Candidates of the 1961 Australian federal election

This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1961 Australian federal election. The election was held on 9 December 1961.

By-elections, appointments and defections

By-elections and appointments

• On 9 April 1960, John Jess (Liberal) was elected to replace Richard Casey (Liberal) as the member for La Trobe.
• On 9 April 1960, Bert James (Labor) was elected to replace H. V. Evatt (Labor) as the member for Hunter.
• On 16 July 1960, Noel Beaton (Labor) was elected to replace Percy Clarey (Labor) as the member for Bendigo.
• On 16 July 1960, Ray Whittorn (Liberal) was elected to replace Percy Joske (Liberal) as the member for Balaclava.
• On 5 November 1960, John England (Country) was elected to replace John Howse (Liberal) as the member for Calare.
• On 10 December 1960, Don Chipp (Liberal) was elected to replace Frank Timson (Liberal) as the member for Higinbotham.
• On 28 September 1961, Gordon Davidson (Liberal) was appointed a South Australian Senator to replace Rex Pearson (Liberal).
• Subsequent to the election, but prior to the new Senate taking its place:
  • On 8 February 1962, Gordon Davidson (Liberal) was appointed a South Australian Senator to replace Nancy Buttfield (Liberal). Davidson had been appointed to the Senate in 1961 but had not contested the 1961 election. Buttfield, a sitting Senator, had been elected to the place originally won by Rex Pearson in 1961, but resigned it in order to take up the long-term vacancy. Davidson's appointment expired on 30 June 1963.

Retiring Members and Senators

Labor

• George Lawson MP (Brisbane, Qld)
• Senator John Armstrong (NSW)
• Senator Don Cameron (Vic)
• Senator Ben Courtice (Qld)
• Senator Sid O'Flaherty (SA)
• Senator Jim Sheehan (Vic)

Liberal

• Francis Bland MP (Warringah, NSW)
• Senator John McCallum (NSW)
• Senator Sir Neil O'Sullivan (Qld)
• Senator Robert Wardlaw (Tas)

Country

• George Bowden MP (Gippsland, Vic)
• Len Hamilton MP (Canning, WA)
• Senator Albert Reid (NSW)
• Senator Agnes Robertson (WA)

House of Representatives

Sitting members at the time of the election are shown in bold text. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk (*) is also used.

Australian Capital Territory

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Liberal candidate
Australian Capital Territory	Labor	Jim Fraser	Geoffrey Small

