Members of the Australian Senate, 1953–1956

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1953 to 1956.[1] Half of its members were elected at the 28 April 1951 election and had terms deemed to start on 1 July 1950 and finishing on 30 June 1956; the other half were elected at the 9 May 1953 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1953 and finishing on 30 June 1959.

Senator		State	Term ending	Years in office
Stan Amour	Labor	New South Wales	1959	1938–1965
Ken Anderson	Liberal	New South Wales	1959	1953–1975
John Armstrong	Labor	New South Wales	1956	1938–1962
James Arnold	Labor	New South Wales	1959	1941–1965
Bill Ashley	Labor	New South Wales	1956	1938–1958
Bill Aylett	Labor	Tasmania	1959	1938–1965
Archie Benn	Labor	Queensland	1956	1950–1968
Gordon Brown [lower-alpha 1]	Labor	Queensland	1959	1932–1965
Nancy Buttfield [lower-alpha 2]	Liberal	South Australia	1956 [lower-alpha 3]	1955–1965, 1968–1974
Condon Byrne	Labor	Queensland	1959	1951–1959, 1968–1974
Don Cameron	Labor	Victoria	1956	1938–1962
George Cole	Labor/ALP (A-C) [lower-alpha 4]	Tasmania	1959	1950–1965
Joe Cooke	Labor	Western Australia	1959	1947–1951, 1952–1965
Walter Cooper	Country	Queensland	1956	1928–1932, 1935–1968
Ben Courtice	Labor	Queensland	1956	1937–1962
Jack Critchley	Labor	South Australia	1959	1947–1959
Jack Devlin	Labor	Victoria	1959	1946–1957
James Fraser	Labor	Western Australia	1959	1938–1959
John Gorton	Liberal	Victoria	1956	1950–1968
Donald Grant	Labor	New South Wales	1959	1944–1959
Allan Guy	Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1956
Clive Hannaford	Liberal	South Australia	1956	1950–1967
John Harris	Labor	Western Australia	1959	1947–1951, 1953–1959
Bert Hendrickson	Labor	Victoria	1959	1947–1971
Denham Henty	Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1968
Roy Kendall	Liberal	Queensland	1959	1950–1965
Pat Kennelly	Labor	Victoria	1959	1953–1971
Keith Laught	Liberal	South Australia	1959	1951–1969
Ted Maher	Country	Queensland	1959	1950–1965
John Marriott	Liberal	Tasmania	1959	1953–1975
Ted Mattner	Liberal	South Australia	1956	1944–1946, 1950–1968
John McCallum	Liberal	New South Wales	1956	1950–1962
Nick McKenna	Labor	Tasmania	1956	1944–1968
George McLeay [lower-alpha 2]	Liberal	South Australia	1956	1935–1947, 1950–1955
Alister McMullin	Liberal	New South Wales	1959	1951–1971
Theo Nicholls	Labor	South Australia	1956	1944–1968
Justin O'Byrne	Labor	Tasmania	1959	1947–1981
Sid O'Flaherty	Labor	South Australia	1956	1944–1962
Neil O'Sullivan	Liberal	Queensland	1956	1947–1962
Shane Paltridge [lower-alpha 5]	Liberal	Western Australia	1956	1951–1966
Rex Pearson	Liberal	South Australia	1959	1951–1961
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 / Ind. / Country [lower-alpha 6]	Western Australia	1956	1950–1962
John Ryan	Labor	South Australia	1959	1950–1959
Charles Sandford	Labor	Victoria	1956	1947–1956, 1957–1966
Malcolm Scott	Liberal	Western Australia	1959	1950–1971
Harrie Seward	Country	Western Australia	1959	1951–1958
Jim Sheehan	Labor	Victoria	1956	1938–1940, 1944–1962
John Spicer	Liberal	Victoria	1956	1940–1944, 1950–1956
Bill Spooner	Liberal	New South Wales	1956	1950–1965
Dame Dorothy Tangney	Labor	Western Australia	1956	1943–1968
Jim Toohey	Labor	South Australia	1959	1953–1971
Seddon Vincent	Liberal	Western Australia	1956	1950–1964
Robert Wardlaw	Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1953–1962
Dame Ivy Wedgwood	Liberal	Victoria	1959	1950–1971
Don Willesee	Labor	Western Australia	1956	1950–1975
Ian Wood	Liberal	Queensland	1959	1950–1978
Robert Wordsworth	Liberal	Tasmania	1959	1950–1959
Reg Wright	Liberal	Tasmania	1956	1950–1978

