1968 and the Fight for Democracy in Australia:Don Dunstan, Student Activism, and the End of theSouth Australian “Playmander”

Abstract

The historiographical debate about the significance of 1968 — the year of transnational political protests and strikes — for Australia has centred on the questions of how derivative and imitative protests in Australia were, and whether 1968 was a singular year here in the longer period of activism. This article presents a fresh angle on the debate by looking at the vital role of students in turning the Dunstan Labor government’s electoral loss (in terms of seats, despite winning 54 per cent of the vote) in South Australia into a constitutional struggle. The state’s gerrymander (or egregious electorate malapportionment), and questions of electoral reform and democracy in Australia, were specific, local issues, distinct from issues that sparked student protests from Paris to Chicago. When Don Dunstan refused to step aside after the election on 2 March 1968 for six weeks, he created a space for political debate and protests. Blue-collar unions and other concerned citizens were important participants, but arguably it was students who grabbed the most media attention with their noisy demonstrations. The article contends that the transnational protest moment added to Australian students’ radicalisation by the National Service scheme, and that students’ role in Dunstan’s campaign for electoral reform proved a decisive factor.