1951 Australian federal election

Australian federal election, 1951

28 April 1951
All 121 seats of the Australian House of Representatives 61 seats were needed for a majority in the House All 60 seats of the Australian Senate
First party Second party   Leader Robert Menzies Ben Chifley Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor Leader since 23 September 1943 13 July 1945 Leader's seat Kooyong Macquarie Last election 74 seats 47 seats Seats won 69 seats 52 seats Seat change 5 5 Percentage 50.70% 49.30% Swing 0.30 0.30
Prime Minister before election Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 April 1951. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution called after the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Bank Bill. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by Arthur Fadden defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Ben Chifley.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1951–54—Turnout 96.00% (CV) — Informal 1.90%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change	Notes
	Australian Labor Party	2,174,840	47.63	+1.65	52	+5	(2 elected unopposed)
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,854,799	40.62	+1.23	52	−3	(1 elected unopposed)
	Country Party	443,713	9.72	−1.15	17	−2
	Independents	46,788	1.02	−1.13	0	0
	Other	45,759	1.00		0	0
	Total	4,565,899			121
	Liberal/Country coalition	WIN	50.70	−0.30	69	−5
	Australian Labor Party		49.30	+0.30	52	+5

Popular Vote Labor   47.63% Liberal   40.62% Country   9.72% Independent   1.02% Other   1.00%

Two Party Preferred Vote Coalition   50.70% Labor   49.30%

Parliament Seats Coalition   57.02% Labor   42.98%

Senate (STV) — 1951–53—Turnout 95.99% (CV) — Informal 7.13%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held	Change
	Australian Labor Party	2,029,751	45.88	+0.99	28	28	−6
	Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket)	1,925,631	43.52	−1.12	*	*
	Liberal Party of Australia	273,056	6.17	+0.41	26	26	+5
	Communist Party of Australia	93,561	2.11	+0.02	0	0	0
	Country Party	*	*	*	6	6	+1
	Other	102,238	2.31		0	0	0
	Total	4,424,237			60	60

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1951				Swing	Post-1951
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Australian Capital Territory, ACT		Independent	Lewis Nott	3.8	6.7	2.9	Jim Fraser	Labor
Ballaarat, Vic		Liberal	Alan Pittard	0.4	1.6	1.2	Bob Joshua	Labor
Hume, NSW		Country	Charles Anderson	1.0	1.3	0.3	Arthur Fuller	Labor
Kingston, SA		Liberal	Jim Handby	1.6	3.4	1.8	Patrick Galvin	Labor
Leichhardt, Qld		Country	Tom Gilmore	1.0	1.3	0.3	Harry Bruce	Labor
Wannon, Vic		Liberal	Dan Mackinnon	0.8	1.9	1.1	Don McLeod	Labor

History

Although the Coalition had won a comfortable majority in the House in 1949, Labor still had a four-seat majority in the Senate. Chifley thus made it his business to obstruct Menzies' agenda at every opportunity. Realizing this, Menzies sought to call a double dissolution at the first opportunity in hopes of gaining control of both houses. He thought he had his chance in 1950, when he introduced a bill to ban the Australian Communist Party. However, after a redraft, Chifley let the bill pass.

A few months later, the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Banking Bill, finally giving Menzies an excuse to call a double dissolution. While the Coalition lost five House seats to Labor, it still had a solid mandate. More importantly, it picked up six Senate seats, giving it control over both chambers.

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1951
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1951-1954
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1951–1953

References

• University of WA 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.