Senate composition at 1 July 1953
Government (31) - (1 seat majority)
Liberal (26) [lower-roman 1]
Country Party (5) [lower-roman 1]

Opposition (29)
Labor (29) [lower-roman 2]

Changes in composition

Agnes Robertson left the Liberal Party in 1955, then after 21 days as an independent joined the Country Party.
George Cole joined the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) in 1955, which became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.

Notes

Father of the Senate
Liberal Senator George McLeay died on 14 September 1955; Liberal Party member Nancy Buttfield was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 11 October.
Appointed to a casual vacancy and only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.[2]
As part of the 1955 Labor split, George Cole joined the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), which became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.[3]
Liberal Senator Shane Paltridge was the 6th and final Senator elected for Western Australia at the 1953 election and won the short term vacancy caused by the death of Edmund Piesse.
Robertson resigned from the Liberal Party on 7 September 1955, after being dropped from the party's Senate ticket for the upcoming election.[4] She sat as an Independent until 28 September, when she joined the Country Party.[5]

References

"The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate 1953". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
Evans, H. "Filling Casual Vacancies before 1977" (PDF). The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, Volume 3. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
"Cole, George Ronald (1908–1969)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Parliament of Australia.
SENATOR AGNES ROBERTSON LEAVES LIBERALS, The Canberra Times, 8 September 1955.
Senator Robertson Joins C.P., The Canberra Times, 29 September 1955.

Journals of the Senate. Parliament of Australia. 1956.
"Members of the Senate since 1901". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[robertson-1] Agnes Robertson left the Liberal Party in 1955, then after 21 days as an independent joined the Country Party.

[2] George Cole joined the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) in 1955, which became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.

[Father-4] Father of the Senate

[McLeay-5] Liberal Senator George McLeay died on 14 September 1955; Liberal Party member Nancy Buttfield was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 11 October.

[Appointment-7] Appointed to a casual vacancy and only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.[2]

[9] As part of the 1955 Labor split, George Cole joined the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), which became the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.[3]

[Paltridge-10] Liberal Senator Shane Paltridge was the 6th and final Senator elected for Western Australia at the 1953 election and won the short term vacancy caused by the death of Edmund Piesse.

[13] Robertson resigned from the Liberal Party on 7 September 1955, after being dropped from the party's Senate ticket for the upcoming election.[4] She sat as an Independent until 28 September, when she joined the Country Party.[5]

[3] "The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate 1953". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2017.

[Evans_vacancy-6] Evans, H. "Filling Casual Vacancies before 1977" (PDF). The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, Volume 3. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2017.

[8] "Cole, George Ronald (1908–1969)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Parliament of Australia.

[11] SENATOR AGNES ROBERTSON LEAVES LIBERALS, The Canberra Times, 8 September 1955.

[12] Senator Robertson Joins C.P., The Canberra Times, 29 September 1955.

Members of the Parliament of Australia by parliamentary terms
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Senate	1901–1903 1904–1906 1907–1910 1910–1913 1913–1914 1914–1917 1917–1920 1920–1923 1923–1926 1926–1929 1929–1932 1932–1935 1935–1938 1938–1941 1941–1944 1944–1947 1947–1950 1950–1951 1951–1953 1953–1956 1956–1959 1959–1962 1962–1965 1965–1968 1968–1971 1971–1974 1974–1975 1975–1978 1978–1981 1981–1983 1983–1985 1985–1987 1987–1990 1990–1993 1993–1996 1996–1999 1999–2002 2002–2005 2005–2008 2008–2011 2011–2014 2014–2016 2016–2019 2019–2022 2022–2025
Served in both houses Represented multiple states Longest-serving members Members of multiple Australian legislatures