Australian federal election, 1954
Encyclopedia
Federal elections were held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives
were up for election, no Senate
election took place. 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 Herbert Evatt.
See Australian Senate election, 1953
for Senate composition.
) and was led by Menzies for 16 years through successive re-elections with the traditional coalition
in place with the National Party of Australia
(since 1922 as the Country Party). Labor stayed out of government for 23 years after the defeat of the Chifley
Government in 1949, largely due to the split of the Democratic Labor Party
from Labor – three times the party won the two-party-preferred vote
(the 1954, 1961 and 1969 elections) but not enough seats to form government. The 1954 election is also noteworthy for the fact that the Opposition ALP gained more than 50% of the primary vote (due to several uncontested seats) but was still unable to win government.
The election was complicated by the Petrov Affair
, in which Vladimir Petrov
, an attache to the USSR 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.
Evatt took the extraordinary step of publicly assuring Parliament, just prior to the calling of the election, that he had written to Vyacheslav Molotov
, the Soviet Foreign Affairs Commissar, regarding Petrov's allegations, and that Molotov had assured him that there were no Soviet spy rings within Australia. Menzies was able to use this very effectively in the ensuing election campaign, and Evatt (and the ALP) were defeated, although they made up ground on the ruling Liberal/Country Party coalition.
The defeat, as well as Evatt's many tactical mistakes, directly led to the great ALP/DLP split of 1955, and ensured that the Liberal/Country Party coalition would retain power for the next 17 years.
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
were up for election, no Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
election took place. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
led by Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
with coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
partner the Country Party led by Arthur Fadden
Arthur Fadden
Sir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG was an Australian politician and, briefly, the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.-Introduction:...
defeated the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
led by Herbert Evatt.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
| Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
2,280,098 | 50.03 | +2.40 | 57 | +5 | (1 elected unopposed) |
|
| Liberal Party of Australia Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office... |
1,745,808 | 38.31 | −2.31 | 47 | −5 | (3 elected unopposed) |
|
| Country Party | 388,171 | 8.52 | −1.20 | 17 | 0 | (3 elected unopposed) |
|
| Other | 143,211 | 3.14 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 4,557,288 | 121 | |||||
| Liberal/Country coalition Coalition (Australia) The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922... |
WIN | 49.30 | −1.40 | 64 | −5 | ||
| Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
50.70 | +1.40 | 57 | +5 |
See Australian Senate election, 1953
Australian Senate election, 1953
Half-senate elections were held in Australia on 9 May 1953.-See also:*Candidates of the Australian Senate election, 1953*Members of the Australian Senate, 1953–1956-References:* election results in Australia since 1890...
for Senate composition.
Seats changing hands
| Seat | Pre-1954 | Swing | Post-1954 | ||||||
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
| Bass, Tas Division of Bass The Division of Bass is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and is named for the explorer George Bass. It has always been based on the city of Launceston and surrounding rural areas, and its boundaries have changed very little in the century since its... |
Liberal | Bruce Kekwick Bruce Kekwick Bruce Huntley Kekwick was an Australian politician. Born in South Australia, he was educated at state schools in Adelaide before becoming a company director. Having moved to Tasmania, he was an insurance executive before serving in the military from 1942-1945... |
3.4 | 4.4 | 1.0 | Lance Barnard Lance Barnard Lance Herbert Barnard AO , Australian politician, was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia for most of the Labor government of Gough Whitlam.... |
Labor | ||
| Flinders, Vic Division of Flinders The Division of Flinders is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election... |
Labor | Keith Ewert Keith Ewert Keith Walter Wilson Ewert was an Australian politician. Educated at Melbourne High School and the University of Melbourne, he was an accountant before entering politics... |
5.1 | 4.3 | 1.6 | Robert Lindsay Robert Lindsay (Australian politician) Robert William Ludovic Lindsay was an English-born Australian politician. Born in Norwich, England, he was educated at Eton College and then the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served in the military from 1925-37 and 1939-52... |
Liberal | ||
| Griffith, Qld Division of Griffith The Division of Griffith is anAustralian Electoral Division in Queensland.The division was created in 1934, when the old seat of Oxley was abolished, and is named for Sir Samuel Griffith, 9th Premier of Queensland and principal author of the Australian Constitution... |
Liberal | Douglas Berry Douglas Berry Douglas Reginald Berry was an Australian politician. Born in Esk, Queensland, he was educated at state schools and at Ipswich Technical College. He became a butcher, and eventually owned a chain of butcher's shops. In 1949, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal... |
