Australian federal election, 1946 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 September 1946. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives

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....

, and 19 of the 36 seats in the 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,...

were up for election. The incumbent 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 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...

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...

defeated the newly formed opposition 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...

(descended from the United Australia Party

United 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...

) led by its founder 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:...

. Frank Forde

Frank Forde

Francis Michael Forde PC was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. He was the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, being in office for only eight days.-Early life:...

also served as Prime Minister during July 1945.

House of Reps (IRV
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

) — 1946–49—Turnout 93.97% (CV
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...

) — Informal 2.45%
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...	2,159,953	49.71	−0.22	43	-6
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...	1,241,650	28.58	+12.53	15	+3
Country Party	464,737	10.70	+3.73	11	+4
Liberal & Country League Liberal and Country League The Liberal and Country League was a major political party in South Australia throughout its forty year existence. Thirty-four years were spent in government, in part due to the electoral malapportionment known as the Playmander, introduced after coming to power.Created on 9 June 1932 as the... (SA)	161,170	3.71	*	2	+2
Lang Labor Lang Labor Lang Labor was the name commonly used to describe three successive break-away sections of the Australian Labor Party, all led by the New South Wales Labor leader Jack Lang premier of NSW .-Initial opposition to Lang's leadership:...	69,138	1.59	+0.87	1	+1
Liberal Country Party (VIC)	28,999	0.67	-2.87	1	0
Independents	79,452	1.83	−10.33	1	0
Other	139,645	3.21		0	−4
Total				74
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...	WIN			43	−6
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...				26	+7

Independent: Doris Blackburn

Doris Blackburn

Doris Amelia Blackburn was an Australian activist and Member of Parliament.She was born Doris Amelia Hordern in Melbourne, Victoria, and became involved in women's rights and peace issues from a young age and served as the campaign secretary of Vida Goldstein, the first woman to stand for election...

Senate (P
Preferential voting
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on...

BV
Preferential block voting
Preferential block voting is a majoritarian voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember constituency. Unlike the single transferable vote, preferential block voting is not a method for obtaining proportional representation, and instead produces similar results to...

) — 1946–49—Turnout 93.97% (CV
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...

