Australian general election, 1961
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Federal elections were held in Australia on December 9, 1961. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 31 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell.
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[edit] Issues
Due to a credit squeeze, the economy had gone into a brief recession in 1961. This combined with initial enthusiasm for the new Opposition Leader, Arthur Calwell, was enough to see a swing against the Menzies Government.
[edit] Significance
The 1961 election remains the closest Federal election in Australian history, with the Government holding a majority of only a single seat. The election was decided in the seat of Moreton, which was won for the Liberals by Jim Killen by only 200 votes. It is a popular myth that he won on Communist Party preferences[1].
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Australian Labor Party | 2,512,929 | 47.90 | +5.09 | 60 | +15 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 1,761,738 | 33.58 | -3.65 | 45 | -13 | |
| Democratic Labor Party | 456,962 | 8.71 | -0.70 | 0 | 0 | |
| Country Party | 446,475 | 8.51 | -0.81 | 17 | -2 | |
| Other | 67,929 | 1.29 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5,246,033 | 122 | ||||
| LPA/NAT coalition | WIN | 49.50 | -4.60 | 62 | -15 | |
| Australian Labor Party | 50.50 | +4.60 | 60 | +15 |
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 2,151,339 | 44.71 | +1.93 | 14 | 28 | |
| Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) | 1,595,696 | 33.16 | +9.79 | 8 | * | |
| Democratic Labor Party | 472,578 | 9.82 | +1.40 | 0 | 1 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 398,292 | 8.28 | -12.41 | 7 | 24 | |
| Communist Party of Australia | 78,188 | 1.62 | -1.29 | 0 | 0 | |
| Country Party | 31,090 | 0.65 | -0.50 | 1 | 6 | |
| Independents | 46,499 | 0.97 | +0.54 | 1 | 1 | |
| Other | 38,581 | 0.80 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 4,812,263 | 31 | 60 |
[edit] References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- AustralianPolitics.com 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.
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Australian general elections
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