Australian federal election, 1958 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Federal elections were held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 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 32 of the 60 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 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

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.

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...

) — 1958–61—Turnout 95.48% (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 2.87%
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...	2,137,890	42.81	−1.82	45	−2
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...	1,859,180	37.23	−2.50	58	+1
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...	469,723	9.41	+4.24	0	0
Country Party	465,320	9.32	+1.41	19	+1
Other	61,380	1.23		0	0
Total	4,993,493			122
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	54.10	−0.10	77	+2
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...		45.90	+0.10	45	−2

Senate (STV
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

) — 1958–61—Turnout 95.48% (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 10.29%
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...	1,973,027	42.78	+2.17	15	26
Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket)	1,077,586	23.36	−16.02	9	*
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...	953,856	20.68	+12.02	6	25
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...	388,417	8.42	+2.32	1	2
Communist Party of Australia Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...	134,263	2.91	−0.73	0	0
Country Party	52,751	1.14	+0.52	1	7
Independents Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...	19,648	0.43		0	0
Other	12,511	0.27		0	0
Total	4,612,059			32	60

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1958				Swing	Post-1958
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	Margin	Member	Party
Braddon, Tas Division of Braddon The Division of Braddon is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania.The division was created in 1955 to replace the abolished Division of Darwin, and is named for Sir Edward Braddon, a Premier of Tasmania and one of Tasmania's five original federal MPs...		Liberal	Aubrey Luck Aubrey Luck Aubrey William George Luck was an Australian politician. Born in the West Tamar region of Tasmania, he was educated at state schools before becoming a hardware and building merchant in Devonport. He was involved in local politics as a member of Devonport Municipal Council...	8.9	9.3	0.4	Ron Davies Ron Davies (Australian politician) Ronald "Ron" Davies was an Australian politician. Born in Latrobe, Tasmania, he was educated at state schools and then the University of Tasmania, becoming a teacher. He served in the military 1942-1945. In 1958, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for...	Labor
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...		Labor	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...	1.3	1.4	0.1	Arthur Chresby Arthur Chresby Arthur Albert Chresby was an Australian politician. Born in New South Wales, he attended state schools before becoming a journalist, then a car salesman, and finally a public relations consultant...	Liberal
Herbert, Qld Division of Herbert The Division of Herbert is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Herbert, to the Australian House of Representatives. The division was first contested at the 1901 election...		Labor	William Edmonds William Edmonds William Frederick Edmonds was an Australian politician. Born in Charters Towers, Queensland, he was educated at state schools before becoming a miner, railway worker, and sugar worker. He was an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union and was its Queensland president 1945-46...	6.6	8.1	1.5	John Murray John Murray (Queensland politician) John Murray, MBE was an Australian politician. He attended state schools before serving in the military 1939-45. He returned to become a farmer and grazier at Ingham, Queensland...	Liberal
Indi, Vic Division of Indi The Division of Indi is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. It is located in north-eastern Victoria. Its northern border is formed by the Murray River...		Liberal	William Bostock William Bostock Air Vice Marshal William Dowling Bostock CB, DSO, OBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. During World War II he led RAAF Command, the Air Force's main operational formation, with responsibility for the defence of Australia and air offensives against Japanese targets in the...	N/A	28.6	6.5	Mac Holten Mac Holten Rendle McNeilage "Mac" Holten CMG was a leading Australian rules footballer, Australian politician and government minister.Holten was born in Melbourne and educated at Scotch College, Melbourne...	Country
Kalgoorlie, WA Division of Kalgoorlie The Division of Kalgoorlie was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia, named after the city of Kalgoorlie. The Division, which was proclaimed in 1900 as one of the original 75 divisions to be contested at the first Federal election, covered most of the land area of...		Labor	Herbert Johnson Herbert Johnson (Australian politician) Herbert Victor Johnson was an Australian politician.Johnson was born in Northampton, Western Australia and educated at the local convent school. He worked as a shearer and became the first Western Australian shearer to join the Australian Workers' Union when it organized the shearers in 1908. ...	N/A	11.4	0.3	Peter Browne Peter Browne (Australian politician) Peter Grahame Browne was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he served the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Trg Regt in Darwin from 1939 to 1943 during the Bombing of Darwin. In 1943 he signed-up for the Empire Air Training Scheme where he received pilot training in Tiger Moth aircraft...	Liberal
Moore, WA Division of Moore The Division of Moore is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Moore, to the Australian House of Representatives...		Country	Hugh Leslie Hugh Leslie Hugh Alan Leslie OBE was a Western Australian Country Party politician and newspaper editor.- Early life :...	100.0	52.9	2.9	Hugh Halbert Hugh Halbert Hugh Victor Halbert was an Australian politician. Born in Meckering, Western Australia, he was educated at Hale School in Perth before becoming an accountant, tax agent and retail businessman. In 1958, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Moore,...	Liberal
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...	2.4	2.5	0.1	Lionel Clay Lionel Clay Lionel Daniel Clay was an Australian politician. Born in Chillagoe, Queensland, he attended state schools before becoming a teacher and union organiser, rising to become Vice-President of the Textile Workers Union. In 1958, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor...	Labor
Stirling, WA Division of Stirling The Division of Stirling is an Australian Electoral Division in the inner northern and beachside suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It includes the suburbs of Balcatta, Balga, Carine, Innaloo, Nollamara, North Beach, Scarborough, Stirling, Trigg and Yokine....		Labor	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...	2.8	3.0	0.2	Doug Cash	Liberal
Wimmera, Vic Division of Wimmera The Division of Wimmera was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It was named after the Wimmera region in which it was located. It originally encompassed the towns of Mildura, Swan Hill and Warracknabeal, but by the time it was abolished in 1977, it had drifted south and grown...		Liberal	William Lawrence William Lawrence (Australian politician) William Robert Lawrence was an Australian politician. Born in Horsham, Victoria, he attended state schools and then the University of Melbourne before returning to Horsham as a dentist; he also sat on Horsham City Council. In 1949, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the...	N/A	22.7	5.9	Robert King Robert King (Australian politician) Robert Shannon King, OBE was an Australian politician. Born in Warracknabeal, Victoria, he attended Carey Grammar School in Melbourne before serving in the military 1940-45. He returned to Warracknabeal as a farmer and grazier, and became an official of the Victorian Country Party...	Country

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

History

The 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...

of the Liberal Party, led by Sir Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

, and the Country Party

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...

, had been in power since 1949. In spite of a major global downturn

Recession of 1958

The Recession of 1958 was a sharp worldwide economic downturn in 1958, and the most significant one during the post-World War II boom between 1945 and 1970....

in early 1958, the Coalition was returned to power and there was a swing against the Australian Labor Party (ALP). This was due largely to support for the breakaway 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...

. The ALP remained out of office at the national level until 1972.

Seats changing hands

History

See also