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1946 Australian federal election

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Field	Value
election_name	1946 Australian federal election
country	Australia
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
previous_election	1943 Australian federal election
previous_year	1943
next_election	1949 Australian federal election
next_year	1949
outgoing_members	Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1943–1946
elected_members	Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1946–1949
registered	4,739,853 ( 6.12%)
turnout	4,453,941 (93.97%)
(2.35 pp)
seats_for_election	All 75 seats of the House of Representatives
38 seats were needed for a majority in the House
19 (of the 36) seats of the Senate
election_date	28 September 1946
image_size	190x190px
<!-- Australian Labor Party -->	image1	File:Benchifley.jpg
leader1	Ben Chifley
leader_since1	[13 July 1945](1945-australian-labor-party-leadership-election)
party1	Australian Labor Party
leaders_seat1	Macquarie (NSW)
last_election1	49 seats
seats1	43 seats
seat_change1	6
popular_vote1	2,159,953
percentage1	49.71%
swing1	0.22
1data1	54.10%
2data1	4.10
<!-- Liberal/Country coalition -->	image2	File:Portrait Menzies 1950s.jpg
leader2	Robert Menzies
leader_since2	[23 September 1943](1943-united-australia-party-leadership-election)
party2	LiberalCountry Coalition
leaders_seat2	Kooyong (Vic.)
last_election2	19 seats
seats2	29 seats
seat_change2	10
popular_vote2	1,896,349
percentage2	43.65%
swing2	13.20
1data2	45.90%
2data2	4.10
<!-- Lang Labor -->	image4	[[File:JackLang.jpg	170x170px]]
colour4	E2725B
leader4	Jack Lang
party4	Labor (Non-Communist)
leaders_seat4	Reid (NSW)
(won seat)
last_election4	0 seats
seats4	1 seat
seat_change4	1
popular_vote4	69,138
percentage4	1.59%
swing4	0.87
<!-- Independents -->	image5
leader5	N/A
leader_since5	N/A
party5	Independents
leaders_seat5	N/A
popular_vote5	79,040
percentage5	1.82%
swing5	−10.34
last_election5	3 seats
seats5	2 seats
seat_change5	1
colour5
1blank	TPP
2blank	TPP swing
title	Prime Minister
before_election	Ben Chifley
before_party	Australian Labor Party
posttitle	Subsequent Prime Minister
after_election	Ben Chifley
after_party	Australian Labor Party
map_image	1946 Australian federal election.svg
map_caption	Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
vote_type	Primary

(2.35 pp) 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats of the Senate

(won seat)

A 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

Main article: Results of the 1946 Australian federal election (House of Representatives)

Independent: 1 seat}}

First preference votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change	Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	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	-1
Total	4,344,542			75
	Labor	Win	54.10	−4.10	43	−6
	Liberal–Country coalition		45.90	+4.10	29	+6

Notes

Independent: Doris Blackburn (Bourke, Vic.)
In South Australia, the Liberal Party was known as the Liberal and Country League.

Senate

First preference votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Labor	2,133,272	52.06	−3.02	16	33
Liberal–Country coalition	1,775,022	43.33	+5.18	3	3
Liberal–Country joint ticket	1,561,718	38.12	N/A	3	N/A
	Liberal	213,304	5.21	N/A	0	2
	Country	N/A	N/A	N/A	0	1
	Protestant People's	123,541	3.02	+3.02	0	0
	Services	37,724	0.92	+0.92	0	0
	Independents	27,767	0.68	–3.83	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

Seat	Post-1946	Party	Member	Margin	Margin	Member	Party
Bourke, Vic	Labor	Bill Bryson	3.6	4.7	1.1	Doris Blackburn	Independent
Calare, NSW	Labor	John Breen	9.9	11.7	1.8	John Howse	Liberal
Capricornia, Qld	Labor	Frank Forde	5.9	8.8	2.9	Charles Davidson	Country
Franklin, Tas	Labor	Charles Frost	9.9	10.0	0.1	Bill Falkinder	Liberal
Henty, Vic	Independent	Arthur Coles	5.5	9.8	4.3	Jo Gullett	Liberal
Reid, NSW	Labor	Charles Morgan	N/A	7.4	4.2	Jack Lang	Lang Labor
Swan, WA	Labor	Don Mountjoy	3.0	3.2	0.2	Len Hamilton	Country
Wakefield, SA	Labor	Albert Smith	1.2	3.9	2.7	Philip McBride	Liberal
Wilmot, Tas	Liberal	Allan Guy	1.7	3.4	1.7	Gil Duthie	Labor

Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Notes

References

University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
Two-party-preferred vote since 1937

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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