Full List Of Senators 1971-1974

This is the full list of senators who served between July 1, 1971 and May 18, 1974.

Half of these senators were chosen in 1967 and the other half in 1970. This occurred because the early 1963 federal election had broken the link between House and Senate elections. Separate half-Senate elections were held in 1964, 1967 and 1970.

When the Whitlam government was elected in December 1972, it faced a Senate that Whitlam claimed was not “contemporary”.

With 22 Liberal members and 5 from the Country Party, the Coalition commanded 27 of the 60 Senate seats. The support of the DLP’s 5 senators ensured an anti-government majority. During 1973 and 1974, the upper house became the most obstructive in the nation’s history.

A double dissolution of the parliament took place in April 1974. The election of May 18 removed the DLP senators but the Senate was evenly split between the government and the opposition.

There are just six of the 61 senators who served in this period still living, 9.83% of the total. They include two Liberals, two Country Party, one ALP and one independent.

The oldest former member is the Country Party’s James Webster. He is 96.

Only one former Labor senator, Doug McClelland, is still living. A former President of the Senate, he is now 95.

The most recent deaths were John Carrick and Don Jessop in May 2018.

• House of Representatives Members 1972-74
• The Whitlam Era (1972-75) – Full List of Living Ex-MPs