1961 Australian federal election

none April 2024 January 2021 1961 Australian federal election Australia parliamentary no 1958 Australian federal election 1958 1963 Australian federal election 1963 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1958–1961 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1961–1963 5,651,561 4.96% 5,384,350 (95.27%)(0.21 pp) All 124The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory each had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation. seats of the House of Representatives 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 31 (of the 60) seats of the Senate 9 December 1961 File:Robert Menzies 1960 colour (cropped).jpg 190x190px Robert Menzies 23 September 1943 Liberal Party of Australia LiberalCountry Kooyong (Vic.) 77 seats 62 15 2,208,213 42.09% 4.46 49.50% 4.60 File:Arthur Calwell 1966.jpg Arthur Calwell 7 March 1960 Australian Labor Party Melbourne (Vic.) 45 seats 60 + NT + ACT 15 2,512,929 47.90% 5.09 50.50% 4.60 TPP TPP swing 1961 Australian federal election.svg 350px Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory. Prime Minister Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Primary A federal election was held in Australia on 9 December 1961. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives and 31 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party under Arthur Calwell, despite losing the two-party-preferred popular vote. In his first election as Labor leader, Calwell significantly reduced the Coalition's margin, gaining 15 seats to leave the government with only a two-seat majority. This was the first and only time that a Federal Government won a sixth consecutive term in office. Future opposition leader and Governor General Bill Hayden entered parliament at this election. Issues Due to a credit squeeze, the economy had gone into a brief recession in 1961 and unemployment had risen to high levels. This saw an increase in popularity for Labor; Menzies' case was not helped by an approach seen by the press, notably The Sydney Morning Herald, as inappropriately paternalistic.August 2018 The Herald, which had long supported Menzies, switched sides to support Calwell and Labor, which gave Calwell the confidence to mount a spirited campaign.James Franklin James Franklin (philosopher) Gerry O Nolan Arthur Calwell 2023 https://www.connorcourtpublishing.com.au/Arthur-Calwell-Australian-Biographical-Monographs-20--James-Franklin-Gerry-O-Nolan_p_568.html Connor Court 9781922815811 71–72 These factors were enough to see a swing against the Menzies Government. Results House of Representatives Results of the 1961 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) + House of Reps (IRV) — 1961–63—Turnout 95.27% (CV) — Informal 2.57% alt=|center|300x300px Party First preference votes % Swing Seats Change   Labor 2,512,929 47.90 +5.09 62Including Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory +15   Liberal–Country coalition 2,208,213 42.09 –4.46 62 –15   Liberal100px 1,761,738 33.58 –3.65 45 –13   Country100px 446,475 8.51 –0.81 17 –2   Democratic Labor 399,475 7.61 –0.19 0 0   Queensland Labor 57,487 1.10 –0.50 0 0   Communist 25,429 0.48 –0.05 0 0   Commonwealth Centre 6,743 0.13 +0.13 0 0   Independents 35,757 0.68 +0.05 0 0   Total 5,246,033     122 Two-party-preferred (estimated)   Liberal–Country coalition Win 49.50 –4.60 62 –15   Labor 50.50 +4.60 60 +15 First preference vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 47.90 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 33.58 DLP/QLP #008080 8.71 Country National Party of Australia 8.51 Other #777777 1.29 Two-party-preferred vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 50.50 Coalition Coalition (Australia) 49.50 Parliament seats var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Coalition Coalition (Australia) 50.82 Labor Australian Labor Party 49.18 Senate + Senate (STV) — 1961–64—Turnout 95.27% (CV) — Informal 10.62%alt=|center|300x300px Party First preference votes % Swing Seats won Seats held Change   Labor 2,151,339 44.71 +1.93 14 28 +2   Liberal–Country coalition 2,025,078 42.08 –3.12 16 30 –2   Liberal–Country joint ticket 1,595,696 33.16 +9.79 8 * *   Liberal (separate ticket) 398,292 8.28 –12.41 7 24 –1   Country (separate ticket) 31,090 0.65 –0.50 1 6 –1   Democratic Labor 388,466 8.07 +2.25 0 1 –1   Queensland Labor 84,112 1.75 +0.09 0 0 0   Communist 78,188 1.62 –1.29 0 0 0   Social Credit 17,963 0.37 +0.37 0 0 0   Republican 10,589 0.22 +0.14 0 0 0   Other 10,029 0.21 +0.21 0 0 0   Independent 46,499 0.97 +0.54 1 1 +1   Total 4,812,263     31 60 Notes In New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, the coalition parties ran a joint ticket. Of the eight