New South Wales

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	DLP candidate	Other candidates
Banks	Labor	Eric Costa	Jack Manning (Lib)	John Antill	Frank Bollins (CPA) Russell Duncan (Ind)
Barton	Labor	Len Reynolds	Colin Sullivan (Lib)	Thomas Brosnan
Bennelong	Liberal	Harry Jensen	John Cramer (Lib)	Edward Beck
Blaxland	Labor	Jim Harrison	David Cowan (Lib)	Bernard Atkinson
Bradfield	Liberal	Percy Staines	Harry Turner (Lib)	Dominique Droulers
Calare	Country	Leroy Serisier	John England (CP)	George Boland
Cowper	Country	Frank McGuren	Sir Earle Page (CP)		Neville Weiley (Ind)
Cunningham	Labor	Victor Kearney	Jack Hough (Lib)		Bill McDougall (CPA)
Dalley	Labor	William O'Connor	Arthur Nesbitt (Lib)	Reginald Lawson	Mavis Robertson (CPA)
Darling	Labor	Joe Clark	Rodan Dawson (CP)
East Sydney	Labor	Eddie Ward	John Folbigg (Lib)	Joseph Bergin	Bill Brown (CPA)
Eden-Monaro	Labor	Allan Fraser	Douglas Thomson (Lib)
Evans	Liberal	James Monaghan	Frederick Osborne (Lib)	Francis Collins	Harold O'Reilly (Ind)
Farrer	Liberal	Herb McPherson	David Fairbairn (Lib)	William Brennan
Grayndler	Labor	Fred Daly	Evan MacLaurin (Lib)	Charles McCafferty	Hal Alexander (CPA)
Gwydir	Country	Austin Heffernan	Ian Allan (CP)	Stanley Parmenter
Hughes	Labor	Les Johnson	Keith Woodward (Lib)	Wesley Johns
Hume	Country	Arthur Fuller	Charles Anderson (CP)	Charles Rowe
Hunter	Labor	Bert James	Edward Farrell (Lib)		John Tapp (CPA)
Kingsford-Smith	Labor	Dan Curtin	Jack Cunningham (Lib)	John Cunningham
Lang	Labor	Frank Stewart	Russell Carter (Lib)	Edward Byrnes	Frank Ball (Ind)
Lawson	Country	John Canobi	Laurie Failes (CP)	Denis Searls
Lowe	Liberal	John Holland	William McMahon (Lib)	Denis Klein	Daniel Smith (ARP)
Lyne	Country	John Allan	Philip Lucock (CP)	Jack Collins	Joe Cordner (Ind)
Macarthur	Liberal	Don Nilon	Jeff Bate (Lib)
Mackellar	Liberal	Mabel Elliott	Bill Wentworth (Lib)	Philip Cohen	Hugh Begg (CPA)
Macquarie	Liberal	Tony Luchetti	John Heesh (Lib)	Frank Mackenzie
Mitchell	Liberal	John Armitage	Roy Wheeler (Lib)	Allan Dwyer	John Mantova (Ind)
New England	Country	Donald White	David Drummond (CP)	John Burless
Newcastle	Labor	Charles Jones	Henry Wansey (Lib)	Hugh Ansell
North Sydney	Liberal	Maurice Isaacs	William Jack (Lib)	Michael Fitzpatrick
Parkes	Labor	Les Haylen	William Dowd (Lib)	Vincent Couch
Parramatta	Liberal	Maxwell McLaren	Sir Garfield Barwick (Lib)	Reginald Andrews	Matt Munro (CPA)
Paterson	Liberal	Bob Brown	Allen Fairhall (Lib)	Aubrey Barr
Phillip	Liberal	Syd Einfeld	William Aston (Lib)	Peter Daly
Reid	Labor	Tom Uren	Jack Cook (Lib)	Mick Carroll
Richmond	Country	Raymond Freeman	Doug Anthony (CP)
Riverina	Country	Jack Ward	Hugh Roberton (CP)	Albert Elrington
Robertson	Liberal	Tom Pendlebury	Roger Dean (Lib)	Neil Mackerras
Shortland	Labor	Charles Griffiths	Allan Pitts (Lib)	Robert Burke	Geoff Curthoys (CPA)
St George	Labor	Lionel Clay	Clifford Amos (Lib)	Malcolm Towner
Warringah	Liberal	James Brown	John Cockle (Lib)	John Plunkett	Rex Benson (Ind Lib) Russell Whybrow (Ind Lib)
Watson	Labor	Jim Cope	Sidney Pitkethly (Lib)	Mary Nappa
Wentworth	Liberal	John Hirshman	Les Bury (Lib)	Francis Bull
Werriwa	Labor	Gough Whitlam	Vernon Luckman (Lib)	Kevin Davis
West Sydney	Labor	Dan Minogue	Milovan Kovjanic (Lib)	William Doherty	Ron Maxwell (CPA)

Northern Territory

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Independent candidate
Northern Territory	Labor	Jock Nelson	Harold Brennan

Queensland

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	QLP candidate	Other candidates
Bowman	Liberal	Jack Comber	Malcolm McColm (Lib)	Terence Burns
Brisbane	Labor	Manfred Cross	Kevin Cairns (Lib)	Walter Barnes	Warren Bowden (CPA)
Capricornia	Liberal	George Gray	George Pearce (Lib)	Mick Gardner
Darling Downs	Liberal	Jack McCafferty	Reginald Swartz (Lib)	Margaret Walsh
Dawson	Country	Cyril Mitchell	Charles Davidson (CP)	Waller O'Grady
Fisher	Country	William Weir	Charles Adermann (CP)	John Newman
Griffith	Liberal	Wilfred Coutts	Arthur Chresby (Lib)	Donald McKenna
Herbert	Liberal	Ted Harding	John Murray (Lib)	Victor Bodero	Frank Bishop (CPA)
Kennedy	Labor	Bill Riordan	Thomas Halloran (CP)	Harry Wright
Leichhardt	Labor	Bill Fulton	Reginald Wiles (CP)	Arthur Trembath
Lilley	Liberal	Don Cameron	Bruce Wight (Lib)	Frank Andrews
Maranoa	Country	Trevor Alexander	Wilfred Brimblecombe (CP)	Bryan Hurley
McPherson	Country	William Ware	Charles Barnes (CP)	John O'Connell	Allen Kirkegaard (Ind) Thomas Masterton (Ind)
Moreton	Liberal	John O'Donnell	James Killen (Lib)	Christian Hagen	Max Julius (CPA)
Oxley	Liberal	Bill Hayden	Donald Cameron (Lib)	Kenneth Rawle
Petrie	Liberal	Reginald O'Brien	Alan Hulme (Lib)	Trevor Sturling	Cecil Guilfoyle (Ind) Francis O'Mara (Ind)
Ryan	Liberal	Joy Guyatt	Nigel Drury (Lib)	Michael Long
Wide Bay	Country	Brendan Hansen	Henry Bandidt (CP)	Edward McDonnell	James Dunn (Ind)

