Members of the Australian Senate, 1953–1956

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

Opposition (29)
  Labor (29) [ii]
 
Changes in composition

  1. ^ a b 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.

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 Party 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 [a]   Labor Queensland 1959 1932–1965
Nancy Buttfield [b]   Liberal South Australia 1956 [c] 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) [d] 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 [b]   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 [e]   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 [f]		 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

Notes

  1. ^ Father of the Senate
  2. ^ a b Liberal Senator George McLeay died on 14 September 1955; Liberal Party member Nancy Buttfield was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 11 October.
  3. ^ 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]
  4. ^ 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]
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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

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