Australian federal election, 1949

Australian federal election, 1949
Australia
10 December 1949

All 121 seats of the Australian House of Representatives
61 seats were needed for a majority in the House
42 (of the 60) seats of the Australian Senate
  First party Second party
 
Leader Robert Menzies Ben Chifley
Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor
Leader since 23 September 1943 13 July 1945
Leader's seat Kooyong Macquarie
Last election 26 seats 43 seats
Seats won 74 seats 47 seats
Seat change Increase48 Increase4
Percentage 51.00% 49.00%

Prime Minister before election

Ben Chifley
Labor

Elected Prime Minister

Robert Menzies
Liberal/Country coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Ben Chifley was defeated by the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by Arthur Fadden. Menzies broke new ground in using the radio as his primary method of reaching voters.[1]

The number of MPs in both houses had been increased at the election, and single transferable vote under a proportional voting system had been introduced in the Senate. Though Labor lost government, Labor retained a Senate majority at the election. However, this ended at the 1951 election. With the Senate changes in place, Labor has not held a Senate majority since.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 1.99%
  Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Australian Labor Party 2,117,088 45.98 3.73 47 +4
  Liberal Party of Australia 1,813,794 39.39 +10.81 55 +40
  Country Party 500,349 10.87 +0.17 19 +8
  Lang Labor 32,870 0.71 0.88 0 0
  Independents 99,368 2.16 +0.33 0 1
  Other 40,941 0.89 0 4
  Total 4,604,410     121 +47
  Liberal/Country coalition WIN 51.00 +5.10 74 +48
  Australian Labor Party 49.00 −5.10 47 +4
Popular Vote
Labor
 
45.98%
Liberal
 
39.39%
Country
 
10.87%
Lang Labor
 
0.71%
Independent
 
2.16%
Other
 
0.89%
Two Party Preferred Vote
Coalition
 
51.00%
Labor
 
49.00%
Parliament Seats
Coalition
 
61.16%
Labor
 
38.84%
Senate (STV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 10.76%
  Party Votes % Swing Seats Won Seats Held Change
  Australian Labor Party 1,881,956 44.89 7.18 19 34 +1
  Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket) 1,871,849 44.65 +6.53 16 *
  Liberal Party of Australia 241,598 5.76 +0.56 7 21 +19
  Communist Party of Australia 87,958 2.10 * 0 0 0
  Country Party * * * 0 5 +4
  Other 109,164 2.60 0 0 0
  Total 4,192,525     42 60 +24

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1949 Swing Post-1949
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Australian Capital Territory, ACT new division 3.8 Lewis Nott Independent  
Ballaarat, Vic   Labor Reg Pollard 3.1 3.1 0.4 Alan Pittard Liberal  
Bass, Tas   Labor Claude Barnard 7.0 6.8 0.6 Bruce Kekwick Liberal  
Blaxland, NSW   Lang Labor notional - new seat N/A 53.4 3.4 Jim Harrison Labor  
Bowman, Qld   Labor notional - new seat N/A 1.4 3.8 Malcolm McColm Liberal  
Corio, Vic   Labor John Dedman 7.2 6.7 0.3 Hubert Opperman Liberal  
Curtin, WA   Labor notional - new seat N/A 13.8 11.2 Paul Hasluck Liberal  
Darling Downs, Qld   Country Arthur Fadden N/A 1.9 12.5 Reginald Swartz Liberal  
Dawson, Qld   Labor notional - new seat N/A 9.8 8.6 Charles Davidson Country  
Denison, Tas   Labor John Gaha 7.0 10.9 5.1 Athol Townley Liberal  
Farrer, NSW   Country notional - new seat N/A 58.8 8.8 David Fairbairn Liberal  
Forrest, WA   Labor Nelson Lemmon 2.3 4.4 2.8 Gordon Freeth Liberal  
Gwydir, NSW   Labor William Scully 1.2 9.2 5.1 Thomas Treloar Country  
Hume, NSW   Labor Arthur Fuller 4.2 5.9 1.0 Charles Anderson Country  
Indi, Vic   Country John McEwen N/A 59.7 9.7 William Bostock Liberal  
Kingston, SA   Labor notional - new seat N/A 8.4 1.6 Jim Handby Liberal  
Lawson, NSW   Labor notional - new seat N/A 7.6 5.8 Laurie Failes Country  
Leichhardt, Qld   Labor notional - new seat N/A 9.2 1.7 Tom Gilmore Country  
Lowe, NSW   Labor notional - new seat N/A 9.0 8.5 William McMahon Liberal  
McMillan, Vic   Country notional - new seat N/A 6.1 6.9 Geoffrey Brown Liberal  
McPherson, Qld   Liberal notional - new seat N/A 5.1 24.2 Arthur Fadden Country  
Mitchell, NSW   Labor notional - new seat N/A 12.8 6.9 Roy Wheeler Liberal  
Northern Territory, NT   Independent Adair Blain N/A 8.6 2.7 Jock Nelson Labor  
Paterson, NSW   Labor notional - new seat N/A 8.6 8.5 Allen Fairhall Liberal  
Riverina, NSW   Labor Joe Langtry 0.6 3.8 3.5 Hugh Roberton Country  
Robertson, NSW   Labor Thomas Williams 3.8 11.5 4.2 Roger Dean Liberal  
St George, NSW   Labor notional - new seat N/A 16.2 2.0 Bill Graham Liberal  
Sturt, SA   Labor notional - new seat N/A 8.9 2.8 Keith Wilson Liberal  
Swan, WA   Labor notional N/A 10.2 2.4 Bill Grayden Liberal  
Wannon, Vic   Labor Don McLeod 1.2 3.8 0.8 Dan Mackinnon Liberal  
Wimmera, Vic   Country Winton Turnbull N/A 5.6 14.9 William Lawrence Liberal  

Electoral reform

As of this election, single transferrable vote with proportional representation became the method for electing the Senate. This was to try to prevent the Senate from being dominated by one party, which had often occurred previously. For example, coming into this election the ALP held 33 of the 36 Senate seats, whilst the conservatives at the 1919 election held 35 of the 36 Senate seats. In addition, the House of Representatives was enlarged from 74 to 121 seats and the Senate from 36 members to 60 members. All 121 lower house seats, and 42 of the 60 upper house seats, were up for election.

Issues

The election hinged on the policies of the Federal Labor Government, especially bank nationalisation. Prime Minister Chifley intended to bring all of the banks under Government control, a socialist policy which the Coalition argued was not in the country's interest. The Coalition promised to end unpopular wartime rationing. The election took place against the background of the 1949 Australian coal strike, the developing Cold War and growing fears of communism.

Significance

The Chifley Government was defeated, ending the longest period of Labor Federal Government in Australian history up to that date (1941–49). Labor would not return to office until 1972. Robert Menzies became Prime Minister for the second time, and the Liberal Party of Australia won government federally for the first time.

See also

Notes

  1. Ian Ward, "The early use of radio for political communication in Australia and Canada: John Henry Austral, Mr Sage and the Man from Mars," Australian Journal of Politics & History (1999) 45#3 pp 311–30. online

Sources

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