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1955 Australian federal election

10 December 1955
All 124 seats of the House of Representatives 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 30 (of the 60) seats of the Senate
Registered	5,172,443 1.49%
Turnout	4,525,774 (95.00%) (1.09 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Robert Menzies Frank McManus Party Liberal/Country coalition Labour Leader since 23 September 1943 5 October 1954 Leader's seat Kooyong (Vic.) Batman (Vic.) (won seat) Last election 64 seats 59 seats Seats before 64 / 124 52 / 124 Seats won 73 / 124 51 / 124 Seat change 9 1 Popular vote 1,987,354 1,924,536 Percentage 45.24% 43.81% Swing 2.33% 6.26% TPP 52.08% 47.92% TPP swing 2.18% 2.18%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition

Popular vote Labor   43.81% Liberal   38.75% SDLP   8.11% Country   7.65% Communist   1.16% Independent   0.52%

Two-party-preferred vote Coalition   52.08% Labour   47.92%

Parliament seats Coalition   58.87% Labour   41.13%

The Australian Labour Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labour Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism. Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt, who along with six other Labour MPs left the ALP on 5 October 1955 to form the Social Democratic Labour Party and Frank McManus, who assumed leadership of the ALP that same day. B. A. Santamaria, the dominant force behind the "Catholic Social Studies Movement" or "the Movement", also played a role in the split.

I have witnessed three disastrous splits in the Australian Labour Party during the past fifty-six years. ... The first split occurred in 1916 over conscription in World War I; the second in 1931 over the Premiers' Plan for economic recovery in the Great Depression; and the third in 1955 over alleged fascist infiltration of the trade union movement. The last was the worst of the three, because the party took years to heal the wounds that resulted from it.

Arthur Calwell

On 15 September 1954, Evatt denounced the influence of Santamaria's Movement, which had become a strong tendency within the ALP, especially among the party's Roman Catholic membership. Both factions sent delegates to the 1955 Labour Party conference in Hobart. Evatt regarded the Movement and its delegates with hostility, alleged that they were trying to turn Labour into a Catholic centre party of a Liberal-esque or even fascistic persuasion, and attempted to have Movement delegates banned from the conference. In the end, Movement-aligned delegates were included in the conference, prompting followers of Evatt to withdraw from the Labour party and form the Social Democratic Labour Party. Deputy leader Arthur Calwell, originally a close ally of Evatt, chose to remain in the party, as he was closely associated with prominent Groupers and had many opponents on the party's left.

Although the staunchly anti-ALP leadership of the Social Democratic Labour Party never endorsed the Liberal Party, some of its voters used Australia's full-preference instant-runoff voting system to direct preference votes towards the Liberal Party or independents. Preference flows prevented the ALP from obtaining office until 1961, when Arthur Calwell secured a slim majority for Labour. The SDLP would later dissolve in the 1980s, with many breakaway trade unions gaining readmittance into the Labour Party. A 'continuing' SDLP would survive as a rump organisation until 1995, when it merged with various green and socialist parties to form the modern-day Left Party.

Historians, journalists, and political scientists have observed that the split was not a single event but a process that occurred over the early 1950s in state and federal Labour parties. The main consequence of the split was to effectively purge the ALP of many left-wing elements, with the party eventually dropping its official commitment to democratic socialism and in effect embracing a Christian democratic ideology. While the split was initially along ethnocultural lines (i.e., Roman Catholicism), the erosion of sectarian politics in Australia and a focus on issues like trade unionism and anti-communism (as well as social conservatism among some members) meant the party continued to be inter-denominationally tolerant and retained a significant number of Protestants.

The Right Honourable Arthur Calwell
Calwell in 1966
17th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 11 December 1961 – 21 November 1968
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governors‑General	Viscount Dunrossil Viscount De L'Isle Lord Casey
Deputy	Lance Barnard
Preceded by	Robert Menzies
Succeeded by	Gough Whitlam
18th Leader of the Opposition
In office 7 March 1959 – 11 December 1961
Prime Minister	Robert Menzies
Deputy	Lance Barnard
Preceded by	Frank McManus
Succeeded by	John Gorton
Leader of the Labour Party
In office 7 March 1959 – 21 November 1968 Acting leader: 21 November – 1 December 1968
Deputy	Lance Barnard
Preceded by	Frank McManus
Succeeded by	Gough Whitlam
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office 20 June 1951 – 7 March 1959
Leader	H. V. Evatt Frank McManus
Preceded by	H. V. Evatt
Succeeded by	TBA
Minister for Immigration
In office 13 July 1945 – 19 December 1949
Prime Minister	Ben Chifley
Preceded by	New position
Succeeded by	Harold Holt
Minister for Information
In office 21 September 1943 – 19 December 1949
Prime Minister	John Curtin Frank Forde
Preceded by	Bill Ashley
Succeeded by	Howard Beale
Member of the Australian Parliament for Melbourne
In office 21 September 1940 – 25 October 1969
Preceded by	William Maloney
Succeeded by	Ted Innes
Personal details
Born	Arthur Augustus Calwell (1896-08-28)28 August 1896 West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died	8 July 1973(1973-07-08) (aged 76) East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Resting place	Melbourne General Cemetery
Political party	Labour
Spouses	Margaret Murphy ​ ​ (m. 1921; died 1922)​ Elizabeth Marren ​ (m. 1932)​
Children	2
Education	St Mary's College St Joseph's College
Profession	Public servant Trade unionist Politician

