1949 Australian federal election

1949 Australian federal election
← outgoing members elected members →
All 123 seats of the House of Representatives; 61 seats were needed for a majority in the House ; 42 (of the 60) seats of the Senate
	Opinion polls
Registered	4,895,227 3.28%
Turnout	4,697,800 (95.97%); (2.00 pp)
	Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election; Ben Chifley; Labor	Subsequent Prime Minister ; Robert Menzies; Liberal/Country coalition

The 1949 Australian federal elections was held on Saturday, 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 in a landslide. 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 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.

Future Prime Ministers William McMahon and John Gorton both entered parliament at this 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.

Robert Menzies broke new ground in using the radio as his primary method of reaching voters.^[1]

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. 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.

Opinion polling

Primary vote^[b]

Results

House of Representatives

Labor: 47 seats

Liberal Party: 55 seats

Country: 19 seats

House of Reps (IRV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 1.99%
Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal–Country coalition		2,314,143	50.26	+6.61	74	+45
		Liberal	1,813,794	39.39	+6.44	55	+37
		Country	500,349	10.87	+0.17	19	+8
	Labor		2,117,088	45.98	–3.73	48^[c]	+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	1^[d]	–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

Popular vote

Labor			45.98%
Liberal			39.39%
Country			10.87%
Independent			2.16%
Communist			0.89%
Lang Labor			0.71%

Two-party-preferred vote

Coalition			51.00%
Labor			49.00%

Parliament seats

Coalition			60.16%
Labor			39.84%

Senate

Senate (STV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 10.76%
		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

Seat	Pre-1949				Swing	Post-1949
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	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	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

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, and the Liberal Party of Australia won government federally for the first time.

Notes

^ The 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.
^ Most of the gallup polls were adjusted to proportion the polls based around the two major party groups (Liberal/Country, Labor). Furthermore, the Country Party was not polled as an individual option but as a part of the Liberal/Country Coalition.
^ Including Northern Territory
^ Including Australian Capital Territory

References

^ 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

"Commonwealth Parliament, House of Representatives election 1949". University of Western Australia Australian Politics and Elections Database. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890
AEC 2PP vote
Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore, the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.
Two-party-preferred vote since 1940

[1] The 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.

[3] Most of the gallup polls were adjusted to proportion the polls based around the two major party groups (Liberal/Country, Labor). Furthermore, the Country Party was not polled as an individual option but as a part of the Liberal/Country Coalition.

[4] Including Northern Territory

[5] Including Australian Capital Territory

[2] 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

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