1954 Australian federal election

1954 Australian federal election

29 May 1954
All 121 seats of the House of Representatives 61 seats were needed for a majority
Registered	5,094,115 2.3%
Turnout	4,502,736 (88.4%) (1.4 pp)
First party Second party   200x200px Leader Robert Menzies H. V. Evatt Party Liberal (Coalition) Labor Leader since 21 February 1945 13 June 1951 Leader's seat Kooyong (Vic.) Barton (NSW) Last election 69 seats 52 seats Seats won 64 seats 57 seats Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 2,117,669 2,256,164 Percentage 47.03% 50.10% Swing 1.40% 1.40%
300px Popular vote by state with graphs indicating the number of seats won. Seat totals are not determined by popular vote by state but instead via results in each electorate.
Prime Minister before election Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition

The 1954 Australian federal election were held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, but no Senate election took place. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt, despite losing the two-party preferred vote. Although the ALP won the two-party preferred vote, six Coalition seats were uncontested compared to one ALP seat. The Psephos blog makes clear that if all seats had been contested, the Coalition would have recorded a higher primary vote than the ALP and possibly also a higher two-party preferred vote.

This was the first federal election that future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam contested as a member of parliament, having entered parliament at the 1952 Werriwa by-election.

Though they did not win government, this election was the last time that the Labor party would achieve more than 50% of the primary vote. the only other time this happened was in 1914.

Issues

The election was complicated by the Petrov Affair, in which Vladimir Petrov, an attache to the Soviet embassy in Canberra, defected amidst a storm of publicity, claiming that there were Soviet spy rings within Australia. Given that the 1951 election had been fought over the issue of banning the Communist Party of Australia altogether, it is unsurprising that such a claim would gain credibility.

Results

See also: Results of the Australian federal election, 1954 (House of Representatives)

File:Australian Federal Election, 1954.svg

  Labor: 57 seats

  Liberal: 47 seats

  Country: 17 seats

300x300px

House of Reps (IRV) — 1954–55—Turnout 96.09% (CV) — Informal 1.35%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		2,266,979	50.07	+2.44	57	+5
	Liberal–Country coalition		2,153,970	47.57	–2.77	64	–5
		Liberal	1,765,799	39.00	–1.62	47	–5
		Country	388,171	8.57	–1.15	17	0
	Communist		56,675	1.25	+0.27	0	0
	Independents		50,027	1.11	+0.06	0	0
	Total		4,527,651			121
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Liberal–Country coalition		Win	49.30	−1.40	64	−5
	Labor			50.70	+1.40	57	+5

---

Notes

• Seven members were elected unopposed – three Liberal, three Country, and one Labor.
• See 1953 Australian Senate election for Senate composition.

Popular vote
Labor			50.07%
Liberal			39.00%
Country			8.52%
Communist			1.25%
Independent			1.10%

Two-party-preferred vote
Labor			50.70%
Coalition			49.30%

Parliament seats
Coalition			52.89%
Labor			47.11%

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1954				Swing	Post-1954
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Bass, Tas		Liberal	Bruce Kekwick	3.4	4.4	1.0	Lance Barnard	Labor
Flinders, Vic		Labor	Keith Ewert	5.1	4.3	1.6	Robert Lindsay	Liberal
Griffith, Qld		Liberal	Doug Berry	3.7	4.1	0.4	Wilfred Coutts	Labor
St George, NSW		Liberal	Bill Graham	1.6	4.3	2.7	Nelson Lemmon	Labor
Sturt, SA		Liberal	Keith Wilson	2.4	5.4	3.0	Norman Makin	Labor
Swan, WA		Liberal	Bill Grayden	3.3	4.9	1.6	Harry Webb	Labor

Aftermath

The 20th session of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. This was the first time a reigning monarch had opened a session of parliament in Australia. The Queen wore her Coronation Dress to open the 20th session of parliament. The success of the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia (the first by a reigning sovereign), the recovery of the economy from a brief recession in 1951-52 and the Petrov Affair were all credited with assisting in the return of the government.

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1954
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1954–1955

References

• 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.