| Election Name: | 1958 Australian federal election |
| Country: | Australia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1955 Australian federal election |
| Previous Year: | 1955 |
| Next Election: | 1961 Australian federal election |
| Next Year: | 1961 |
| Outgoing Members: | Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1955–1958 |
| Elected Members: | Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1958–1961 |
| Registered: | 5,384,624 |
| Turnout: | 5,141,109 (95.48%) (0.48 pp) |
| Seats For Election: | All 124 seats of the House of Representatives 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 32 (of the 60) seats of the Senate |
| Election Date: | 22 November 1958 |
| Leader1: | Robert Menzies |
| Leader Since1: | 23 September 1943 |
| Party1: | Liberal/Country coalition |
| Leaders Seat1: | Kooyong (Vic.) |
| Last Election1: | 75 seats |
| Seats1: | 77 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,298,512 |
| Percentage1: | 46.55% |
| Swing1: | 1.12 |
| 1Data1: | 54.10% |
| 2Data1: | 0.10 |
| Leader2: | H. V. Evatt |
| Leader Since2: | 13 June 1951 |
| Party2: | Australian Labor Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | Hunter (NSW) (won seat) |
| Last Election2: | 47 seats |
| Seats2: | 45 + NT + ACT |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,137,890 |
| Percentage2: | 42.81% |
| Swing2: | 1.84 |
| 1Data2: | 45.90% |
| 2Data2: | 0.10 |
| 1Blank: | TPP |
| 2Blank: | TPP swing |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Prime Minister | |
| Before Election: | Robert Menzies |
| Before Party: | Liberal/Country coalition |
| Posttitle: | Subsequent Prime Minister |
| After Election: | Robert Menzies |
| After Party: | Liberal/Country coalition |
The 1958 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives and 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party, led by H. V. Evatt.
In spite of a major global downturn in early 1958, the Coalition was returned to power and there was an even swing against the Labor Party. This was due largely to support for the breakaway Democratic Labor Party. This was the first Australian election campaign to be fought using television as a medium for communicating with voters. Menzies was interviewed on television, while opposition figures H. V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell took part in debates with ministers Harold Holt and William McMahon. Somewhat surprisingly Menzies emerged as a confident and effective television performer. This may have contributed to the better than expected result for the government.
See main article: Results of the 1958 Australian federal election (House of Representatives).
| Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal–Country coalition | 2,298,512 | 46.55 | –1.12 | 77 | +2 | ||||
| Liberal | 1,859,180 | 37.23 | −2.53 | 58 | +1 | ||||
| Country | 465,320 | 9.32 | +1.41 | 19 | +1 | ||||
| Labor | 2,137,890 | 42.81 | −1.84 | 47 | −2 | ||||
| Democratic Labor | 389,688 | 7.80 | +2.63 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Queensland Labor | 80,035 | 1.60 | +1.60 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Communist | 26,337 | 0.53 | –0.63 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Nationalist | 3,577 | 0.07 | +0.07 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Independent | 31,466 | 0.63 | –0.74 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 4,993,493 | 122 | |||||||
| Liberal–Country coalition | Win | 54.10 | −0.10 | 77 | +2 | ||||
| Labor | 45.90 | +0.10 | 45 | −2 | |||||
| Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal–Country coalition | 2,084,193 | 45.19 | –3.49 | 16 | 32 | +2 | |||
| Liberal–Country joint ticket | 1,077,586 | 23.36 | –16.02 | 9 | N/A | N/A | |||
| Liberal | 953,856 | 20.68 | +12.02 | 6 | 25 | +1 | |||
| Country | 52,751 | 1.14 | +0.51 | 1 | 7 | +1 | |||
| Labor | 1,973,027 | 42.78 | +2.17 | 15 | 26 | –2 | |||
| Democratic Labor | 314,755 | 6.82 | +0.72 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Communist | 134,263 | 2.91 | −0.73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Queensland Labor | 73,037 | 1.66 | +1.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Loyalist | 4,459 | 0.10 | +0.10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| True Democrat | 4,337 | 0.09 | +0.09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Republican | 3,715 | 0.08 | +0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Independents | 20,273 | 0.44 | –0.46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 4,612,059 | 32 | 60 | ||||||
| Seat | Pre-1958 | Swing | Post-1958 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||||
| Braddon, Tas | Liberal | Aubrey Luck | 8.9 | 9.3 | 0.4 | Ron Davies | Labor | ||||
| Griffith, Qld | Labor | Wilfred Coutts | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.1 | Arthur Chresby | Liberal | ||||
| Herbert, Qld | Labor | Bill Edmonds | 6.6 | 8.1 | 1.5 | John Murray | Liberal | ||||
| Indi, Vic | Liberal | William Bostock | N/A | 28.6 | 6.5 | Mac Holten | Country | ||||
| Kalgoorlie, WA | Labor | Herbert Johnson | N/A | 11.4 | 0.3 | Peter Browne | Liberal | ||||
| Moore, WA | Country | Hugh Leslie | 100.0 | 52.9 | 2.9 | Hugh Halbert | Liberal | ||||
| St George, NSW | Liberal | Bill Graham | 2.4 | 2.5 | 0.1 | Lionel Clay | Labor | ||||
| Stirling, WA | Labor | Harry Webb | 2.8 | 3.0 | 0.2 | Doug Cash | Liberal | ||||
| Wimmera, Vic | Liberal | William Lawrence | N/A | 22.7 | 5.9 | Robert King | Country | ||||