South Australia

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Liberal candidate	DLP candidate	Other candidates
Adelaide	Labor	Joe Sexton	John Rundle	Ursula Cook
Angas	Liberal	Arnold Busbridge	Alick Downer	John Balogh
Barker	Liberal	Norman Alcock	Jim Forbes	Charles Coffey	John Gartner (Ind)
Bonython	Labor	Norman Makin	Margaret McLachlan	Edward Timlin	Thomas Ellis (Ind) Alan Miller (CPA)
Boothby	Liberal	Ronald Basten	John McLeay	Ted Farrell
Grey	Labor	Edgar Russell	Arthur Dodgson	Richard Mills
Hindmarsh	Labor	Clyde Cameron	Karl-Juergen Liebetrau	Cyril Holasek
Kingston	Labor	Pat Galvin	John McCoy	Brian Crowe
Port Adelaide	Labor	Albert Thompson	Kimball Kelly	George Basisovs	Peter Symon (CPA)
Sturt	Liberal	Arthur Penn	Keith Wilson	Walter Doran
Wakefield	Liberal	Collin Wood	Bert Kelly	John McMahon

Tasmania

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Liberal candidate	DLP candidate
Bass	Labor	Lance Barnard	Fred Marriott	Francis Boland
Braddon	Labor	Ron Davies	William Young	Frances Lane
Denison	Liberal	Eric Howroyd	Athol Townley	Harold Senior
Franklin	Liberal	William Wilkinson	Bill Falkinder	St Clair Courtney
Wilmot	Labor	Gil Duthie	Royston Ringrose Richard Thomas	Alastair Davidson

Victoria

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	DLP candidate	Other candidates
Balaclava	Liberal	Ernst Platz	Ray Whittorn (Lib)	John Ryan	John Murray (ARP)
Ballaarat	Liberal	Aubrey Keane	Dudley Erwin (Lib)	Bob Joshua
Batman	Labor	Alan Bird	Bruce Skeggs (Lib)	Maurice Keady
Bendigo	Labor	Noel Beaton	Henry Snell (Lib)	Ronald Anderson	Milan Lorman (Ind)
Bruce	Liberal	Keith Ewert	Billy Snedden (Lib)	Henri de Sachau
Chisholm	Liberal	Malcolm Coughlin	Sir Wilfrid Kent Hughes (Lib)	John Duffy
Corangamite	Liberal	Desmond Hulme	Dan Mackinnon (Lib)	Patrick Bourke
Corio	Liberal	Lindsay Romey	Hubert Opperman (Lib)	James Mahoney
Darebin	Labor	Frank Courtnay	John Wyss (Lib)	Tom Andrews
Deakin	Liberal	George Slater	Frank Davis (Lib)	Maurice Weston
Fawkner	Liberal	Gwendolyn Noad	Peter Howson (Lib)	Richard Coyne
Flinders	Liberal	Ian Cathie	Robert Lindsay (Lib)	Jack Austin	Edmund Knowles (Ind)
Gellibrand	Labor	Hector McIvor	Reginald Cannon (Lib)	Jan Roszkowski	Frank Johnson (CPA)
Gippsland	Country	William Stephenson	Peter Nixon (CP)	John Hansen
Henty	Liberal	Sir George Jones	Max Fox (Lib)	Henry Moore
Higgins	Liberal	Roger Kirby	Harold Holt (Lib)	Celia Laird
Higinbotham	Liberal	Henry Fowler	Don Chipp (Lib)	William Cameron
Indi	Country	Mervyn Huggins	Malcolm Cameron (Lib) Mac Holten * (CP)	George Taylor
Isaacs	Liberal	Angus McLean	William Haworth (Lib)	John Hughes
Kooyong	Liberal	Moss Cass	Robert Menzies (Lib)	Thomas Brennan	Goldie Collins (Ind) Bill Tregear (CPA)
Lalor	Labor	Reg Pollard	Peter Kemp (Lib)	John Donnellon	Kenneth Agius (CCP)
La Trobe	Liberal	Don Pritchard	John Jess (Lib)	John Hoare	Bernard Rees (CCP)
Mallee	Country	Murray Homes	Winton Turnbull (CP)	Michael Howley
Maribyrnong	Liberal	Neil Armour	Philip Stokes (Lib)	Paul Gunn	Norman McClure (CCP)
McMillan	Liberal	James Longstaff	Alex Buchanan * (Lib) Francis Hawtin (CP)	Les Hilton	Patrick Linane (ARP)
Melbourne	Labor	Arthur Calwell	James Moloney (Lib)	Michael Kearney
Melbourne Ports	Labor	Frank Crean	Gordon Blackburne (Lib)	Albert Jones	Roger Wilson (CPA)
Murray	Country	Neil Frankland	John McEwen (CP)	Brian Lacey
Scullin	Labor	Ted Peters	Rex Schurmann (Lib)	Barry O'Brien
Wannon	Liberal	Jack Stanford	Malcolm Fraser (Lib)	Terence Callander
Wills	Labor	Gordon Bryant	William Pyatt (Lib)	Bill Bryson
Wimmera	Country	Thomas Windsor	Robert King * (CP) William Lawrence (Lib)	Joseph Murphy
Yarra	Labor	Jim Cairns	Andrew Peacock (Lib)	Stan Keon	Geoffrey Broomhall (CCP) Ken Miller (CPA)

