Candidates of the 1955 Australian federal election explained

This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1955 Australian federal election. The election was held on 10 December 1955.

By-elections, appointments and defections

By-elections and appointments

• On 21 May 1955, Jim Cope (Labor) was elected to replace Tom Sheehan (Labor) as the member for Cook.
• On 11 October 1955, Nancy Buttfield (Liberal) was appointed a South Australian Senator to replace George McLeay (Liberal).

Defections

• In 1955, the Australian Labor Party split, with the right-wing Catholic faction forming the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist). This latter group included Victorian Labor MPs Tom Andrews (Darebin), Bill Bourke (Fawkner), Bill Bryson (Wills), Jack Cremean (Hoddle), Bob Joshua (Ballaarat), Stan Keon (Yarra) and Jack Mullens (Gellibrand), together with Tasmanian Labor Senator George Cole.
• In 1955, Liberal Senator Agnes Robertson (Western Australia) lost preselection and defected to the Country Party.

Redistributions and seat changes

• Redistributions of electoral boundaries occurred in all states.
  • In New South Wales, the Labor-held seats of Cook and Martin were abolished, and the notionally Labor seat of Hughes was created. The Country-held seat of Lawson became notionally Labor.
    • The member for Cook, Jim Cope (Labor), contested Watson.
    • The member for Martin, William O'Connor (Labor), contested Dalley.
    • The member for Watson, Dan Curtin (Labor), contested Kingsford-Smith.
  • In Victoria, the Labor-held seats of Burke and Hoddle were abolished, and the notionally Liberal seat of Bruce and the notionally Labor seat of Scullin were created. The Liberal-held seat of Corio became notionally Labor, while the Labor-held seats of Fawkner and Wannon became notionally Liberal.
    • The member for Burke, Edward Peters (Labor), contested Scullin.
    • The member for Gellibrand, Jack Mullens (Anti-Communist), contested Melbourne.
    • The member for Hoddle, Jack Cremean (Anti-Communist), contested Scullin.
  • The changes in Queensland did not result in any changes of party status.
  • In Western Australia, the notionally Labor seat of Stirling was created. The Labor-held seat of Swan became notionally Liberal.
    • The member for Swan, Harry Webb (Labor), contested Stirling.
  • In South Australia, the notionally Labor seat of Bonython was created. The Labor-held seat of Sturt became notionally Liberal.
    • The member for Sturt, Norman Makin (Labor), contested Bonython.
  • In Tasmania, the Liberal-held seat of Darwin was renamed Braddon.
    • The member for Darwin, Aubrey Luck (Liberal), contested Braddon.

Retiring Members and Senators

Labor

• Gordon Anderson MP (Kingsford-Smith, NSW)
• Arthur Greenup MP (Dalley, NSW)
• Don McLeod MP (Wannon, Vic)

Liberal

• Josiah Francis MP (Moreton, Qld)
• Jo Gullett MP (Henty, Vic)

Country

• Senator George Rankin (Vic)

House of Representatives

Sitting members at the time of the election are shown in bold text. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk (*) is also used.

New South Wales

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	Other candidates
			Eric Costa	Harold Stalker (Lib)	Pat Clancy (CPA)
			H. V. Evatt	Bill Arthur (Lib)	Eric Trembath (Ind)
		Harold Coates		John Cramer (Lib)
			Jim Harrison	Reginald Allsop (Lib)
				Harry Turner (Lib)
		Lionel Wood		John Howse (Lib)
				Sir Earle Page (CP)
			Billy Davies	John Parkinson (Lib)	William Harkness (CPA)
			William O'Connor	Stanley Tyler (Lib)	Ernie Thornton (CPA)
			Joe Clark	Ewen Martin (CP)
			Eddie Ward	Joseph Landor (Lib)	Bill Brown (CPA)
			Allan Fraser	Mark Flanagan (Lib)	Royce Beavis (Ind)
		Sidney Pollard		Frederick Osborne (Lib)
		Robert Garland		David Fairbairn (Lib)
			Fred Daly	Ian Chisholm (Lib)	Hal Alexander (CPA) William McCristal (Ind)
		Austin Heffernan		Ian Allan (CP)
				Keith Bates (Lib)	Robert Mackie (Ind) Alf Watt (CPA)
		Arthur Fuller		Charles Anderson (CP)
			Rowley James	Edward Farrell (Lib)	Evan Phillips (CPA)
			Dan Curtin	John McGirr (Lib)	Hubert O'Connell (Ind)
			Frank Stewart	Wallace Peacock (Lib)
		Jack Williamson		Laurie Failes (CP)
		Edward Davies		William McMahon (Lib)
		Jack Collins		Philip Lucock (CP)	Joe Cordner (Ind)
		Claude Allen		Jeff Bate (Lib)
		Norman McAlpine		Bill Wentworth (Lib)	Frank Hardy (CPA)
			Tony Luchetti	Norman Leven (Lib)	Vernon Moffitt (CPA)
		Doug Bowd		Roy Wheeler (Lib)
		Frederick Cowley		David Drummond (CP)
			David Watkins	Eric Cupit (Lib)	Sidney Monroe (Ind) Doug Olive (CPA)
		Joseph McNally		William Jack (Lib)
			Les Haylen	John Spicer (Lib)
		John Heazlewood		Howard Beale (Lib)
		William Harvey		Allen Fairhall (Lib)
		Joe Fitzgerald		William Aston (Lib)
			Charles Morgan	George Walker (Lib)	Jack Hughes (CPA) Charles Tubman (Ind)
				Larry Anthony (CP)
		Oscar Washington		Hugh Roberton (CP)
		Frank Spencer		Roger Dean (Lib)
		Nelson Lemmon		Bill Graham (Lib)
			Charles Griffiths	Gordon Greig (Lib)
				Francis Bland (Lib)
			Jim Cope	Jill Huxtable (Lib)	Harry Hatfield (CPA)
				Sir Eric Harrison (Lib)	Hal Lashwood (Ind)
			Gough Whitlam	John Shannon (Lib)
			Dan Minogue	Frank Weaver (Lib)	Lance Sharkey (CPA)

