1907 Queensland state election

1907 Queensland state election

←  1904 18 May 1907 (1907-05-18) 1908  →
All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly 37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	71.61 ( 2.56 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Robert Philp William Kidston David Bowman Party Conservative Kidstonites Labour Leader since 19 September 1904 19 January 1906 15 April 1907 Leader's seat Townsville Rockhampton Fortitude Valley Last election New party New party 34 seats, 36.05% Seats won 29 24 18 Seat change 29 24 16 Popular vote 109,985 80,076 136,419 Percentage 40.58% 31.88% 26.39% Swing 40.58 31.88 9.65
Premier before election William Kidston Kidston Party Resulting Premier William Kidston Kidston Party

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 18 May 1907 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election was the first one in which women had a right to vote.

The election was the first held since Premier William Kidston, formerly of the Labour Party, had founded a new movement with his own supporters as well as the Parliamentary Conservatives. The end result of the election was an improvement in Kidston's position, although he was still in minority government with Labour support. The main opposition group was Robert Philp's Conservatives.

This election used contingent voting, at least in the single-member districts. ^[1]

Five districts were two-seat districts - Mackay, Marlborough, North Brisbane, Rockhampton and South Brisbane. In the two-member constituencies, plurality block voting was used -- electors could cast two valid votes but were allowed to "plump". ^[2]

Key dates

Date	Event
11 April 1907	The Parliament was dissolved. [3]
11 April 1907	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. [4]
27 April 1907	Close of nominations.
18 May 1907	Polling day, between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm.
8 June 1907	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
23 July 1907	Parliament resumed for business. [5]

Results

Seat changes indicated are those caused by the election; at the preceding election, Labour had 34 seats, Ministerial 21, Conservative 15 and Independent 2.

Queensland state election, 18 May 1907 [6] Legislative Assembly << 1904–1908 >>
Enrolled voters		212,337 [1]
Votes cast		152,049		Turnout	71.61	–2.56
Informal votes		2,547		Informal	1.67	+0.87
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Conservative	80,076	40.58	+11.59	29	+ 6
	Kidstonites	109,985	31.88		24	– 7
	Labour	136,419	26.39	–9.65	18	+ 1
	Independent	2,259	1.14	–3.82	1	± 0
Total		197,312 [2]			72

¹ 220,189 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 4 seats (5.6% of the total) were uncontested—one Labor seat representing 1,352 enrolled voters, and three Conservative seats representing 4,604 voters.

² In 11 electorates, voters had two votes each, so the total number of votes exceeds the total number of voters.

Electoral system

The election for the Legislative Assembly was held using the "contingent vote". ^[7] The Legislative Council was a fully nominated body.

Electoral system changes

This election was the first held since women in Queensland gained the right to vote, although indigenous women did not gain the right until 1962. ^[8]

See also

• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1904–1907
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1907–1908
• First Kidston Ministry

References

1. Bowler, Shaun; Grofman, Bernard Norman (2000). Elections in Australia, Ireland, and Malta under the single transferable vote: reflections on an embedded institution. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 40. doi:10.3998/mpub.16507. ISBN   978-0-472-02681-4. The contingent vote … was used in Queensland from 1892 to 1942 and for Democratic primary elections in the U.S. state of Alabama between 1915 and 1931. It has been used for presidential elections in Sri Lanka since 1978 and in 1996 … the United Kingdom … called it the 'supplementary vote'.
2. Hughes and Graham, "Voting for the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1890-1964" (online) accessed February 20, 2025
3. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette . 11 April 1907. p. 88:1209.
4. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette . 11 April 1907. p. 88:1213.
5. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette . 29 June 1907. p. 88:1695.
6. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 18 May 1907". Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
8. "Electoral Milestones for Women". Australian Electoral Commission . Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2020.