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44 (of the 65) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 33 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1932 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday 14 May 1932 to elect 44 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The other 21 seats were uncontested.
The previous election for the Legislative Assembly took place on 30 November 1929. At the 1929 election, the Labor Party won 30 seats, the Nationalist Party won 17, the Victorian Country Party won 11, Country Progressive Party won 4, and there were 3 Independents. Since that date a number of political changes took place.
The Nationalist Party gained the seat of Caulfield in a by-election on 22 November 1930, arising from the death of independent member Frederick Forrest. The seat was won by Harold Luxton, who at the time was Lord Mayor of Melbourne. [1]
The Victorian Country Party and the Country Progressive Party—two separate parties representing rural interests—amalgamated in late 1930 to form the United Country Party. After years of negotiations, between 300 and 400 delegates of the parties met at a joint conference, and on 23 September, voted to amalgamate into a single party. [2] The proposal was put to the parties' branches, and confirmed at a joint meeting of their parliamentary parties on 28 October. [3]
In 1931, the federal Nationalist Party of Australia merged with a group of defectors from the Labor Party who supported Joseph Lyons, and formed the United Australia Party (UAP). A meeting of the state Nationalist Party on 15 September 1931 confirmed the name change of the party's state branch in line with the federal party. [3] [4]
One of the key factors in the 1932 election was the Premiers' Plan—a deflationary economic policy to negate the effects of the Great Depression—which had been agreed to by Australia's state Premiers in June 1931. Although supported by Victoria's Labor Premier, Edmond Hogan, several of his ministers, and a majority of the Labor parliamentary caucus, the Labor Party in general did not support the plan—a meeting of the Victorian Labor Conference in August 1931 passed a motion 143 to 87 opposing the plan, and calling upon the Victorian parliament to reject any legislation to enact it. [5]
Suffering from ill health, Hogan departed by sea to London in February 1932 and arrived in April. Although his journey was principally a "health trip", he also undertook to perform some official duties, including investigating the functions of the Agent-General's office, and marketing Victorian products in the United Kingdom. [6]
On 12 April, opposition leader Sir Stanley Argyle gave notice that he would raise a motion of no confidence against the government, following what he saw as an equivocal reply from the Acting Premier, Tom Tunnecliffe, to a question regarding the government's intentions to re-enact the Financial Emergency Act—in effect, a continuation of the Premiers' Plan. [7] On 13 April, Argyle's motion was carried, defeating the government in the assembly. Tunnecliffe consulted the Lieutenant Governor (Sir William Irvine), and the parliament sat on 19 April to pass the supply bill and was then prorogued with the Assembly dissolved. [8]
As Hogan was overseas when the election was called, the Labor Party was led into the election by Tunnecliffe. As cables from Hogan affirmed his support of the plan which included wage reductions, the central executive of the Victorian Labor Party refused to endorse Hogan as the Labor candidate for the seat of Warrenheip and Grenville, nor Ernie Bond for the seat of Port Fairy and Glenelg. Despite Tunnecliffe's denials, Hogan confirmed via cable that the government had offered him the role of Agent-General which he had declined. [9]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 13 April 1932 | The Hogan government was defeated in the Victorian Legislative Assembly by a motion of no-confidence. [7] |
| 22 April 1932 | The Parliament was prorogued, [10] and the Legislative Assembly dissolved. [11] |
| 23 April 1932 | Writs were issued by the Lieutenant Governor to proceed with an election. [11] |
| 29 April 1932 | Close of nominations. [11] |
| 14 May 1932 | Day of polling. |
| 19 May 1932 | The Lieutenant Governor accepts the resignation of the Hogan ministry, and appoints the Argyle ministry. [12] |
| 14 June 1932 | Parliament resumed for business. |
Victorian state election, 14 March 1932 [3] [13] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 729,332 | |||||
| Votes cast | 687,042 | Turnout | 94.20 | +0.48 | ||
| Informal votes | 9,676 | Informal | 1.41 | +0.34 | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| United Australia | 271,778 | 40.12 | +1.86 | 31 | +13 | |
| Labor | 237,993 | 35.14 | −3.95 | 16 | −14 | |
| United Country | 83,519 | 12.33 | −1.84 | 14 | −1 | |
| Premiers' Plan Labor | 17,347 | 2.56 | +2.56 | 2 | +2 | |
| Communist | 953 | 0.14 | −0.17 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent | 65,776 | 9.71 | +1.55 | 2 | −1 | |
| Total | 677,366 | 65 | ||||
Notes:
The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed in February 1917 from a merger between the Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by Prime Minister Billy Hughes and his supporters after the 1916 Labor Party split over World War I conscription. The Nationalist Party was established as a 'united' non-Labor opposition that had remained a political trend once the Labor party established itself in federal politics. The party was in government until electoral defeat in 1929. From that time it was the main opposition to the Labor Party until it merged with pro-Joseph Lyons Labor defectors to form the United Australia Party (UAP) in 1931. The party is a direct ancestor of the Liberal Party of Australia, the main centre-right party in Australia.