Queensland

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	Other candidates
		Hector Chalmers		Malcolm McColm (Lib)
			George Lawson	Kevin Cairns (Lib)	Claude Jones (CPA)
		Colin Maxwell		George Pearce (Lib)	Eric Browne (CPA)
				Reginald Swartz (Lib)
		Stanley Dalton		Charles Davidson (CP)
				Charles Adermann (CP)
			Wilfred Coutts	Doug Berry (Lib)
			Bill Edmonds	Arnold White (CP)	Frank Bishop (CPA)
			Bill Riordan	Timothy Donnelly (CP)
			Harry Bruce	Tom Gilmore (CP)	Frank Falls (CPA)
				Bruce Wight (Lib)
				Wilfred Brimblecombe (CP)	Paul Bauers (Ind) Charles Russell (Ind)
		David Clarke		Sir Arthur Fadden (CP)	Thomas Green (Ind)
		Allen Edwards		James Killen (Lib)	Max Julius (CPA)
		Norman Thomas		Donald Cameron (Lib)	James Dwyer (Ind) Mervyn Welsby (CPA)
		Noel Curran		Alan Hulme (Lib)
		Norman Buchan		Nigel Drury (Lib)
		Matthew Tallon		William Brand (CP)

South Australia

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Liberal candidate	Other candidates
			Cyril Chambers	James Maitland	Olaf Alland (ALPAC) Jim Moss (CPA)
		Darcy Nielsen		Alick Downer	Frank Rieck (Ind)
		Ralph Dettman		Archie Cameron
			Norman Makin
		Rex Mathews		John McLeay	John Sutherland (ALPAC)
			Edgar Russell
			Clyde Cameron		Francis Moran (ALPAC)
			Pat Galvin
			Albert Thompson		Peter Symon (CPA)
		Frederick Hansford
		Robert Bruce		Sir Philip McBride	Hector Henstridge (Ind)

Tasmania

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Liberal candidate	Other candidates
			Lance Barnard	Frederick White	Leslie Duke (ALPAC)
				Aubrey Luck
				Athol Townley	Max Bound (CPA)
				Bill Falkinder	Henry Roberts (ALPAC)
			Gil Duthie	Robert Bethell	Owen Doherty (ALPAC)

