Australia: 11 July—Consolidating the Hawke Ascendancy

Abstract

ON 11 JULY 1987 THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY (ALP) WAS returned, with an increased majority, to an unprecedented third term in federal government. The election result was doubly remarkable. First, the ALP has traditionally been unable to gain more than two terms in office. Schisms and factional conflict have generally ruined Labor's chances of a third period in office, as in 1949, when Ben Chifley failed to gain a third term, and in 1975, when the same fate befell Gough Whitlam, following a constitutional crisis. Secondly, the party retained office during a period of economic crisis unprecedented in Australia's modern history, a crisis which might have been expected to sweep the opposition Liberal–National coalition to power.