1949 Australian federal election

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.^[1]

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.

House of Representatives edit

House of Reps (IRV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 1.99%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	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		2,117,088	45.98	–3.73	48[c]	+4
	Communist		40,941	0.89	–0.60	0	0
	Labor (Non-Communist)		32,870	0.71	–0.88	0	–1
	Independents		99,368	2.16	+0.34	1[d]	–1
	Total		4,604,410			123	+48
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Liberal–Country coalition		Win	51.00	+5.10	74	+45
	Labor			49.00	−5.10	47	+4

Senate edit

Senate (STV) — 1949–51—Turnout 95.97% (CV) — Informal 10.76%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	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		1,881,956	44.89	–7.17	19	34	+1
	Communist		87,958	2.10	+2.10	0	0	0
	Protestant People's		37,441	0.89	–2.13	0	0	0
	Independents / ungrouped		71,723	1.71	+1.03	0	0	0
	Total		4,192,525			42	60	+24

• Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at 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, and the Liberal Party of Australia won government federally for the first time.

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1949
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1949–1951
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1950–1951

• "Commonwealth Parliament, House of Representatives election 1949". University of Western Australia Australian Politics and Elections Database. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
• University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890
• AEC 2PP vote
• Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore, the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.
• Two-party-preferred vote since 1940