The 1949 Australian 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
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
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
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
under a
proportional voting
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
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
Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, ...
and
John Gorton both entered parliament at this election.
Issues
The election hinged on the policies of the Federal Labor Government, especially bank
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
. 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
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
and growing fears of communism.
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
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Electoral reform
As of this election, single transferable vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
with proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
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
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from 36 to 60 members. All 121 lower house seats, and 42 of the 60 upper house seats, were up for election.
Opinion polling
Results
House of Representatives
Senate
Seats changing hands
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
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
* 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
*
University of WA
election results in Australia since 1890
*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.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Federal Election, 1949
Federal elections in Australia
1949 elections in Australia
December 1949 events in Australia