Australian federal election, 1940

Australian federal election, 1940
All 74 seats of the House of Representatives ; 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House ; 19 (of the 36) seats of the Senate
Prime Minister before election; Robert Menzies ; UAP/Country coalition	Subsequent Prime Minister; Robert Menzies ; UAP/Country coalition

Last updated March 12, 2019

Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 September 1940. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Coalition, consisting of the United Australia Party led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the Country Party led by Archie Cameron, defeated the opposition Labor Party under John Curtin.

Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar principles, though there are minor variations between them. The elections for the Australian Parliament are held under the federal electoral system, which is uniform throughout the country, and the elections for state and territory Parliaments are held under the electoral system of each state and territory.

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a total of 76 Senators: 12 are elected from each of the six states regardless of population and 2 from each of the two autonomous internal territories. Senators are popularly elected under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation.

The Coalition had won 36 seats, two short of a majority, but formed a government on 28 October 1940 with the support of both independent crossbenchers, Alexander Wilson and Arthur Coles. The four MPs elected to Lang Labor's successor, the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), officially re-joined the ALP just months after the election in February 1941, bringing the ALP seat tally up to 36. The UAP–Country minority government lasted only until October 1941, when the two independents crossed the floor and allowed the ALP to form a minority government with Curtin as prime minister. It remains the only time since the 1910 introduction of an elected two-party system where the government changed as the result of a parliamentary confidence vote.

Alexander Wilson was an Australian wheat farmer and federal politician who played a key role in the downfall of the Fadden Government in 1941.

Sir Arthur William "A.W." Coles was a prominent Australian businessman and philanthropist, a son of St James, Victoria shopkeeper George W. Coles.

Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. On several occasions, its members broke away from the ALP and formed separate political parties, with representation in both state and federal parliaments.

Future opposition leaders H.V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell both entered parliament at this election.

Arthur Augustus Calwell KCSG was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party to three federal elections without success.

Background

Until the 1940 Canberra air disaster on 13 August, Menzies was not planning an election so early, as it was not due until December 1940 or even as late as January 1941.^{[ citation needed ]} However, the loss of three Cabinet ministers meant that three by-elections would have been required, followed within a few short months by a general election. Bringing the general election on earlier than planned was the preferred solution.

The 1940 Canberra air disaster was an aircraft crash that occurred near Canberra, the capital of Australia, on 13 August 1940, during World War II. All ten people on board were killed: six passengers, including three members of the Australian Cabinet and the Chief of the General Staff; and four crew. The aircraft is believed to have stalled on its landing approach, when it was too low to recover.

Both the Coalition and Labor supported Australia's ongoing participation in World War II. The Coalition's advertisements asked Australians to "Cast Your Vote for Unity and an All-in War Effort / Back the Government that's Backing Churchill", with a large picture of the British Prime Minister. Labor promised "A New Deal / for the Soldier / for the Soldier's wife / Widows, the Aged and Infirm / the Taxpayer / the Working Man / the Primary Producer".^[1]

Australia entered World War II on 3 September 1939, following the government's acceptance of the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Nazi Germany. Following attacks on Allied countries, the Australian government later declared war on other members of the Axis powers, including the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan. By the end of the war, almost a million Australians had served in the armed forces, whose military units fought primarily in the European theatre, North African campaign, and the South West Pacific theatre. In addition, Australia came under direct attack for the first time in its post-colonial history. Its casualties from enemy action during the war were 27,073 killed and 23,477 wounded.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a British politician, army officer, and writer. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, when he led Britain to victory in the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill represented five constituencies during his career as a Member of Parliament (MP). Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, for most of his career he was a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955, but from 1904 to 1924 was instead a member of the Liberal Party.

Results

House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) — 1940–43—Turnout 94.82% (CV) — Informal 2.56%
Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	UAP–Country coalition		1,703,185	43.93	–4.65	36	–8
		United Australia	1,171,788	30.22	–3.49	23	–5
		Country	531,397	13.71	–1.84	13	–3
	Labor		1,556,941	40.16	−3.01	32	+3
	Lang Labor		202,721	5.23	+5.23	4	+4
	State Labor		101,191	2.61	+2.61	0	0
	Defence Movement		15,313	0.40	+0.40	0	0
	Protestant Labor		8,300	0.21	+0.21	0	0
	Independents		289,335	7.46	+1.90	2	0
	Total		3,876,986			74
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	UAP–Country coalition			49.70	−0.90	36	−8
	Labor			50.30	+0.90	32	+3

Notes

Independents: Arthur Coles (Henty, Vic) (see below), Alexander Wilson (Wimmera, Vic)
The Country Party in Victoria was split over membership of the Coalition, with the state party opposing its members taking office. The official United Country Party elected two members, one of whom, George Rankin, sat in the federal Country Party room and the other, Arthur Coles, sat as an Independent. A breakaway faction, the Liberal Country Party, was formed to support sitting ministers and elected two members, John McEwen and Thomas Paterson, who both sat in the federal Country Party room.

