Federal election major party leaders
Australian elections 1946 1949 1951 Australian elections
Labor Ben Chifley Prime Minister Parliament: 21 years Leader since: 1945 Division: Macquarie
Liberal Robert Menzies Opposition leader Parliament: 15 years Leader since: 1945 Division: Kooyong WIN

Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Ben Chifley was defeated by the opposition Liberal Party of Australia led by Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by Arthur Fadden.

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

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Australian Labor Party	2,117,088	45.98	-3.73	47	+4
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,813,794	39.39	+10.81	55	+40
	Country Party	500,349	10.87	+0.17	19	+8
	Lang Labor	32,870	0.71	-0.88	0	0
	Independents	99,368	2.16	+0.33	0	-1
	Other	40,941	0.89		0	-4
	Total	4,604,410			121	+47
	Liberal/Country coalition	WIN	51.00	*	74	+48
	Australian Labor Party		49.00	*	47	+4

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

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held
	Australian Labor Party	1,881,956	44.89	-7.18	19	34
	Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket)	1,871,849	44.65	+6.53	16	*
	Liberal Party of Australia	241,598	5.76	+0.56	7	21
	Communist Party of Australia	87,958	2.10	*	0	0
	Country Party	*	*	*	0	5
	Other	109,164	2.60		0	0
	Total	4,192,525			42	60

Electoral reform

As of this election, single transferrable 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 conservatives 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 members to 60 members. All 121 lower house seats, and 42 of the 60 upper house seats, were up for election.

Issues

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. In addition, the Coalition promised to end wartime rationing, which was unpopular. The election took place against the background of the developing Cold War and growing fears of communism.

Significance

The Chifley Government was defeated, ending the longest period of Labor Federal Government in Australian history up to that date (1941-1949). It would not return to office until 1972. Robert Menzies became Prime Minister for the second time, and the Liberal Party of Australia was in Government Federally for the first time.

References

• University of WA 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. No figure available before 1949.