Members of the Australian Senate, 1951–1953

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1951 to 1953.[1] The 28 April 1951 election was a double dissolution called by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies in an attempt to gain control of the Senate and to pass a bill to ban the Communist Party of Australia, if necessary at a joint sitting of both houses. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by Arthur Fadden defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Ben Chifley and gained control of the Senate with 32 seats to Labor's 28.

Senate composition at 12 June 1951
Government (32) - (2 seat majority)

     Liberal (26)
     Country Party (6)

Opposition (28)
     Labor (28)

 

In accordance with section 13 of the Constitution,[2] terms for Senators was taken to commence on 1 July 1950. The first five Senators elected in each State were allocated the full six-year terms ending on 30 June 1956 while the other half were allocated three-year terms ending on 30 June 1953.[3]

Senator	Party		State	End term	Years in Office
Stan Amour		Labor	New South Wales	1953	1938–1965
Hon John Armstrong		Labor	New South Wales	1956	1938–1962
James Arnold		Labor	New South Wales	1953	1941–1965
Hon. Bill Ashley		Labor	New South Wales	1956	1938–1962
Bill Aylett		Labor	Tasmania	1953	1938–1965
Archie Benn		Labor	Queensland	1956	1950–1968
Hon. Gordon Brown [lower-alpha 1]		Labor	Queensland	1953	1932–1965
Condon Byrne		Labor	Queensland	1953	1951–1959, 1968–1974
Hon. Don Cameron		Labor	Victoria	1956	1938–1962
Jack Chamberlain [lower-alpha 2]		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1951–1953
George Cole		Labor	Tasmania	1953	1950–1965
Joe Cooke [lower-alpha 3]		Labor	Western Australia	1953	1947–1951, 1952–1965
Hon. Walter Cooper		Country	Queensland	1956	1928–1932, 1935–1968
Magnus Cormack		Liberal	Victoria	1953	1951–1953, 1962–1978
Hon. Ben Courtice		Labor	Queensland	1956	1937–1962
Jack Critchley		Labor	South Australia	1953	1947–1959
Jack Devlin		Labor	Victoria	1953	1946–1957
Alex Finlay		Labor	South Australia	1953	1944–1953
Hon. James Fraser		Labor	Western Australia	1953	1938–1959
John Gorton		Liberal	Victoria	1953	1950–1968
Donald Grant		Labor	New South Wales	1953	1944–1959
Allan Guy		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1956
Clive Hannaford		Liberal	South Australia	1956	1950–1967
Bert Hendrickson		Labor	Victoria	1953	1947–1971
Denham Henty		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1968
Roy Kendall		Liberal	Queensland	1953	1950–1965
Keith Laught		Liberal	South Australia	1953	1951–1969
Ted Maher		Country	Queensland	1953	1950–1965
John Marriott [lower-alpha 2]		Liberal	Tasmania	1953,[lower-alpha 4] 1959	1953, 1953–1975
Hon. Ted Mattner		Liberal	South Australia	1956	1944–1946, 1950–1968
John McCallum		Liberal	New South Wales	1956	1950–1962
Hon. Nick McKenna		Labor	Tasmania	1956	1944–1968
Hon. George McLeay		Liberal	South Australia	1956	1935–1947, 1950–1955
Hon. Alister McMullin		Liberal	New South Wales	1953	1951–1971
Bill Morrow		Labor	Tasmania	1953	1947–1953
Richard Nash [lower-alpha 3]		Labor	Western Australia	1953	1943–1951
Theo Nicholls		Labor	South Australia	1956	1944–1968
Justin O'Byrne		Labor	Tasmania	1953	1947–1981
Sid O'Flaherty		Labor	South Australia	1956	1944–1962
Hon. Neil O'Sullivan		Liberal	Queensland	1956	1947–1962
Hon Shane Paltridge		Liberal	Western Australia	1953	1951–1966
Rex Pearson		Liberal	South Australia	1953	1951–1961
Edmund Piesse [lower-alpha 5]		Country	Western Australia	1956	1950–1952
Dame Annabelle Rankin		Liberal	Queensland	1956	1947–1971
George Rankin		Country	Victoria	1956	1950–1956
Albert Reid		Country	New South Wales	1956	1950–1962
Agnes Robertson		Liberal	Western Australia	1956	1950–1962
Bill Robinson [lower-alpha 5]		Country	Western Australia	1953 [lower-alpha 4]	1952–1953
John Ryan		Labor	South Australia	1953	1950–1959
Charles Sandford		Labor	Victoria	1956	1947–1956, 1957–1966
Malcolm Scott		Liberal	Western Australia	1953	1950–1971
Harrie Seward		Country	Western Australia	1953	1951–1958
Jim Sheehan		Labor	Victoria	1956	1938–1940, 1944–1962
Hon. John Spicer		Liberal	Victoria	1956	1940–1944, 1950–1956
Hon. Bill Spooner		Liberal	New South Wales	1956	1950–1965
Dame Dorothy Tangney		Labor	Western Australia	1956	1943–1968
John Tate		Liberal	New South Wales	1953	1950–1953
Seddon Vincent		Liberal	Western Australia	1956	1950–1964
Robert Wardlaw [lower-alpha 2]		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1953–1962
Dame Ivy Wedgwood		Liberal	Victoria	1953	1950–1971
Don Willesee		Labor	Western Australia	1956	1950–1975
Ian Wood		Liberal	Queensland	1953	1950–1978
Robert Wordsworth		Liberal	Tasmania	1953	1950–1959
Reg Wright		Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1978

Notes

1. Father of the Senate
2. Liberal Senator Jack Chamberlain died on 16 January 1953; Liberal member John Marriott was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 3 March, expiring at the May 1953 Senate election, when he was elected to a six year term expiring on 30 June 1959. Robert Wardlaw was elected to the vacancy expiring on 30 June 1956.
3. Labor Senator Richard Nash died on 12 December 1951; former Labor Senator Joe Cooke was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 7 February 1952.
4. Appointed to a casual vacancy and only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.[4]
5. Country Party Senator Edmund Piesse died on 25 August 1952; Country Party member Bill Robinson was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 30 September, but was fourth on the Coalition ticket at the 9 May 1953 election and was defeated for the seat by Liberal Senator Shane Paltridge.

References

1. "The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate 1951". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
2. Constitution (Cth) s 13 Rotation of senators.
3. "Rotation of Senators" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of Australia: Senate. 13 June 1951. p. 35.
4. Evans, H. "Filling Casual Vacancies before 1977" (PDF). The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, Volume 3. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2017.

• Journals of the Senate. Parliament of Australia. 1953.
• "Members of the Senate since 1901". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.