators, were chosen by Australian voters at the first election for the federal parliament. Elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives were held together, on 29 March 1901 in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, and on 30 March 1901 in Queensland and South Australia.

The Constitution provided that the Senate should be composed of six senators for each state, directly chosen by the people of that state voting as one electorate. There should be, as nearly as practicable, twice as many members of the House of Representatives as senators, and they should be elected directly by the people of the Commonwealth.

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Queensland electoral divisions, 1901 John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

The Constitution contained provisions covering the conduct of elections for the Parliament of 1901. Until such time as the Parliament could make laws on the method of its election each state would conduct the election of its first federal representatives according to the method used in elections for its ‘more numerous house of parliament’ (in each case, the lower house). This meant that the method of election and eligibility to vote varied between the states.

In order to elect the first members of the House of Representatives, the parliaments of New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland passed legislation dividing their states into single member electorates. In the absence of such legislation, Tasmania and South Australia each became one electorate. These two states were not divided into electoral divisions until 1903.

The population of Australia in March 1901 was about three and three-quarter million people. There were 976,511 people enrolled to vote. Of these, 587, 045 voted in the first federal election.

Representation of the states in the first House of Representatives

In establishing federal electoral divisions, the states attempted to divide themselves into areas of roughly equal population.

1. The number to be chosen to represent each state in the House of Representatives was arrived at as follows:The population of Australia (3 765 339) was divided by 72 (twice the number of senators). The result, 52 296, represented an approximate number of people to be represented by each member, or a quota.
   
   

   
   
   
2. The number of full quotas in each state was calculated. For example, the population of Queensland was 493 847. When this was divided by 52 296, the result was 9.4. Therefore Queensland was entitled to 9 seats in the first House of Representatives.
   
   

   
   

Tasmania and Western Australia had population for less than 5 quotas, but each had 5 seats in the first House of Representatives, as the Constitution stated that no state could have less than five members.

In 1901,  a member of the House of Representatives represented, on average, about  50 000 people (compared to an average of about 130 000 in 2001).

Who could stand for election?

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An election scene in Tumut, NSW National Library of Australia

Qualifications for members of Parliament were the same for both houses. To be eligible to stand for election, a person was required to be at least 21 years of age, qualified to vote at House of Representatives elections, resident for at least three years in the Commonwealth, and a British subject.

Voting systems

The voting system used in the first election for the House of Representatives for New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia was first-past-the-post. Voters placed a cross against their chosen candidate, and the candidate with the most crosses won the election.

All states except Tasmania used a similar system in voting for the Senate. Electors selected six candidates from a single ballot paper, by striking out those for whom they did not wish to vote; the votes were totalled and those with the most votes declared elected. South Australia also used this system in voting for the House of Representatives.

Queensland used a system of contingent or preferential voting for the House of Representatives. In Tasmania, voting for both houses was conducted by the Hare-Clark system, which required electors to vote for as many candidates as there were seats in order of their preference.

One hundred and twenty seven candidates stood for the Senate, and 187 for the House of Representatives. Some House of Representatives seats had one candidate only, who thus won without a vote being taken. Others had up to nine candidates, including several who claimed to be from the same political party. Fifty candidates stood for the Senate in the state of New South Wales.