The 1958 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
and 32 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, led by
H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...
.
Issues
In spite of a
major global downturn in early 1958, the Coalition was returned to power and there was an even swing against the Labor Party. This was due largely to support for the breakaway
Democratic Labor Party. This was the first Australian election campaign to be fought using television as a medium for communicating with voters. Menzies was interviewed on television, while opposition figures
H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...
and
Arthur Calwell
Arthur Augustus Calwell (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party to three federal elections.
Calwell grew up in Melbourne and attended St J ...
took part in debates with ministers
Harold Holt and
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, ...
. Somewhat surprisingly Menzies emerged as a confident and effective television performer. This may have contributed to the better than expected result for the government.
Results
House of Representatives
Senate
;Notes
* The Democratic Labor Party was the renamed "Anti-Communist Labor Party" from the 1955 election.
* "Other" includes 4,459 votes for "Loyalist" candidates, 4,337 for "True Democrat" candidates, and 3,715 for "Republican" candidates.
Seats changing hands
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
See also
*
Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1958
*
Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1958–1961
This is a list of members of the Australian House of Representatives from 1958 to 1961, as elected at the 1958 federal election.
: At this time, the members for the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory could only vote on mat ...
*
Members of the Australian Senate, 1959–1962
References
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, 1958
Federal elections in Australia
1958 elections in Australia
November 1958 events in Australia