# 1949 Australian federal election

The 1949 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 10 December, 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley, was defeated by the opposition Liberal–Country coalition under Robert Menzies in a landslide. Menzies became prime minister for a second time, his first period having ended in 1941. This election marked the end of the 8-year Curtin-Chifley Labor government that had been in power since 1941 and started the 23-year Liberal/Country Coalition government. This was the first time the Liberal party won government at the federal level.
The number of MPs in both houses had been increased at the election, and single transferable vote under a proportional voting system had been introduced in the Senate. Though Labor lost government, Labor retained a Senate majority at the election. However, this ended at the 1951 election. With the Senate changes in place, Labor has not held a Senate majority since.
Future Prime Ministers William McMahon and John Gorton both entered parliament at this election.

## Issues

The election hinged on the policies of the Federal Labor government, especially bank nationalisation. Prime Minister Chifley intended to bring all of the banks under Government control, a socialist policy which the Coalition argued was not in the country's interest. The Coalition promised to end unpopular wartime rationing. The election took place against the background of the 1949 Australian coal strike, the developing Cold War and growing fears of communism.
Robert Menzies broke new ground in using the radio as his primary method of reaching voters.

## Electoral reform

As of this election, single transferable vote with proportional representation became the method for electing the Senate. This was to try to prevent the Senate from being dominated by one party, which had often occurred previously. For example, coming into this election the ALP held 33 of the 36 Senate seats, whilst the Nationalist Party at the 1919 election held 35 of the 36 Senate seats. In addition, the House of Representatives was enlarged from 74 to 121 seats and the Senate from 36 to 60 members. All 121 lower house seats, and 42 of the 60 upper house seats, were up for election.

## Opinion polling

Primary vote :

## Results
### House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 1.99% :
| Party | Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | 2,314,143 | 50.26 | +6.61 | 74 | +45 |
| | | Liberal | 1,813,794 | 39.39 | +6.44 | 55 | +37 |
| | | Country | 500,349 | 10.87 | +0.17 | 19 | +8 |
| | Labor | Labor | 2,117,088 | 45.98 | –3.73 | 48 | +4 |
| | Communist | Communist | 40,941 | 0.89 | –0.60 | 0 | 0 |
| | Labor (Non-Communist) | Labor (Non-Communist) | 32,870 | 0.71 | –0.88 | 0 | –1 |
| | Independents | Independents | 99,368 | 2.16 | +0.34 | 1 | –1 |
| | Total | Total | 4,604,410 | | | 123 | +48 |
| Two-party-preferred (estimated) ||||||||
| | Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | Win | 51.00 | +5.10 | 74 | +45 |
| | Labor | Labor | | 49.00 | −5.10 | 47 | +4 |
Popular vote
Labor
45.98%
Liberal
39.39%
Country
10.87%
Independent
2.16%
Communist
0.89%
Lang Labor
0.71% :
Two-party-preferred vote (estimated)
Coalition
51.00%
Labor
49.00% :
Parliament seats
Coalition
60.16%
Labor
39.84% :

### Senate

Senate (STV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 10.76% :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change |
| Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | 2,113,447 | 50.41 | +7.08 | 23 | 26 | +23 |
| | Liberal–Country joint ticket | 1,871,849 | 44.65 | +6.53 | 16 | N/A | N/A |
| | Liberal | 241,598 | 5.76 | +0.55 | 7 | 21 | +19 |
| | Country | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 | 5 | +4 |
| Labor | Labor | 1,881,956 | 44.89 | –7.17 | 19 | 34 | +1 |
| Communist | Communist | 87,958 | 2.10 | +2.10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Protestant People's | Protestant People's | 37,441 | 0.89 | –2.13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents / ungrouped | Independents / ungrouped | 71,723 | 1.71 | +1.03 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 4,192,525 | | | 42 | 60 | +24 |

