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.

1958 Australian federal election

← 1955 22 November 1958 1961 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 124[a] seats of the House of Representatives 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 32 (of the 60) seats of the Senate
Registered	5,384,624 4.10%
Turnout	5,141,109 (95.48%) (0.48 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Robert Menzies H. V. Evatt Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor Leader since 23 September 1943 13 June 1951 Leader's seat Kooyong (Vic.) Hunter (NSW) (won seat) Last election 75 seats 47 seats Seats won 77 45 + NT + ACT Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 2,298,512 2,137,890 Percentage 46.55% 42.81% Swing 1.12 1.84 TPP 54.10% 45.90% TPP swing 0.10 0.10
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

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.^{[citation needed]} This may have contributed to the better than expected result for the government.^{[citation needed]}

Results

House of Representatives

Main article: Results of the 1958 Australian federal election (House of Representatives)

House of Reps (IRV) — 1958–61—Turnout 95.48% (CV) — Informal 2.87%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	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		2,137,890	42.81	−1.84	47[b]	−2
	Democratic Labor		389,688	7.80	+2.63	0	0
	Queensland Labor		80,035	1.60	+1.60	0	0
	Communist		26,337	0.53	–0.63	0	0
	Nationalist		3,577	0.07	+0.07	0	0
	Independent		31,466	0.63	–0.74	0	0
	Total		4,993,493			122
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Liberal–Country coalition		Win	54.10	−0.10	77	+2
	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			Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	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		1,973,027	42.78	+2.17	15	26	–2
	Democratic Labor		314,755	6.82	+0.72	1	2	0
	Communist		134,263	2.91	−0.73	0	0	0
	Queensland Labor		73,037	1.66	+1.66	0	0	0
	Loyalist		4,459	0.10	+0.10	0	0	0
	True Democrat		4,337	0.09	+0.09	0	0	0
	Republican		3,715	0.08	+0.08	0	0	0
	Independents		20,273	0.44	–0.46	0	0	0
	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				Swing	Post-1958
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	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.

See also

• Candidates of the 1958 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1958–1961
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1959–1962

Notes

1. 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.
2. Including Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory

References

• University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890
• AEC 2PP vote
• Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1958