The 2001 federal election was a watershed moment for Australian national security that has set a policy agenda for almost two decades.
Joh Bjelke-Petersen with his wife, Flo, on their wedding day in 1952. Bjelke-Petersen made an ill-fated bid for PM in 1987 that ripped the Coalition apart.
Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd/Wikimedia Commons
Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was Queensland’s longest-serving premier, but an inquiry into corruption brought his hopes of becoming the next prime minister of Australia to a sudden end.
Prime Minister Andrew Fisher meets farmers in Murgon, Queensland, in 1913.
Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 3057
In the early 20th century, voters in rural Australia began to organise politically for the first time – and proved crucial to the ousting of the reformist Labor government in 1913.
Anti-Vietnam War protesters march from the US Consulate to Hyde Park in Sydney in 1966.
State Library of New South Wales/Wikimedia Commons
Labor Leader Arthur Calwell tried to leverage public opposition to conscription to gain support during the 1966 election, calling it a “sinister word” for Australians. The tactic failed.
Coalition leader John Hewson had trouble selling his economic policy platform to the electorate.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA
All the polls suggested the Keating government would be finished at the 1993 election – until Opposition Leader John Hewson launched a 650-page policy document called “Fightback!”.
Arthur Caldwell almost defeated Robert Menzies in the 1961 federal election, dominated by debate over the economy and unemployment.
National Archives, National Library of Australia, Wikimedia
In 1960, Harold Holt, the then-treasurer, urged the government to abolish import restrictions, resulting in a minor recession. This nearly swung the election in the ALP’s favour.
Australian Prime Minister Stanley Bruce and Prime Minister-elect James Scullin hold a private meeting a day before Scullin takes office in 1929.
Wikimedia Commons
Only twice have Australian electors chosen to vote out a sitting prime minister. Both times, industrial relations was the key. What can we learn from that?
Paying for petrol in Brisbane in 1949 using what are likely petrol ration coupons.
State Library of Queensland
Historians attribute the Coalition’s election victory in 1949 to issues like bank nationalisation and the Communist Party. But the decisive issue was petrol rationing.