Western Australia

Electorate	Held by	Labor candidate	Coalition candidate	DLP candidate	Other candidates
Canning	Country	Charles Edwards	John Hallett (CP) Neil McNeill* (Lib)	Stanley Meredith
Curtin	Liberal	George Piesley	Paul Hasluck (Lib)	Wilfred Bodeker
Forrest	Liberal	Ernest Stapleton	Gordon Freeth (Lib)
Fremantle	Labor	Kim Beazley	John Waghorne (Lib)		Joan Williams (CPA)
Kalgoorlie	Liberal	Fred Collard	Peter Browne (Lib)	George Jensen	Harold Illingworth (Ind)
Moore	Country	Wilbur Bennett	Hugh Halbert (Lib) Hugh Leslie* (CP)	John Crisafulli
Perth	Liberal	Laurie Wilkinson	Fred Chaney (Lib)	Julius Re
Stirling	Liberal	Harry Webb	Doug Cash (Lib)	Adrian Briffa	Jack Marks (CPA)
Swan	Liberal	Ted Johnson	Richard Cleaver (Lib)	Terence Merchant

Senate

Sitting Senators are shown in bold text. Tickets that elected at least one Senator are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are identified by an asterisk (*).

New South Wales

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending one seat. The Liberal-Country Coalition was defending four seats. Senators Stan Amour (Labor), Ken Anderson (Liberal), James Arnold (Labor), Sir Alister McMullin (Liberal) and James Ormonde (Labor) were not up for re-election.

Labor candidates	Coalition candidates	DLP candidates	Communist candidates	Social Credit candidates	Pensioners candidates
Joe Fitzgerald* Lionel Murphy* Doug McClelland*	Bill Spooner * (Lib) Colin McKellar * (CP) Eileen Furley (Lib)	Jack Kane Jan Van Der Rijt Colin MacNaught	Laurie Aarons Freda Brown Les Kelton	William Ward Albert Lee Kenneth Whiteman	William Dawson Charles Johnston William Shaw
Republican candidates	Group C candidates	Ungrouped candidates
John Phillips Keith Fitzgerald	Edward Spensley Arthur Ryan	Herbert Daley Ben Bernard Albert Milne

Queensland

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal-Country Coalition was defending three seats. Senators Gordon Brown (Labor), Felix Dittmer (Labor), Roy Kendall (Liberal), Ted Maher (Country) and Ian Wood (Liberal) were not up for re-election.