3.7 | 4.1 | 0.4 | Wilfred Coutts Wilfred Coutts Wilfred Charles Coutts was an Australian politician. Born in Marburg, Queensland, he was educated at state schools before becoming a salesman. He was active in local politics as a member of Brisbane City Council. In 1954, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor... |
Labor | ||
| St George, NSW Division of St George The Division of St George was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, and covered the suburbs of Hurstville, Rockdale and Arncliffe.... |
Liberal | Bill Graham Bill Graham (Australian politician) Bruce William "Bill" Graham, OBE was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he was educated at Sydney Grammar School before becoming an announcer on the ABC. He served in the military from 1939 to 1948 and was a company director before entering politics in 1949 as the Liberal member for St... |
1.6 | 4.3 | 2.7 | Nelson Lemmon Nelson Lemmon Nelson Lemmon was an Australian politician and government minister. He was responsible for establishing the Snowy Mountains Scheme.... |
Labor | ||
| Sturt, SA Division of Sturt The Division of Sturt is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia.First proclaimed for the 1949 election, Sturt was named for Captain Charles Sturt, nineteenth century explorer and the first European to discover the Murray River... |
Liberal | Keith Wilson | 2.4 | 5.4 | 3.0 | Norman Makin Norman Makin Norman John Oswald Makin AO , Australian politician, was a Cabinet minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives and diplomat.-Early life:... |
Labor | ||
| Swan, WA Division of Swan The Division of Swan is an Australian Electoral Division located in Western Australia. The division is named after the Swan River.For several decades, it has been a marginal seat, extending along the Swan and Canning Rivers from the affluent suburbs in the City of South Perth to the west, which... |
Liberal | Bill Grayden Bill Grayden William Leonard "Bill" Grayden AM was an Australian politician. Born in Perth, Western Australia, he was educated at state schools and then at Perth Technical College, becoming a mechanical engineer. He served in the military from 1940-1946... |
3.3 | 4.9 | 1.6 | Harry Webb Harry Webb (Australian politician) Charles Harry Webb was an Australian politician. Born in England, he migrated to Australia in 1913 and was educated at state schools, after which he became a locomotive engineman... |
Labor | ||
History
In 1949, Sir Robert Menzies founded the Liberal Party of Australia (descended from the United Australia PartyUnited Australia Party
The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
) and was led by Menzies for 16 years through successive re-elections with the traditional coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
in place with the National Party of Australia
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
(since 1922 as the Country Party). Labor stayed out of government for 23 years after the defeat of the Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
Government in 1949, largely due to the split of the Democratic Labor Party
Democratic Labor Party (historical)
The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...
from Labor – three times the party won the two-party-preferred vote
Two-party-preferred vote
In politics, the two-party-preferred vote , or two-candidate-preferred vote , in an election or opinion poll uses preferential voting to express the electoral result after the distribution of preferences...
(the 1954, 1961 and 1969 elections) but not enough seats to form government. The 1954 election is also noteworthy for the fact that the Opposition ALP gained more than 50% of the primary vote (due to several uncontested seats) but was still unable to win government.
The election was complicated by the Petrov Affair
Petrov Affair
The Petrov Affair was a dramatic Cold War spy incident in Australia in April 1954, concerning Vladimir Petrov, Third Secretary of the Soviet embassy in Canberra.- History :...
, in which Vladimir Petrov
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov (diplomat)
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Petrov was a member of the Soviet Union's clandestine services who became famous in 1954 for his defection to Australia.-Early life:...
, an attache to the USSR 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.
Evatt took the extraordinary step of publicly assuring Parliament, just prior to the calling of the election, that he had written to Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
, the Soviet Foreign Affairs Commissar, regarding Petrov's allegations, and that Molotov had assured him that there were no Soviet spy rings within Australia. Menzies was able to use this very effectively in the ensuing election campaign, and Evatt (and the ALP) were defeated, although they made up ground on the ruling Liberal/Country Party coalition.
The defeat, as well as Evatt's many tactical mistakes, directly led to the great ALP/DLP split of 1955, and ensured that the Liberal/Country Party coalition would retain power for the next 17 years.
See also
- Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1954Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1954This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1954 Australian federal election. The election was held on 29 May 1954. There was no election for the Senate.-By-elections and appointments:...
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1954–1955Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1954–1955This is a list of the members of the Australian House of Representatives in the 21st Australian Parliament, which was elected at the 1954 election on 29 May 1954...