## House of Rep. seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1949 | Pre-1949 | Pre-1949 | Pre-1949 | Swing | Post-1949 | Post-1949 | Post-1949 | Post-1949 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Australian Capital Territory, ACT | | new division | | | | 3.8 | Lewis Nott | Independent | |
| Ballaarat, Vic | | Labor | Reg Pollard | 3.1 | 3.1 | 0.4 | Alan Pittard | Liberal | |
| Bass, Tas | | Labor | Claude Barnard | 7.0 | 6.8 | 0.6 | Bruce Kekwick | Liberal | |
| Blaxland, NSW | | Lang Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 53.4 | 3.4 | Jim Harrison | Labor | |
| Bowman, Qld | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 1.4 | 3.8 | Malcolm McColm | Liberal | |
| Corio, Vic | | Labor | John Dedman | 7.2 | 6.7 | 0.3 | Hubert Opperman | Liberal | |
| Curtin, WA | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 13.8 | 11.2 | Paul Hasluck | Liberal | |
| Darling Downs, Qld | | Country | Arthur Fadden | N/A | 1.9 | 12.5 | Reginald Swartz | Liberal | |
| Dawson, Qld | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 9.8 | 8.6 | Charles Davidson | Country | |
| Denison, Tas | | Labor | Frank Gaha | 7.0 | 10.9 | 5.1 | Athol Townley | Liberal | |
| Farrer, NSW | | Country | notional - new seat | N/A | 58.8 | 8.8 | David Fairbairn | Liberal | |
| Forrest, WA | | Labor | Nelson Lemmon | 2.3 | 4.4 | 2.8 | Gordon Freeth | Liberal | |
| Gwydir, NSW | | Labor | William Scully | 1.2 | 9.2 | 5.1 | Thomas Treloar | Country | |
| Hume, NSW | | Labor | Arthur Fuller | 4.2 | 5.9 | 1.0 | Charles Anderson | Country | |
| Indi, Vic | | Country | John McEwen | N/A | 59.7 | 9.7 | William Bostock | Liberal | |
| Kingston, SA | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 8.4 | 1.6 | Jim Handby | Liberal | |
| Lawson, NSW | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 7.6 | 5.8 | Laurie Failes | Country | |
| Leichhardt, Qld | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 9.2 | 1.7 | Tom Gilmore | Country | |
| Lowe, NSW | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 9.0 | 8.5 | William McMahon | Liberal | |
| McMillan, Vic | | Country | notional - new seat | N/A | 6.1 | 6.9 | Geoffrey Brown | Liberal | |
| McPherson, Qld | | Liberal | notional - new seat | N/A | 5.1 | 24.2 | Arthur Fadden | Country | |
| Mitchell, NSW | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 12.8 | 6.9 | Roy Wheeler | Liberal | |
| Northern Territory, NT | | Independent | Adair Blain | N/A | 8.6 | 2.7 | Jock Nelson | Labor | |
| Paterson, NSW | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 8.6 | 8.5 | Allen Fairhall | Liberal | |
| Riverina, NSW | | Labor | Joe Langtry | 0.6 | 3.8 | 3.5 | Hugh Roberton | Country | |
| Robertson, NSW | | Labor | Thomas Williams | 3.8 | 11.5 | 4.2 | Roger Dean | Liberal | |
| St George, NSW | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 16.2 | 2.0 | Bill Graham | Liberal | |
| Sturt, SA | | Labor | notional - new seat | N/A | 8.9 | 2.8 | Keith Wilson | Liberal | |
| Swan, WA | | Labor | notional | N/A | 10.2 | 2.4 | Bill Grayden | Liberal | |
| Wannon, Vic | | Labor | Don McLeod | 1.2 | 3.8 | 0.8 | Dan Mackinnon | Liberal | |
| Wimmera, Vic | | Country | Winton Turnbull | N/A | 5.6 | 14.9 | William Lawrence | Liberal | |
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

## Significance

In this election, the Chifley government was defeated, ending the, then, longest period of Labor federal government in Australian history up to that date (1941–49). Labor would not return to office until 1972. Robert Menzies became Prime Minister for the second time. (Menzies headed the United Australia party the first time he held the office.)
The 1949 election was the first time the Liberal Party of Australia won government federally, and marked the beginning of a long reign in power, 1949-1967 (some of that as part of a Coalition).