1954 Australian federal election

Australian federal election

1954 Australian federal election

* * *

| <- 1951 | 29 May 1954 | 1955 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

* * *

All 123[b] seats of the House of Representatives
61 seats were needed for a majority
Registered| 5,096,468  2.70%
Turnout| 4,619,571 (96.09%)[a]
(0.09 pp)
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Robert Menzies | H. V. Evatt
Party  | Liberal (Coalition)  | Labor
Leader since  | 21 February 1945 | 13 June 1951
Leader's seat  | Kooyong (Vic.)  | Barton (NSW)
Last election  | 69 seats  | 52 seats
Seats won  | 64 | 57 + NT \+ ACT
Seat change  | 5  | 5
Popular vote  | 2,117,669  | 2,256,164
Percentage  | 47.57%  | 50.07%
Swing  | 2.77  | 2.44
TPP | 49.30%  | 50.70%
TPP swing  | 1.40  | 1.40

* * *

Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.

* * *

| Prime Minister before election

Robert Menzies
Liberal/Country coalition

| Subsequent Prime Minister

Robert Menzies
Liberal/Country coalition

|

The 1954 Australian federal election were held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, but no Senate election took place. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt, despite losing the two-party preferred vote. Although the ALP won the two-party preferred vote, six Coalition seats were uncontested compared to one ALP seat. The Psephos blog makes clear that if all seats had been contested, the Coalition would have recorded a higher primary vote than the ALP and possibly also a higher two-party preferred vote.[1]

This was the first federal election that future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam contested as a member of parliament, having entered parliament at the 1952 Werriwa by-election.

Though they did not win government, this election was the last time that the Labor party would achieve more than 50% of the primary vote. The only other time this happened was in 1914.

This was the first federal election to be held under the reign of Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia just two years after she succeeded her father.

## Issues

[edit]

The election was complicated by the Petrov Affair, in which Vladimir Petrov, an attache to the Soviet 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.[citation needed]

## Results

[edit]

See also: Results of the Australian federal election, 1954 (House of Representatives)

Labor: 57 seats

Liberal: 47 seats

Country: 17 seats

House of Reps (IRV) — 1954–55—Turnout 96.09% (CV) — Informal 1.35% Party  | Votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change

|
|
|
|
|

| Labor | 2,266,979  | 50.07  | +2.44  | 59[c] | +5
| Liberal–Country coalition | 2,153,970  | 47.57  | –2.77  | 64  | –5
| Liberal | 1,765,799 | 39.00 | –1.62 | 47 | –5
| Country | 388,171 | 8.57 | –1.15 | 17 | 0
| Communist | 56,675  | 1.25  | +0.27  | 0  | 0
| Independents | 50,027  | 1.11  | +0.06  | 0  | 0
| Total  | 4,527,651  |  |  | 121 |
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
| Liberal–Country coalition | Win | 49.30 | −1.40  | 64 | −5
| Labor |  | 50.70  | +1.40  | 59  | +5

* * *

Notes

* Seven members were elected unopposed – three Liberal, three Country, and one Labor.
* See 1953 Australian Senate election for Senate composition.

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor |

| 50.07%
Liberal |

| 39.00%
Country |

| 8.52%
Communist |

| 1.25%
Independent |

| 1.10%

| Two-party-preferred vote (estimated)

|  |
Labor |

| 50.70%
Coalition |

| 49.30%

| Parliament seats

|  |
Coalition |

| 52.89%
Labor |

| 47.11%

## Seats changing hands

[edit]

Seat  | Pre-1954  | Swing  | Post-1954

|
|
|

Party  | Member  | Margin  | Margin  | Member  | Party
Bass, Tas |  | Liberal  | Bruce Kekwick | 3.4  | 4.4  | 1.0  | Lance Barnard | Labor  |
Flinders, Vic |  | Labor  | Keith Ewert | 5.1  | 4.3  | 1.6  | Robert Lindsay | Liberal  |
Griffith, Qld |  | Liberal  | Doug Berry | 3.7  | 4.1  | 0.4  | Wilfred Coutts | Labor  |
St George, NSW |  | Liberal  | Bill Graham | 1.6  | 4.3  | 2.7  | Nelson Lemmon | Labor  |
Sturt, SA |  | Liberal  | Keith Wilson | 2.4  | 5.4  | 3.0  | Norman Makin | Labor  |
Swan, WA |  | Liberal  | Bill Grayden | 3.3  | 4.9  | 1.6  | Harry Webb | Labor  |

## Aftermath

[edit]

The third session of the 20th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. This was the first time a reigning monarch had opened a session of parliament in Australia. The Queen wore her Coronation Dress to open the 20th session of parliament. The success of the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia (the first by a reigning sovereign), the recovery of the economy from a brief recession in 1951-52 and the Petrov Affair were all credited with assisting in the return of the government.

## See also

[edit]

* Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1954
* Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1954–1955

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Turnout in contested seats
2. ^ The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory each had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation.
3. ^ Including Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Carr, Adam. "Legislative election of 29 May 1954: House of Representatives". Psephos. Retrieved 10 December 2020.

* University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890
* AEC 2PP vote

* v
* t
* e

Federal elections and referendums in Australia

Federal elections|

* 1901
* 1903
* 1906
* 1910
* 1913
* 1914
* 1917
* 1919
* 1922
* 1925
* 1928
* 1929
* 1931
* 1934
* 1937
* 1940
* 1943
* 1946
* 1949
* 1951
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1958
* 1961
* 1963
* 1964
* 1966
* 1967
* 1969
* 1970
* 1972
* 1974
* 1975
* 1977
* 1980
* 1983
* 1984
* 1987
* 1990
* 1993
* 1996
* 1998
* 2001
* 2004
* 2007
* 2010
* 2013
* 2016
* 2019
* 2022
* 2025

Constitutional Convention|

* 1897
* 1997

Referendums|

* 1906
* 1910
* 1911
* 1913
* 1916
* 1917
* 1919
* 1926
* 1928
* 1937
* 1944
* 1946
* 1948
* 1951
* 1967
* 1973
* 1974
* 1977
* 1984
* 1988
* 1999
* 2017
* 2023

See also: By-elections
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template