# 1958 Australian federal election

The 1958 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives and 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party, led by H. V. Evatt.

## Issues

In spite of a major global downturn in early 1958, the Coalition was returned to power and there was an even swing against the Labor Party. This was due largely to support for the breakaway Democratic Labor Party. This was the first Australian election campaign to be fought using television as a medium for communicating with voters. Menzies was interviewed on television, while opposition figures H. V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell took part in debates with ministers Harold Holt and William McMahon. Somewhat surprisingly Menzies emerged as a confident and effective television performer. This may have contributed to the better than expected result for the government.

## Results
### House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) — 1958–61—Turnout 95.48% (CV) — Informal 2.87% :
| Party | Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | 2,298,512 | 46.55 | –1.12 | 77 | +2 |
| | | Liberal | 1,859,180 | 37.23 | −2.53 | 58 | +1 |
| | | Country | 465,320 | 9.32 | +1.41 | 19 | +1 |
| | Labor | Labor | 2,137,890 | 42.81 | −1.84 | 47 | −2 |
| | Democratic Labor | Democratic Labor | 389,688 | 7.80 | +2.63 | 0 | 0 |
| | Queensland Labor | Queensland Labor | 80,035 | 1.60 | +1.60 | 0 | 0 |
| | Communist | Communist | 26,337 | 0.53 | –0.63 | 0 | 0 |
| | Nationalist | Nationalist | 3,577 | 0.07 | +0.07 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent | Independent | 31,466 | 0.63 | –0.74 | 0 | 0 |
| | Total | Total | 4,993,493 | | | 122 | |
| Two-party-preferred (estimated) ||||||||
| | Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | Win | 54.10 | −0.10 | 77 | +2 |
| | Labor | Labor | | 45.90 | +0.10 | 45 | −2 |
Popular vote
Labor
42.81%
Liberal
37.23%
DLP/QLP
9.41%
Country
9.32%
Other
1.23% :
Two-party-preferred vote
Coalition
54.10%
Labor
45.90% :
Parliament seats
Coalition
63.11%
Labor
36.89% :

### Senate

Senate (STV) — 1958–61—Turnout 95.48% (CV) — Informal 10.29% :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change |
| Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | 2,084,193 | 45.19 | –3.49 | 16 | 32 | +2 |
| | Liberal–Country joint ticket | 1,077,586 | 23.36 | –16.02 | 9 | N/A | N/A |
| | Liberal | 953,856 | 20.68 | +12.02 | 6 | 25 | +1 |
| | Country | 52,751 | 1.14 | +0.51 | 1 | 7 | +1 |
| Labor | Labor | 1,973,027 | 42.78 | +2.17 | 15 | 26 | –2 |
| Democratic Labor | Democratic Labor | 314,755 | 6.82 | +0.72 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Communist | Communist | 134,263 | 2.91 | −0.73 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Queensland Labor | Queensland Labor | 73,037 | 1.66 | +1.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Loyalist | Loyalist | 4,459 | 0.10 | +0.10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| True Democrat | True Democrat | 4,337 | 0.09 | +0.09 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | Republican | 3,715 | 0.08 | +0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | Independents | 20,273 | 0.44 | –0.46 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 4,612,059 | | | 32 | 60 | |

#### Notes

* The Democratic Labor Party was the renamed "Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist)" from the 1955 election.

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1958 | Pre-1958 | Pre-1958 | Pre-1958 | Swing | Post-1958 | Post-1958 | Post-1958 | Post-1958 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Braddon, Tas | | Liberal | Aubrey Luck | 8.9 | 9.3 | 0.4 | Ron Davies | Labor | |
| Griffith, Qld | | Labor | Wilfred Coutts | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.1 | Arthur Chresby | Liberal | |
| Herbert, Qld | | Labor | Bill Edmonds | 6.6 | 8.1 | 1.5 | John Murray | Liberal | |
| Indi, Vic | | Liberal | William Bostock | N/A | 28.6 | 6.5 | Mac Holten | Country | |
| Kalgoorlie, WA | | Labor | Herbert Johnson | N/A | 11.4 | 0.3 | Peter Browne | Liberal | |
| Moore, WA | | Country | Hugh Leslie | 100.0 | 52.9 | 2.9 | Hugh Halbert | Liberal | |
| St George, NSW | | Liberal | Bill Graham | 2.4 | 2.5 | 0.1 | Lionel Clay | Labor | |
| Stirling, WA | | Labor | Harry Webb | 2.8 | 3.0 | 0.2 | Doug Cash | Liberal | |
| Wimmera, Vic | | Liberal | William Lawrence | N/A | 22.7 | 5.9 | Robert King | Country | |
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.