Australian federal election
1946 Australian federal election ← 1943 28 September 1946 1949 →
All 75[a] seats of the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats of the SenateRegistered 4,739,853 6.12% Turnout 4,453,941 (93.97%) ( 2.35 pp) First party Second party Third party Leader Ben Chifley Robert Menzies Jack Lang Party Labor Liberal/Country coalition Labor (Non-Communist) Leader since 13 July 1945 23 September 1943 Leader's seat Macquarie (NSW) Kooyong (Vic.) Reid (NSW)(won seat) Last election 49 seats 19 seats 0 seats Seats won 43 seats 29 seats 1 seat Seat change 6 10 1 Popular vote 2,159,953 1,896,349 69,138 Percentage 49.71% 43.65% 1.59% Swing 0.22 13.20 0.87 TPP 54.10% 45.90% TPP swing 4.10 4.10
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
The 1946 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 28 September 1946. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Labor Party led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley defeated the opposition Liberal–Country coalition , led by Robert Menzies . It was the Liberal Party 's first federal election since its creation. This was the first time the Labor party had won a second consecutive election. This was also the last time the Labor party would win a federal election until the 1972 election .
The election was held in conjunction with three referendum questions , one of which was carried.
Results House of Representatives Labor: 43 seats
Liberal: 18 seats
Country: 11 seats
Lang Labor: 1 seat
Independent: 1 seat
House of Reps (IRV ) — 1946–49—Turnout 93.97% (CV ) — Informal 2.45% Party Votes % Swing Seats Change Labor 2,159,953 49.71 −0.22 43 −6 Liberal–Country coalition 1,896,349 43.65 +13.20 29 +6 Liberal 1,431,682 32.95 +11.05 18 +4 Country 464,667 10.70 +2.16 11 +2 Labor (Non-Communist) 69,138 1.59 +0.87 1 +1 Communist 64,811 1.49 +1.49 0 0 Services 55,140 1.27 +1.27 0 0 Protestant People's 20,111 0.46 +0.46 0 0 Independents 79,040 1.82 −10.34 2[b] -1 Total 4,344,542 75 Two-party-preferred (estimated) Labor Win 54.10 −4.10 43 −6 Liberal–Country coalition 45.90 +4.10 29 +6
Notes Popular vote Labor
49.71% Liberal
32.95% Country
10.70% Lang Labor
1.59% Independent/Other
1.83%
Two-party-preferred vote Labor
54.10% Coalition
45.90%
Parliament seats Labor
58.11% Coalition
35.14%
Senate Senate (P BV ) — 1946–49—Turnout 93.97% (CV ) — Informal 8.01% Party Votes % Swing Seats won Seats held Change Labor 2,133,272 52.06 −3.02 16 33 +11 Liberal–Country coalition 1,775,022 43.33 +5.18 3 3 –11 Liberal–Country joint ticket 1,561,718 38.12 N/A 3 N/A N/A Liberal 213,304 5.21 N/A 0 2 –10 Country N/A N/A N/A 0 1 –1 Protestant People's 123,541 3.02 +3.02 0 0 0 Services 37,724 0.92 +0.92 0 0 0 Independents 27,767 0.68 –3.83 0 0 0 Total 4,097,326 19 36
Notes Of the three senators elected on Liberal–Country joint tickets, two were Liberal Party members and one was a Country Party member. Seats changing hands Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. See also Notes ^ The Northern Territory had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation. ^ Including Northern Territory References University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890 Two-party-preferred vote since 1937