Victoria

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	Anti-Communist candidate	Communist candidate
		George Smith		Percy Joske (Lib)	Rex Keane
		Austin Dowling		Dudley Erwin (Lib)	Bob Joshua
			Alan Bird	Fred Capp (Lib)	Tom Walsh
			Percy Clarey	Bill Day (Lib)	Jim Brosnan
				Billy Snedden (Lib)	Reginald Kearney
		John Stewart		Wilfrid Kent Hughes (Lib)	Leonora Lloyd
		Edwin Morris		Dan Mackinnon (Lib)	Leo O'Brien
		Charles Loader		Hubert Opperman (Lib)	Francis Singleton
				Charles White (Lib)	Tom Andrews
		Norm Griffiths		Frank Davis (Lib)	Terence Collins
		Patrick Thompson		Peter Howson (Lib)	Bill Bourke
		Francis Cranston		Robert Lindsay (Lib)
				John Bown (Lib)	James Eudey	Frank Johnson
		Clement Little		George Bowden (CP)	Frank Burns
		Percy Treyvaud		Max Fox (Lib)	Henry Moore
				Harold Holt (Lib)	John Fitzgerald
				Frank Timson (Lib)	Frank Gaffy
		Carl Reeves		William Bostock (Lib)	William Findlay
				William Haworth (Lib)	John Hughes
				Robert Menzies (Lib)	Kevin Gregson	Gerry O'Day
		Bill Webber		Richard Casey (Lib)	George Noone
			Reg Pollard	Peter Kemp (Lib)	William Lloyd
		William Nicholas		Winton Turnbull (CP)	Edwin Leyden
		Arthur Drakeford		Philip Stokes (Lib)	David Purcell
		Horace Hawkins		Alex Buchanan (Lib)	Desmond Devlin
			Arthur Calwell	James Moloney (Lib)	Jack Mullens
			Frank Crean	Harold Sher (Lib)		Alex Dobbin
		James Cameron		John McEwen (CP)	Michael Reilly
			Ted Peters	Phillip Lynch (Lib)	Jack Cremean
		Roy Cundy		Malcolm Fraser (Lib)	Terence Callander
				Alfred Wall (Lib)	Bill Bryson
		Winston Lamb		William Lawrence (Lib)	Bernard Flanagan
				James Wilkie (Lib)	Stan Keon	Ken Miller

Western Australia

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	Other candidates
				Len Hamilton (CP)
				Paul Hasluck (Lib)
				Gordon Freeth (Lib)
			Kim Beazley	Vernon Hubbard (Lib)	Paddy Troy (CPA)
			Herbert Johnson		Harold Illingworth (Ind)
				Hugh Leslie (CP)
		Tom Burke		Fred Chaney (Lib)
			Harry Webb	Frederick Payne (Lib)
		Thomas Williams		Richard Cleaver (Lib)

Senate

Sitting Senators are shown in bold text. Tickets that elected at least one Senator are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are identified by an asterisk (*).

New South Wales

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal-Country Coalition was defending three seats. Senators Stan Amour (Labor), Ken Anderson (Liberal), James Arnold (Labor), Donald Grant (Labor) and Alister McMullin (Liberal) were not up for re-election.

Queensland

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal-Country Coalition was defending three seats. Senators Gordon Brown (Labor), Condon Byrne (Labor), Roy Kendall (Liberal), Ted Maher (Country) and Ian Wood (Liberal) were not up for re-election.

South Australia

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending three seats. Senators Jack Critchley (Labor), Keith Laught (Liberal), Rex Pearson (Liberal), John Ryan (Labor) and Jim Toohey (Labor) were not up for re-election.

Tasmania

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending one seat. The Liberal Party was defending four seats. Senators Bill Aylett (Labor), George Cole (Labor), John Marriott (Liberal), Justin O'Byrne (Labor) and Robert Wordsworth (Liberal) were not up for re-election.

Victoria

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending three seats. The Liberal-Country Coalition was defending two seats. Senators Jack Devlin (Labor), John Gorton (Liberal), Bert Hendrickson (Labor), Pat Kennelly (Labor) and Ivy Wedgwood (Liberal) were not up for re-election.

Western Australia

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending three seats (although Senator Agnes Robertson had defected to the Country Party). Senators Joe Cooke (Labor), James Fraser (Labor), John Harris (Labor), Malcolm Scott (Liberal) and Harrie Seward (Country) were not up for re-election.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Country candidates	Anti-Communist candidates	Communist candidates
valign=top	Dorothy Tangney Don Willesee Charlie Golding	valign=top	Shane Paltridge Seddon Vincent George Branson	valign=top	Agnes Robertson Reginald Davies	valign=top	Ian Handcock Olive Anstey	valign=top	John Gandini Annette Aarons Jack Marks
PEP candidates	Ungrouped candidates
valign=top	Claude Swaine Robert Salter	valign=top	Carlyle Ferguson (APA)	valign=top		valign=top		valign=top

Summary by party

Beside each party is the number of seats contested by that party in the House of Representatives for each state, as well as an indication of whether the party contested Senate elections in each state.

Party	NSW		Vic		Qld		WA		SA		Tas		ACT	NT	Total
	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	HR	HR	S
Australian Labor Party	42		33		15		5		11		5		1	1	113	6
Liberal Party of Australia	38		30		10		6		10		5		1		100	6
Australian Country Party	9		3		8		2								22	4
Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist)			33						3		3				39	4
Communist Party of Australia	14		4		6		1		2		1				28	5
Henry George Justice Party																1
Progress Enterprise Party																1
All Parties Administration																1
Independent and other	8				1		1		2						12

See also

• 1955 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1954–1955
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1955–1958
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1953–1956
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1956–1959
• List of political parties in Australia

References

• Adam Carr's Election Archive - House of Representatives 1955
• Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1955