The Division of Henty was an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1913 and abolished in 1990. It was named for the Henty family of Portland, the first European settlers in Victoria. It was located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including at various times Brighton, Caulfield, Malvern and Oakleigh. For most of its history it was a safe seat for the Liberal Party and its predecessors. A 1969 redistribution cut the seat back to the Oakleigh area, and from then on it was somewhat more marginal. In 1974 it elected Joan Child, the first female Labor member of the House of Representatives and the first female Speaker.

The Division of Wimmera was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It was named after the Wimmera region in which it was located. It originally encompassed the towns of Mildura, Swan Hill and Warracknabeal, but by the time it was abolished in 1977, it had drifted south and grown smaller to only include Ararat, Horsham and Maryborough. The Division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 75 divisions to be contested at the first Federal election. It was abolished at the redistribution of 31 October 1977.

The National Party of Australia – Victoria is a political party in Victoria, which forms the state branch of the federal Nationals. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally. The Victorian Farmer's Union formed in 1914 was the precursor to the Victorian Country Party, later the Nationals.

Popular Vote

Labor			40.16%
United Australia			30.22%
Country			13.71%
Lang Labor			5.23%
State Labor			2.61%
Independent/Other			8.07%

Two Party Preferred Vote

Labor			50.30%
Coalition			49.70%

Parliament Seats

Coalition			48.64%
Labor			43.24%
Lang Labor			5.41%
Independent			2.70%

Senate

Senate (P BV) — 1940–43—Turnout 94.75% (CV) — Informal 9.56%
		Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held	Change
UAP–Country coalition		1,831,138	50.41	+3.70	16	19	–1
	UAP–Country joint ticket	1,649,241	45.40	+16.72	10	N/A	N/A
	United Australia	181,897	5.01	–11.12	6	15	–1
	Country	N/A	N/A	N/A	0	4	0
Labor		1,363,072	37.52	–10.96	3	17	+1
Non-Communist Labor		274,861	7.57	+7.57	0	0	0
State Labor		70,091	1.93	+1.93	0	0	0
Defence Movement		9,536	0.26	+0.26	0	0	0
Independents		84,119	2.32	–1.07	0	0	0
Total		3,632,817			19	36

Notes

Of the ten senators elected on UAP–Country joint tickets, seven were UAP members and three were Country Party members.

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1940				Swing	Post-1940
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	Margin	Member	Party
Barton, NSW		United Australia	Albert Lane	1.8	13.9	12.1	H. V. Evatt	Labor
Calare, NSW		Country	Harold Thorby	2.2	5.6	3.4	John Breen	Labor
Cook, NSW		Labor	Tom Sheehan	N/A	33.9	13.6	Tom Sheehan	Labor (N-C)
Dalley, NSW		Labor	Sol Rosevear	N/A	14.9	7.2	Sol Rosevear	Labor (N-C)
Denison, Tas		Labor	Gerald Mahoney	3.9	5.0	1.1	Arthur Beck	United Australia
Henty, Vic		United Australia	Henry Gullett	N/A	3.2	13.5	Arthur Coles	Independent
Lang, NSW		Labor	Dan Mulcahy	N/A	13.4	16.0	Dan Mulcahy	Labor (N-C)
Macquarie, NSW		United Australia	John Lawson	2.1	10.2	8.1	Ben Chifley	Labor
Maranoa, Qld		Country	James Hunter	4.3	5.9	1.6	Frank Baker	Labor
Riverina, NSW		Country	Horace Nock	7.2	8.8	1.6	Joe Langtry	Labor
Wakefield, SA		Labor	Sydney McHugh	6.7	10.0	3.4	Jack Duncan-Hughes	United Australia
Wannon, Vic		United Australia	Thomas Scholfield	1.3	5.0	3.7	Don McLeod	Labor
Warringah, NSW		Independent	Percy Spender	1.9	23.6	25.5	Percy Spender	United Australia
Watson, NSW		United Australia	John Jennings	3.8	5.8	2.0	Max Falstein	Labor
West Sydney, NSW		Labor	Jack Beasley	100.0	64.3	14.3	Jack Beasley	Labor (N-C)
Wilmot, Tas		Labor	Lancelot Spurr	0.2	5.2	5.0	Allan Guy	United Australia

Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Notes

↑ Hasluck, Paul (1965). Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 4 – Civil - Volume 1, The Government and the People, 1939–1941. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. pp. 256–263.

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References

University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
Two-party-preferred vote since 1937

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[1] Hasluck, Paul (1965). Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 4 – Civil - Volume 1, The Government and the People, 1939–1941. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. pp. 256–263.

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