) — Informal 8.01%
Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held
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...	2,133,272	52.06	−3.02	16	33
Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket)	1,561,718	38.12	+12.47	3
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...	213,304	5.21	*	0	2
Country Party	*	*	−0.96	0	1
Other	189,032	4.61		0	0
Total	4,097,326			19	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1946				Swing	Post-1946
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	Margin	Member	Party
Bourke, Vic Division of Bourke The Division of Bourke was an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It was abolished in 1949. It was named for Sir Richard Bourke, who was Governor of New South Wales at the time...		Labor	Bill Bryson Bill Bryson (Australian politician) William George "Bill" Bryson was an Australian politician for the Australian Labor Party from 1943 to 1946 and 1949 to 1955 and helped establish the Democratic Labor Party....	3.6	4.7	1.1	Doris Blackburn Doris Blackburn Doris Amelia Blackburn was an Australian activist and Member of Parliament.She was born Doris Amelia Hordern in Melbourne, Victoria, and became involved in women's rights and peace issues from a young age and served as the campaign secretary of Vida Goldstein, the first woman to stand for election...	Independent
Calare, NSW Division of Calare The Division of Calare is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was first contested at the 1906 election and is named for the local Aboriginal name for the Lachlan River, which runs through the western part of the division...		Labor	John Breen John Breen (Australian politician) John Patrick Breen was an Australian politician. Born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, he attended Catholic schools and then the University of Sydney. He became a publican and organiser of the Australian Workers' Union before being elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 1940...	9.9	11.7	1.8	John Howse John Howse John Brooke Howse was an Australian politician. He was born in Orange, New South Wales, the son of Sir Neville Howse, a minister in the Nationalist government of Stanley Bruce. He attended Geelong Grammar School and the University of Sydney before becoming a company director...	Liberal
Capricornia, Qld Division of Capricornia The Division of Capricornia is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through the Division. It is located on the central Queensland coast and its...		Labor	Frank Forde Frank Forde Francis Michael Forde PC was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. He was the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, being in office for only eight days.-Early life:...	5.9	8.8	2.9	Charles Davidson Charles Davidson Sir Charles William Davidson KBE was an Australian politician. He attended Townsville Grammar School in 1912 and 1913. He served in World War I and on his return was a dairy farmer and later grew sugar cane. During World War II, he served in the 42nd Battalion of the Australian Army in New...	Liberal
Franklin, Tas Division of Franklin The Division of Franklin is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and is named for Sir John Franklin, the polar explorer who was Lt Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1843-46. It is located in southern Tasmania, including the Hobart suburbs of Bridgewater,...		Labor	Charles Frost Charles Frost Charles William Frost was an Australian politician.Frost was born in Hobart, Tasmania and educated at Koonya and Margate state schools, but left school at 13. He later worked at the Iron Blow mine near Queenstown...	9.9	10.0	0.1	Bill Falkinder	Liberal
Henty, Vic Division of Henty The Division of Henty was an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1913 and abolished in 1990. It was named for the Henty family of Portland, the first European settlers in Victoria. It was located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including at various times...		Independent	Arthur Coles Arthur Coles Sir Arthur William Coles was a prominent Australian businessman and philanthropist.With his brothers Coles founded the Coles Variety Stores in the 1920s, which were to become one of the two largest supermarket chains in Australia now known as Coles Group...	5.5	9.8	4.3	Jo Gullett Jo Gullett Henry Baynton Somer 'Jo' Gullett AM MC, was an Australian soldier, politician, diplomat and journalist. He served with distinction in the Australian Army during World War II, was a controversial Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Henty from 1946 to 1955,...	Liberal
Reid, NSW Division of Reid The Division of Reid is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the western suburbs of Sydney, and includes the suburbs of Abbotsford, Auburn , Berala , Breakfast Point, Burwood , Cabarita, Canada Bay, Chiswick, Concord, Concord West, Croydon , Drummoyne,...		Labor	Charles Morgan Charles Morgan (Australian politician) Charles Albert Aaron Morgan was an Australian politician. Born in Woonana, New South Wales, he was educated at Catholic schools and then at Sydney Technical College. He became a solicitor in 1920 and eventually a Labor lawyer...	N/A	7.4	4.2	Jack Lang Jack Lang (Australian politician) John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...	Lang 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...		Labor	Donald Mountjoy Donald Mountjoy Donald Alfred Mountjoy was an Australian politician. Born in Middle Swan, Western Australia, he was educated at state schools before becoming a labourer and railwayman, as well as an official with the Australian Railways Union...	3.0	3.2	0.2	Leonard Hamilton Leonard Hamilton (Australian politician) Leonard William Hamilton was an Australian politician. Born in Jarrahdale, Western Australia, he was educated at Perth Boys School before becoming a wheat and sugar farmer. He served in the military from 1917-1920 and from 1940-1945...	Country
Wakefield, SA Division of Wakefield The Division of Wakefield is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of South Australia. It is located north of Adelaide, incorporating the outer northern suburbs of Salisbury and Elizabeth, and extending north as far as Clare. It covers the east coast of the Gulf St Vincent north of...		Labor	Albert Smith Albert Smith (Australian politician) Albert Edward Smith was an Australian politician. Born in Kent, England, he migrated to Australia as a child and was educated at Clare in South Australia. He became a service station proprietor and served on Clare Council...	1.2	3.9	2.7	Philip McBride Philip McBride Sir Philip Albert Martin McBride KCMG was an Australian politician.McBride was born into a well-known pastoral family and educated at Burra Public School and Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. In 1931, he was elected as the member for Grey in the Australian House of Representatives, representing...	Liberal
Wilmot, Tas Division of Wilmot The Division of Wilmot was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Tasmania. It was located in central Tasmania, and was named after Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, the sixth Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania...		Liberal	Allan Guy Allan Guy James Allan Guy, CBE was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Tasmanian House of Assembly and the Federal House of Representatives, before leaving to represent the United Australia Party and then the Liberal Party of Australia in both the House of...	1.7	3.4	1.7	Gil Duthie Gil Duthie Gilbert William Arthur "Gil" Duthie AM was an Australian politician. Born in Nhill, Victoria, he was educated at state schools and at the University of Melbourne before becoming a schoolteacher and farmer in rural Victoria. In 1938 he was ordained a Methodist minister, and in 1944 he moved to...	Labor

Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Seats changing hands

See also