Members of the Australian Senate, 1947–1950

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1 July 1947 to 30 June 1950.[1] Half of its members were elected at the 21 August 1943 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1944 and finishing on 30 June 1947; the other half were elected at the 28 September 1946 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1947 and finishing on 30 June 1953.

Senate composition at 1 July 1947

Government (33) - (14 seat majority)
  Labor (33)

Opposition (3)
  Liberal (2)
  Country Party (1)
 
Senate composition at 22 February 1950
Government (36) - (5 seat majority)
  Labor (36)

Opposition (24)
  Liberal (19)
  Country Party (5)

 

All senators elected at the 1943 election and 15 of the 18 elected (representing all states except Queensland) represented the Australian Labor Party, leading to the strongest single party domination in any Australian Senate. The plurality-at-large voting system used before the 1949 election meant that the winning party (or coalition) ticket usually took all seats in each state.

The Senate was expanded from 36 to 60 seats as a result of legislation passed in 1948.[2] 1949 was the first senate election conducted with a single transferable vote under a proportional voting system. with the new senators taking their seats on 22 February 1950 The membership of the newly expanded Senate broke down as follows:

• 12 of its members (2 for each state) had terms starting on 22 February 1950 (the day the term of the House of Representatives began) and due to finish on 30 June 1953.
• 12 of its members (2 for each state) had terms starting on 22 February 1950 (the day the term of the House of Representatives began) and due to finish on 30 June 1956.

While the introduction of new senators decreased the Labor dominance of the senate, Labor retained a Senate majority.

Senator	Party		State	End term	Years in Office
Stan Amour		Labor	New South Wales	1950	1938–1965
Hon John Armstrong		Labor	New South Wales	1950	1938–1962
James Arnold		Labor	New South Wales	1953	1941–1965
Hon. Bill Ashley		Labor	New South Wales	1953	1938–1962
Bill Aylett		Labor	Tasmania	1950	1938–1965
Fred Beerworth		Labor	South Australia	1953	1946–1951
Hon. Gordon Brown [lower-alpha 1]		Labor	Queensland	1950	1932–1965
Hon. Don Cameron		Labor	Victoria	1950	1938–1962
Robert Clothier		Labor	Western Australia	1950	1943–1968
George Cole		Labor	Tasmania	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1965
Hon. Joe Collings [lower-alpha 1]		Labor	Queensland	1950	1932–1950
Joe Cooke		Labor	Western Australia	1953	1947–1951, 1952–1965
Hon. Walter Cooper		Country	Queensland	1953	1928–1932, 1935–1968
Hon. Ben Courtice		Labor	Queensland	1950	1937–1962
Jack Critchley		Labor	South Australia	1953	1947–1959
Jack Devlin		Labor	Victoria	1950	1946–1957
Alex Finlay		Labor	South Australia	1950	1944–1953
Hon. James Fraser		Labor	Western Australia	1950	1938–1959
John Gorton		Liberal	Victoria	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1968
Donald Grant		Labor	New South Wales	1950	1944–1959
Allan Guy		Liberal	Tasmania	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1956
Clive Hannaford		Liberal	South Australia	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1967
John Harris		Labor	Western Australia	1953	1947–1951, 1953–1959
Bert Hendrickson		Labor	Victoria	1953	1947–1971
Fred Katz		Labor	Victoria	1953	1947–1951
Roy Kendall		Liberal	Queensland	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1965
Charles Lamp		Labor	Tasmania	1950	1938–1950
William Large		Labor	New South Wales	1953	1941–1951
Ted Maher		Country	Queensland	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1965
Ted Mattner		Liberal	South Australia	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1944–1946, 1950–1968
John McCallum		Liberal	New South Wales	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1962
Nick McKenna		Labor	Tasmania	1950	1944–1968
Hon. George McLeay		Liberal	South Australia	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1935–1947, 1950–1955
Bill Morrow		Labor	Tasmania	1953	1947–1953
Reg Murray		Labor	Tasmania	1953	1947–1951
Richard Nash		Labor	Western Australia	1950	1943–1951
Theo Nicholls		Labor	South Australia	1950	1944–1968
Justin O'Byrne		Labor	Tasmania	1953	1947–1981
Sid O'Flaherty		Labor	South Australia	1950	1944–1962
Neil O'Sullivan		Liberal	Queensland	1953	1947–1962
Edmund Piesse		Country	Western Australia	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1952
Dame Annabelle Rankin		Liberal	Queensland	1953	1947–1971
George Rankin		Country	Victoria	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1956
Albert Reid		Country	New South Wales	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1962
Agnes Robertson		Liberal	Western Australia	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1962
John Ryan		Labor	South Australia	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1959
Charles Sandford		Labor	Victoria	1953	1947–1956, 1957–1966
Malcolm Scott		Liberal	Western Australia	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1971
Jim Sheehan		Labor	Victoria	1950	1938–1940, 1944–1962
Wilfrid Simmonds		Liberal	Queensland	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1951
Hon. John Spicer		Liberal	Victoria	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1940–1944, 1950–1956
Hon. Bill Spooner		Liberal	New South Wales	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1965
Dame Dorothy Tangney		Labor	Western Australia	1953	1943–1968
John Tate		Liberal	New South Wales	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1953
Frederick Ward		Labor	South Australia	1953	1947–1951
Dame Ivy Wedgwood		Liberal	Victoria	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1971
Don Willesee		Labor	Western Australia	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1975
Ian Wood		Liberal	Queensland	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1978
Robert Wordsworth		Liberal	Tasmania	1953 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1959
Reg Wright		Liberal	Tasmania	1956 [lower-alpha 2]	1950–1978

Notes

1. Father of the Senate
2. Term commenced on 22 February 1950, with expansion of Parliament.

References

1. "The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate 1947". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
2. Representation Act 1948 (Cth).

• Journals of the Senate. Parliament of Australia. 1948.
• "Members of the Senate since 1901". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008.