Labor candidates	Coalition candidates	QLP candidates	Communist candidates	Group D candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Archie Benn * Max Poulter* Alf Arnell	Sir Walter Cooper * (CP) Dame Annabelle Rankin * (Lib) Bob Sherrington* (Lib)	Vince Gair Jack Williams Anne Wenck	Claude Jones John Nolan Pat Pastourel	Patrick Curtis Charles Stuckey	James Dwyer Damien Kennedy Lyndon Barker

South Australia

Six seats were up for election. One of these was a short-term vacancy caused by Liberal Senator Rex Pearson's death; this had been filled in the interim by Liberal Gordon Davidson. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending four seats. Senators Arnold Drury (Labor), Keith Laught (Liberal), Clem Ridley (Labor) and Jim Toohey (Labor) were not up for re-election.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	DLP candidates	Communist candidates
Theo Nicholls * Reg Bishop* Jim Cavanagh*	Ted Mattner * Clive Hannaford * Nancy Buttfield *	Francis Moran Daniel Smith Brian Nash	Alan Finger John Sendy Joseph Buchanan

Tasmania

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending three seats. Senators Bill Aylett (Labor), George Cole (Democratic Labor), Elliot Lillico (Liberal), John Marriott (Liberal) and Justin O'Byrne (Labor) were not up for re-election.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	DLP candidates	Communist candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Nick McKenna * Bob Poke * Don Devitt	Denham Henty * Reg Wright * John Orchard	Virgil Morgan John Mortimer Eleonora Tennant	Max Bound George Chenery Peter Cundall	Reg Turnbull*

Victoria

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending three seats. The Liberal-Country Coalition was defending one seat. The Democratic Labor Party was defending one seat. Senators John Gorton (Liberal), George Hannan (Liberal), Bert Hendrickson (Labor), Pat Kennelly (Labor) and Ivy Wedgwood (Liberal) were not up for re-election.

Labor candidates	Coalition candidates	DLP candidates	Communist candidates	Republican candidates	Centre candidates
Charles Sandford * Sam Cohen* Sam Benson	Magnus Cormack* (Lib) Harrie Wade * (CP) Marie Breen* (Lib)	Frank McManus Jack Little John Meere	Ralph Gibson Kath Williams Andy Wallace	Gerald Fitzgerald Richard Mullins	Anthony van de Loo Robert Huart Frank McCaw
Ungrouped candidates
John Dunstan Louis Cole

Western Australia

Five seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending two seats. The Liberal Party was defending two seats. The Country Party was defending one seat. Senators George Branson (Liberal), Harry Cant (Labor), Joe Cooke (Labor), Tom Drake-Brockman (Country) and Malcolm Scott (Liberal) were not up for re-election.

Labor candidates	Liberal candidates	Country candidates	DLP candidates	Communist candidates	Ungrouped candidates
Dorothy Tangney * Don Willesee * Charles Edwards	Shane Paltridge * Seddon Vincent * Valerie Goode	Edgar Prowse* John Powell Clayton Mitchell	Brian Peachey Gilbert Handcock Francis Hrubos Percival Bonser	Paddy Troy Bill Latter John Gandini	Stephen Kellow Robert Salter

Summary by party

Beside each party is the number of seats contested by that party in the House of Representatives for each state, as well as an indication of whether the party contested Senate elections in each state.

Party	NSW		Vic		Qld		WA		SA		Tas		ACT	NT	Total
	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	S	HR	HR	HR	S
Australian Labor Party	46	*	33	*	18	*	9	*	11	*	5	*	1	1	124	6
Liberal Party of Australia	36	*	30	*	11	*	9	*	11	*	6	*	1		105	6
Australian Country Party	10	*	6	*	7	*	2	*							25	4
Democratic Labor Party	40	*	33	*			7	*	11	*	5	*			96	5
Communist Party of Australia	10	*	4	*	3	*	2	*	2	*		*			21	6
Queensland Labor Party					18	*									18	1
Commonwealth Centre Party			4	*											4	1
Australian Republican Party	1	*	2	*											3	2
Social Credit Party		*														1
Pensioner Party of Australia		*														1
Independent and other	8		3		5		1		2					1	20

See also

• 1961 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1958–1961
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1961–1963
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1959–1962
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1962–1965
• List of political parties in Australia

References

• Adam Carr's Election Archive - House of Representatives 1961
• Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1961