1928 Australian federal election

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1928 Australian federal election
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
  1925 17 November 1928 (1928-11-17) 1929  

All 76 [a] seats in the House of Representatives
38 seats were needed for a majority in the House
19 (of the 36) seats in the Senate
Registered3,444,769 Increase2.svg4.32%
Turnout2,728,815 (93.64%) [b]
(Increase2.svg2.25 pp)
 First partySecond party
  Stanley Bruce 1926.jpg James Scullin October 1928-02.jpg
Leader Stanley Bruce James Scullin
Party Nationalist/Country coalition Labor
Leader since9 February 1923 26 April 1928
Leader's seat Flinders (Vic.) Yarra (Vic.)
Last election51 seats23 seats
Seats won4231 + NT
Seat changeDecrease2.svg9Increase2.svg8
Percentage51.60%48.40%
SwingDecrease2.svg 2.20%Increase2.svg2.20

 Third partyFourth party
 
Albert Dunstan (cropped).jpg
IND
Leader Albert Dunstan N/A
Party Country Progressive Independents
Leader sinceApril 1926N/A
Leader's seatN/A [c] N/A
Last election0 seats2 seats
Seats won1 seats1 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
Primary  vote41,71388,447
Percentage1.61%3.41%
SwingIncrease2.svg +1.61Increase2.svg +1.65

1928 Australian federal election.svg
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.

Prime Minister before election

Stanley Bruce
Nationalist/Country coalition

Subsequent Prime Minister

Stanley Bruce
Nationalist/Country coalition

The 1928 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist–Country coalition, led by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce won a record fifth consecutive election defeating the opposition Labor Party led by James Scullin.

Contents

The election was held in conjunction with a referendum on Commonwealth–State relations, which was carried.

Future Prime Ministers John Curtin and Ben Chifley both entered parliament at this election. Both then lost their seats in the 1931 election and did not re-enter parliament until 1934 and 1940 respectively.

Issues

In September 1928, federal treasurer Earle Page introduced the National Insurance Bill 1928 into the House of Representatives, which provided for the establishment of a National Insurance scheme inclusive of "sickness, old age, disability and maternity benefits, mainly paid for by compulsory contributions by workers and employers, along with smaller payments to parents of children under 16 and to orphans". [2] The bill failed to pass before the dissolution of the House, but the scheme was "strongly promoted" by the government during the election campaign. [3]

Results

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Nationalist: 29 seats
Labor: 31 seats
Country: 13 seats
Country Progressive: 1 seat
Independent: 1 seat Australian Federal Election, 1928.svg
  Nationalist: 29 seats
  Labor: 31 seats
  Country: 13 seats
  Country Progressive: 1 seat
  Independent: 1 seat

House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) — 1928–29—Turnout 93.64% (CV) — Informal 4.90%
1928 Australian House.svg
PartyVotes %SwingSeatsChange
  Nationalist–Country coalition 1,286,20849.56–3.6442–8
  Nationalist  1,014,52239.09–3.3729–8
  Country  271,68610.47–0.27130
  Labor 1,158,50544.64–0.4032 [d] +8
  Country Progressive 41,7131.61+1.611+1
  Protestant Labor 20,2120.78+0.7800
  Independents 88,4473.41+1.651–1
 Total2,595,085  76
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
  Nationalist–Country coalition Win51.60−2.2042–8
  Labor 48.40+2.2031+8

Notes

Popular vote
Labor
44.64%
Nationalist
39.09%
Country
10.47%
Country Progressive
1.61%
Independent/Other
4.19%
Two-party-preferred vote
Coalition
51.60%
Labor
48.40%
Parliament seats
Coalition
56.00%
Labor
41.33%
Country Progressive
1.33%
Independent
1.33%

Senate

Senate (P BV) — 1928–31—Turnout 93.61% (CV) — Informal 9.88%
1928 Australian Senate.svg
PartyVotes %SwingSeats wonSeats heldChange
  Nationalist–Country coalition 1,466,32350.46–4.351229+1
  Nationalist  1,141,40539.28–6.0710240
  Country  324,91811.18+1.7325+1
  Labor 1,422,41848.95+3.9377–1
  Independents 17,0920.59+0.42000
 Total2,905,833  1936

Seats changing hands

SeatPre-1928SwingPost-1928
PartyMemberMarginMarginMemberParty
Barton, NSW  Nationalist Thomas Ley 1.07.36.3 James Tully Labor 
Boothby, SA  Nationalist Jack Duncan-Hughes 7.67.70.1 John Price Labor 
Denison, Tas  Nationalist John Gellibrand 2.22.50.3 Charles Culley Labor 
Franklin, Tas  Nationalist Alfred Seabrook N/A7.21.6 William McWilliams Independent 
Fremantle, WA  Independent William Watson 8.11.22.1 John Curtin Labor 
Herbert, Qld  Nationalist Lewis Nott 0.30.50.2 George Martens Labor 
Indi, Vic  Country Robert Cook 6.7N/A(Unopposed) Paul Jones Labor 
Lang, NSW  Nationalist Elliot Johnson 5.99.43.5 William Long Labor 
Macquarie, NSW  Nationalist Arthur Manning 1.36.24.9 Ben Chifley Labor 
Wakefield, SA  Nationalist Richard Foster 14.824.49.6 Maurice Collins Country 
Wilmot, Tas  Country Llewellyn Atkinson 7.0N/A4.6 Llewellyn Atkinson Nationalist 

In the Division of Indi, the sitting candidate Robert Cook lost his seat after forgetting to file nomination papers, resulting in Labor candidate Paul Jones winning the seat unopposed.

See also

Notes

  1. The Northern Territory had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation.
  2. Turnout in contested seats
  3. Albert Dunstan was the member for Korong and Eaglehawk in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and did not contest the federal election. [1]
  4. Including Northern Territory

References

  1. "Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan". Parliament of Victoria. Archived from the original on 27 January 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  2. Wilks, Stephen (2020). 'Now is the Psychological Moment': Earle Page and the Imagining of Australia (PDF). ANU Press. p. 175. ISBN   9781760463687.
  3. Wilks 2020, p. 176.