1949 Australian federal election

none April 2024 May 2020 1949 Australian federal election Australia parliamentary no 1946 Australian federal election 1946 1951 Australian federal election 1951 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1946–1949 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1949–1951 #Opinion polling 4,895,227 3.28% 4,697,800 (95.97%)(2.00 pp) All 123The 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 61 seats were needed for a majority in the House 42 (of the 60) seats of the Senate 10 December 1949 Image:Portrait Menzies 1950s.jpg 190x190px Robert Menzies 21 February 1945 Liberal Party of Australia LiberalCountry Kooyong (Vic.) 26 seats 74 48 2,314,143 50.26% 6.61 51.00% 5.10 Image:Benchifley.jpg Ben Chifley 13 July 1945 Australian Labor Party Macquarie (NSW) 43 seats 47 + NT 4 2,117,088 45.98% 3.73 49.00% 5.10 TPP TPP swing 1949 Australian federal election.svg 350px Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory. Prime Minister Ben Chifley Australian Labor Party Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Menzies Liberal–Country Coalition Primary A federal election was 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 Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley, was defeated by the opposition Liberal–Country coalition under Robert Menzies. Menzies became prime minister for a second time, his first period having ended in 1941. This election marked the end of the 8-year Curtin-Chifley Labor government that had been in power since 1941 and started the 23-year Liberal–Country Coalition government. This was the first time the Liberal party won government at the federal level. 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 for the election of the Senate. Though Labor lost government in the House of Representatives, Labor retained a Senate majority after the election, due to the use of PR and also the carry-over from the previous election. However, this majority ended at the 1951 election. With the Senate changes in place, neither Labor nor any other single party has won a Senate majority since. Future Prime Ministers John Gorton and William McMahon both entered parliament at this election, for the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively. 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.March 2026 Robert Menzies broke new ground in using the radio as his primary method of reaching voters.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 Electoral reform As of this election, single transferable 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 Nationalist Party at the 1919 election held 35 of the 36 Senate seats. As well, PR was brought in to prevent mass loss of seats as the Labor Party leaders saw their chances plummet as the election approached.Jesse Clark, PRINCIPLES, SELF-INTEREST, AND CONSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE: WHY AUSTRALIA ADOPTED PRCV FOR ITS SENATE https://fairvote.org/report/why-australia-adopted-prcv/?section=executive-summary accessed 2026-08-13 (After 1951, the second election after the change to STV, no party has received a majority of seats in the Senate. An established coalition did win a majority of seats in 2004.) In addition, the House of Representatives was enlarged from 74 to 121 seats and the Senate from 36 to 60 members. All 121 lower house seats, and 42 of the 60 upper house seats, were up for election in 1949. Opinion polling Primary voteMost of the gallup polls were adjusted to proportion the polls based around the two major party groups (Liberal–Country Coalition, Labor). Furthermore, the Country Party was not polled as an individual option but as a part of the Liberal–Country Coalition. 1949 Australian Federal Election Opinion Polling.chart 1949 Australian Federal Election Opinion Polling.tab 615px Results House of Representatives Results of the 1949 Australian federal election (House of Representatives) thumb|#F00011 Labor: 47 seats #00008B Liberal Party: 55 seats #008000 Country: 19 seats + House of Reps (IRV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 1.99%alt=|center|300x300px Party First preference votes % Swing Seats Change   Liberal–Country coalition 2,314,143 50.26 +6.61 74 +45   Liberal100px 1,813,794 39.39 +6.44 55 +37   Country100px 500,349 10.87 +0.17 19 +8   Labor 2,117,088 45.98 –3.73 48Including Northern Territory +4   Communist 40,941 0.89 –0.60 0 0   Labor (Non-Communist) 32,870 0.71 –0.88 0 –1   Independents 99,368 2.16 +0.34 1Including Australian Capital Territory –1   Total 4,604,410     123 +48 Two-party-preferred (estimated)   Liberal–Country coalition Win 51.00 +5.10 74 +45   Labor 49.00 −5.10 47 +4 First preference vote var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 45.98 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 39.39 Country National Party of Australia 10.87 Independent Independent (politician) 2.16 Communist #AA0000 0.89 Lang Labor #E2725B 0.71 Two-party-preferred vote (estimated) var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Coalition Coalition (Australia) 51.00 Labor Australian Labor Party 49.00 Parliament seats var(--background-color-interactive) 600px 410px Coalition Coalition (Australia) 60.16 Labor Australian Labor Party 39.84 Senate + Senate (STV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 10.76%alt=|center|300x300px Party First preference votes % Swing Seats won Seats held Change   Liberal–Country coalition 2,113,447 50.41 +7.08 23 26 +23   Liberal–Country joint ticket 1,871,849 44.65 +6.53 16 N/A N/A   Liberal 241,598 5.76 +0.55 7 21 +19   Country N/A N/A N/A 0 5 +4   Labor 1,881,956 44.89 –7.17 19 34 +1   Communist 87,958 2.10 +2.10 0 0 0   Protestant People's 37,441 0.89 –2.13 0 0 0   Independents / ungrouped 71,723 1.71 +1.03 0 0 0   Total 4,192,525     42 60 +24 Seats changing hands March 2026 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 Eli 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 Frank 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  Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. Significance In this election, the Chifley government was defeated, ending the, then, 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. (Menzies headed the United Australia party the first time he held the office.) The 1949 election was the first time the Liberal Party of Australia won government federally, and marked the beginning of a long reign in power, stretching from 1949 until 1972. See also Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1949 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1949–1951 Members of the Australian Senate, 1950–1951 Notes References Sources http://elections.uwa.edu.au/elecdetail.lasso?keyvalue=704 Commonwealth Parliament, House of Representatives election 1949 University of Western Australia Australian Politics and Elections Database 13 October 2010 University of WA https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ 18 January 2015 election results in Australia since 1890 Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1949 AEC 2PP vote Two-party-preferred vote since 1940 1949 federal federal election