Members of the Australian Senate, 1953–1956

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1953 to 1956.^[1] Half of its members were elected at the 28 April 1951 election and had terms deemed to start on 1 July 1950 and finishing on 30 June 1956; the other half were elected at the 9 May 1953 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1953 and finishing on 30 June 1959.

Senator	Party		State	Term ending	Years in office
Stan Amour		Labor	New South Wales	1959	1938–1965
Ken Anderson		Liberal	New South Wales	1959	1953–1975
John Armstrong		Labor	New South Wales	1956	1938–1962
James Arnold		Labor	New South Wales	1959	1941–1965
Bill Ashley		Labor	New South Wales	1956	1938–1958
Bill Aylett		Labor	Tasmania	1959	1938–1965
Archie Benn		Labor	Queensland	1956	1950–1968
Gordon Brown [a]		Labor	Queensland	1959	1932–1965
Nancy Buttfield [b]		Liberal	South Australia	1956 [c]	1955–1965, 1968–1974
Condon Byrne		Labor	Queensland	1959	1951–1959, 1968–1974
Don Cameron		Labor	Victoria	1956	1938–1962
George Cole		Labor/ALP (A-C) [d]	Tasmania	1959	1950–1965
Joe Cooke		Labor	Western Australia	1959	1947–1951, 1952–1965
Walter Cooper		Country	Queensland	1956	1928–1932, 1935–1968
Ben Courtice		Labor	Queensland	1956	1937–1962
Jack Critchley		Labor	South Australia	1959	1947–1959
Jack Devlin		Labor	Victoria	1959	1946–1957
James Fraser		Labor	Western Australia	1959	1938–1959
John Gorton		Liberal	Victoria	1956	1950–1968
Donald Grant		Labor	New South Wales	1959	1944–1959
Allan Guy		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1956
Clive Hannaford		Liberal	South Australia	1956	1950–1967
John Harris		Labor	Western Australia	1959	1947–1951, 1953–1959
Bert Hendrickson		Labor	Victoria	1959	1947–1971
Denham Henty		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1968
Roy Kendall		Liberal	Queensland	1959	1950–1965
Pat Kennelly		Labor	Victoria	1959	1953–1971
Keith Laught		Liberal	South Australia	1959	1951–1969
Ted Maher		Country	Queensland	1959	1950–1965
John Marriott		Liberal	Tasmania	1959	1953–1975
Ted Mattner		Liberal	South Australia	1956	1944–1946, 1950–1968
John McCallum		Liberal	New South Wales	1956	1950–1962
Nick McKenna		Labor	Tasmania	1956	1944–1968
George McLeay [b]		Liberal	South Australia	1956	1935–1947, 1950–1955
Alister McMullin		Liberal	New South Wales	1959	1951–1971
Theo Nicholls		Labor	South Australia	1956	1944–1968
Justin O'Byrne		Labor	Tasmania	1959	1947–1981
Sid O'Flaherty		Labor	South Australia	1956	1944–1962
Neil O'Sullivan		Liberal	Queensland	1956	1947–1962
Shane Paltridge [e]		Liberal	Western Australia	1956	1951–1966
Rex Pearson		Liberal	South Australia	1959	1951–1961
Dame Annabelle Rankin		Liberal	Queensland	1956	1947–1971
George Rankin		Country	Victoria	1956	1950–1956
Albert Reid		Country	New South Wales	1956	1950–1962
Agnes Robertson		Liberal / Ind. / Country [f]	Western Australia	1956	1950–1962
John Ryan		Labor	South Australia	1959	1950–1959
Charles Sandford		Labor	Victoria	1956	1947–1956, 1957–1966
Malcolm Scott		Liberal	Western Australia	1959	1950–1971
Harrie Seward		Country	Western Australia	1959	1951–1958
Jim Sheehan		Labor	Victoria	1956	1938–1940, 1944–1962
John Spicer		Liberal	Victoria	1956	1940–1944, 1950–1956
Bill Spooner		Liberal	New South Wales	1956	1950–1965
Dame Dorothy Tangney		Labor	Western Australia	1956	1943–1968
Jim Toohey		Labor	South Australia	1959	1953–1971
Seddon Vincent		Liberal	Western Australia	1956	1950–1964
Robert Wardlaw		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1953–1962
Dame Ivy Wedgwood		Liberal	Victoria	1959	1950–1971
Don Willesee		Labor	Western Australia	1956	1950–1975
Ian Wood		Liberal	Queensland	1959	1950–1978
Robert Wordsworth		Liberal	Tasmania	1959	1950–1959
Reg Wright		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1978

Senate composition at 1 July 1953
Government (31) - (1 seat majority)
  Liberal (26) ^[i]
  Country Party (5) ^[i]

Opposition (29)
  Labor (29) ^[ii]
 
Changes in composition

1. Agnes Robertson left the Liberal Party in 1955, then after 21 days as an independent joined the Country Party.
2. George Cole joined the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) in 1955, which became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.

Notes

1. Father of the Senate
2. Liberal Senator George McLeay died on 14 September 1955; Liberal Party member Nancy Buttfield was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 11 October.
3. Appointed to a casual vacancy and only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.^[2]
4. As part of the 1955 Labor split, George Cole joined the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), which became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.^[3]
5. Liberal Senator Shane Paltridge was the 6th and final Senator elected for Western Australia at the 1953 election and won the short term vacancy caused by the death of Edmund Piesse.
6. Robertson resigned from the Liberal Party on 7 September 1955, after being dropped from the party's Senate ticket for the upcoming election.^[4] She sat as an Independent until 28 September, when she joined the Country Party.^[5]