John Cain was an Australian politician, who became the 34th premier of Victoria, and was the first Labor Party leader to win a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He is the only premier of Victoria to date whose son has also served as premier.
Ian Macfarlan was an Australian politician who served as the deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal Party in 1945. He was briefly commissioned as the 35th Premier of Victoria by the Governor and formed a government which brought about the end of the Dunstan ministry.
Edmond John "Ned" Hogan was an Australian politician who was the 30th Premier of Victoria. He was born in Wallace, Victoria, where his Irish-born parents were small farmers. After attending a Roman Catholic primary school, he became a farm worker and then a timber worker, and spent some time on the goldfields of Western Australia.
Sir Stanley Seymour Argyle KBE, MRCS, LRCP, was an Australian radiologist and politician. He served as premier of Victoria from 1932 to 1935 and was the state leader of the Nationalist Party and United Australia Party from 1930 until his death in 1940.
Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG was an Australian politician who served as the 33rd premier of Victoria from 1935 to 1943 and from 1943 to 1945 and as the third deputy premier of Victoria for five days in March 1935. A member of the Country Party, now the National Party, his term as premier was the second-longest in the state's history and the longest of any third-party premier. He was the first person to hold the office of premier in its own right, and not an additional duty taken up by the Treasurer, Attorney-General or Chief Secretary.
Thomas Tuke Hollway was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) in Victoria, and was the inaugural leader of the UAP's successor, the Victorian division of the Liberal Party, but split from the Liberals after a dispute over electoral reform issues.
The Victorian Farmers' Union (VFU) was an association of farmers and primary producers formed in 1914 in the Australian state of Victoria. Although initially formed as an "absolutely non-political" entity, the VFU became a political party in 1916, and nominated candidates for the 1917 state election and subsequent elections. In later years it used the names Victorian Country Party, then United Country Party and is now the National Party of Australia – Victoria. At the 1917 election, because the support for the VFU was concentrated in rural seats, it won four of the 11 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly it contested, gaining about 6% of the vote state-wide. In 1918 it also won its first seat in the federal parliament, after preferential voting was introduced. At the 1920 state election the VFU vote increased to 8% and the number of seats to 13, giving the VFU the balance of power in the state Legislative Assembly.
David Charles McGrath was an Australian politician. Originally a member of the Australian Labor Party, he joined Joseph Lyons in the 1931 Labor split that led to the formation of the United Australia Party.
This is a list of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1929 to 1932, as elected at the 1929 state election.
Thomas Tunnecliffe was an Australian politician. Representing the Australian Labor Party, he was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the electorates of West Melbourne (1903–1904), Eaglehawk (1907–1920) and Collingwood (1921–1947).
Henry Stephen Bailey was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1914 to 1932 and from 1935 to 1950, representing the electorates of Port Fairy (1914–27) and Warrnambool. Initially an Australian Labor Party member, he served as Minister for Lands and Water Supply in the Prendergast and Hogan governments of 1924, 1927–28 and 1929–32, but was expelled from the party in 1932 during the 1931-32 Labor split and defeated at that year's election. He joined the Country Party in 1934 and won his old seat back for his new party in 1935, subsequently serving as Minister Without Portfolio (1935–36), Minister of Labour (1936), Chief Secretary (1936-43) and Attorney-General (1938–43) in the Dunstan government.
The 1940 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday 16 March 1940 to elect 44 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.
The 1935 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday 2 March 1935 to elect 53 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. 12 seats were uncontested.
The 1929 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday 30 November 1929 to elect the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.
The 1924 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday 26 June 1924 to elect the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.
The 1920 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday 21 October 1920 to elect the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.
The Victorian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party and commonly referred to simply as Victorian Labor, is the Victorian state branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The party forms the incumbent government in the state of Victoria and is led by Jacinta Allan, who has served concurrently as Premier of Victoria since 2023.
The United Australia Party (UAP) was the state branch of the national United Australia Party in Victoria. The party led the state government under Sir Stanley Argyle between 1932 and 1935, but spent most of its existence in opposition to the Country Party.
The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as the Coalition, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Victorian politics. The two partners in the Coalition are the Liberal Party and the National Party.
