In 1949, he was elected to the Australian Senate as a Liberal Senator for South Australia, taking up his term on 22 February 1950.[2] The Senate membership was increasing from six members per state to 10 per state, so each state had three continuing members, five elected for six-year terms beginning in July 1950 and two (including Hannaford) elected to commence his term when parliament first sat after the election, which was 22 February 1950 and expire on 30 June 1953. There was a double dissolution election in 1951 at which Hannaford was re-elected to conclude his term in 1956. He was elected again in the 1955 and 1961 elections so his term would finish on 30 June 1968.
In February 1967, Hannaford left the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, over his rejection of government policy to send Australian conscripts to the Vietnam War. He joined a march opposing the Vietnam War in Sydney on 22 October 1967 and spoke at the rally following it, despite medical advice not to attend. On 24 October he was speaking during Question Time in Parliament to assert the peaceful nature of the protest when he collapsed and died.[1]
Liberal Condor Laucke was appointed to fill the casual vacancy.[3]
^"Members of the Senate since 1901". Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original on 6 August 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2016 – via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