Arthur Augustus Calwell (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Australia from 1961 to 1968 and leader of the Labour Party from 1959 to 1968. He remained loyal to the party during the 1955 Australian Labour Party split and successfully led the party through three federal elections. Calwell grew up in Melbourne and attended St Joseph's College. After leaving school, he began working as a clerk for the Victorian state government. He became involved in the labour movement as an officeholder in the public-sector trade union. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1940 federal election, standing in the Division of Melbourne.

After the 1943 election, Calwell was elevated to cabinet as Minister for Information, overseeing government censorship and propaganda during World War II. When Ben Chifley became prime minister in 1945, Calwell was also made Minister for Immigration. He oversaw the creation of Australia's expanded post-war immigration scheme, at the same time strictly enforcing the White Australia policy. In 1951, he was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party in place of H. V. Evatt, who had succeeded to the leadership upon Chifley's death. The two clashed on a number of occasions over the following decade, which encompassed the 1955 party split. Evatt left the party and Frank McManus was chosen as his successor. McManus lost both the 1955 and 1958 elections, and Calwell was chosen as leader to replace him in 1959.

Under Calwell, Labour was victorious at the 1961 election, gaining 8 seats and a very slim majority, which was retained at the 1964 election. Calwell was one of the most prominent opponents of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, and prevented Australia from joining. In 1966 he led his party to a third victory. Ahead of the 1969 election, he announced his retirement from politics and was succeeded by his deputy, Gough Whitlam. Calwell died in 1973. His government is remembered for the introduction of its expanded post-war immigration scheme, the introduction of workplace codetermination, greatly increased government support for non-state schools, and opposition to Australian participation in American foreign policy ventures like the Vietnam War. Some elements of this programme, such as continued enforcement of the White Australia Policy and scepticism towards the US Alliance, would later be gradually undone by both the Whitlam and Holt governments.

1961 Australian federal election

9 December 1961
All 124 seats of the House of Representatives 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 31 (of the 60) seats of the Senate
Registered	5,651,561 4.96%
Turnout	5,384,350 (95.27%) (0.21 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Arthur Calwell Robert Menzies Party Labour Liberal/Country coalition Leader since 8 January 1959 23 September 1943 Leader's seat Melbourne (Vic.) Kooyong (Vic.) Last election 55 seats, 44.28% 69 seats, 44.72% Seats before 55 / 124 69 / 124 Seats won 63 / 124 61 / 124 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 2,519,669 2,208,055 Percentage 48.03% 42.09% Swing 3.75% 2.63% TPP 52.09% 47.91% TPP swing 2.47% 2.47%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Arthur Calwell Labour

1969 Australian federal election

25 October 1969
All 125 seats of the House of Representatives 63 seats were needed for a majority
Registered	6,606,233 6.66%
Turnout	6,273,661 (94.97%) (0.16 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Gough Whitlam Harold Holt Party Labour Liberal/Country coalition Leader since 21 November 1968 10 January 1968 Leader's seat Werriwa (NSW) Higgins (Vic.) Last election 67 seats, 48.55% 57 seats, 41.83% Seats before 66 / 124 58 / 124 Seats won 64 / 125 61 / 125 Seat change 2 3 Popular vote 2,950,502 2,784,878 Percentage 47.03% 44.39% Swing 1.52% 2.56% TPP 49.95% 50.05% TPP swing 1.32% 1.32%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Gough Whitlam Labour Subsequent Prime Minister Gough Whitlam Labour

1972 Australian federal election

2 December 1972
All 125 seats of the House of Representatives 63 seats were needed for a majority
Registered	7,073,930 7.08%
Turnout	6,747,244 (95.38%) (0.41 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Harold Holt Gough Whitlam Party Liberal/Country coalition Labour Leader since 10 January 1968 21 November 1968 Leader's seat Higgins (Vic.) Werriwa (NSW) Last election 61 seats, 44.39% 64 seats, 47.03% Seats before 61 / 125 64 / 125 Seats won 70 / 125 55 / 125 Seat change 9 9 Popular vote 3,182,674 3,003,198 Percentage 47.17% 44.51% Swing 1.78 2.52% TPP 52.09% 47.91% TPP swing 2.04% 2.04%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Gough Whitlam Labour Subsequent Prime Minister Harold Holt Liberal/Country coalition