senators elected on a joint ticket, five were members of the Liberal Party and three were members of the Country Party. In Western Australia, the coalition parties ran on separate tickets. In South Australia and Tasmania, only the Liberal Party ran a ticket. The sole independent elected was Reg Turnbull of Tasmania. "Other" includes 7,430 votes for "Pensioners" and 2,599 votes for the Commonwealth Centre Party. Seats changing hands Seat Pre-1961 Swing Post-1961 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Bowman, Qld  Liberal Malcolm McColm 6.1 8.0 1.9 Jack Comber Labor  Canning, WA  Country Len Hamilton N/A 65.7 15.7 Neil McNeill Liberal  Capricornia, Qld  Liberal Henry Pearce 7.7 10.7 5.0 George Gray Labor  Cowper, NSW  Country Earle Page 11.1 12.9 1.8 Frank McGuren Labor  Evans, NSW  Liberal Frederick Osborne 7.0 7.1 0.1 James Monaghan Labor  Griffith, Qld  Liberal Arthur Chresby 0.1 7.4 7.3 Wilfred Coutts Labor  Herbert, Qld  Liberal John Murray 1.5 3.8 2.3 Ted Harding Labor  Hume, NSW  Country Charles Anderson 2.1 3.0 0.9 Arthur Fuller Labor  Kalgoorlie, WA  Liberal Peter Browne 0.3 0.9 0.6 Fred Collard Labor  Lilley, Qld  Liberal Bruce Wight 11.9 13.2 1.3 Don Cameron Labor  Mitchell, NSW  Liberal Roy Wheeler 8.0 11.4 3.4 John Armitage Labor  Moore, WA  Liberal Hugh Halbert 2.9 4.2 1.3 Hugh Leslie Country  Oxley, Qld  Liberal Donald Cameron 5.9 9.4 3.5 Bill Hayden Labor  Petrie, Qld  Liberal Alan Hulme 10.5 11.2 0.7 Reginald O'Brien Labor  Phillip, NSW  Liberal William Aston 1.9 3.3 1.4 Syd Einfeld Labor  Stirling, WA  Liberal Doug Cash 0.2 0.5 0.3 Harry Webb Labor  Wide Bay, Qld  Country Henry Bandidt 4.3 9.5 5.2 Brendan Hansen Labor  Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. Significance For a long time, the 1961 election remained the closest Federal election in Australian history, with the Coalition being reduced to the barest majority. Despite not having a majority of seats in New South Wales and Queensland the Coalition retained all of their seats in Victoria and could retain power.Megalogenis George 2021-06-25 Hard lessons: On unis, Coalition has embraced Howard's way https://www.smh.com.au/national/hard-lessons-on-unis-coalition-has-embraced-howard-s-way-20210622-p583a9.html 2021-06-27 The Sydney Morning Herald en The election was decided in the seats of Bruce near Melbourne and Moreton near Brisbane where the Liberal Party won the seat by 130 votes due to Communist Party preferences. In Bruce, Labor's Keith Ewert led Liberal Billy Snedden on the first count, but on the second count more than two-thirds of the DLP's preferences flowed to Snedden, enough to give him the victory.1961 election results in Victoria from Adam Carr's election archive However, the Coalition was not ensured of a sixth term in government until Jim Killen won Moreton by only 130 votes.http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=1286 Sir James Killen: Moreton, Menzies and Mythology 15 May 2007 Bartlett Andrew Andrew Bartlett 17 January 2007 The Bartlett Diaries https://web.archive.org/web/20070505050640/http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=1286 5 May 2007 live Labor actually won 62 seats, the same as the Coalition. However, without Bruce, the best Labor could hope for was a hung parliament, since two of its seats were in ACT and Northern Territory. At the time, territorial MPs had limited voting rights and were not counted for the purpose of determining who was to form government. The record for the closest election in Australia's history was eventually beaten by the 2010 election, which was a 72-72 seat draw. The most notable casualty was Earle Page, the third-longest serving MP in Australia's history, and briefly Prime Minister. He had been the member for Cowper since 1919. Although he was 81 years old and gravely ill with lung cancer, he decided to fight his 17th general election. His Labor opponent, Frank McGuren, needed a seemingly daunting 11-point swing to win the seat, but won by a slim three-point margin on the second count. Page, who had been too sick to actively campaign, died 11 days after the election without ever knowing he had been defeated. It is the only time that Labor has won Cowper. See also Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1961 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1961–1963 Members of the Australian Senate, 1962–1965 Notes References 30em External links University of WA https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ 18 January 2015 election results in Australia since 1890 AEC 2PP vote Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1961 Category:Federal elections in Australia Category:1961 elections in Australia Category:December 1961 in Australia