Queensland state election, 1956

Queensland state election, 1956
All 75 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland ; 38 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Premier before election; Vince Gair ; Labor	Elected Premier ; Vince Gair ; Labor

Last updated May 03, 2019

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 19 May 1956 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government was seeking its ninth continuous term in office since the 1932 election; it would be Vince Gair's second election as Premier.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

The states and territories are the first-level administrative divisions of the Commonwealth of Australia. They are the second level of government in Australia, located between the federal and local government tiers.

Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).

Key dates

Date	Event
17 April 1956	The Parliament was dissolved.^[1]
17 April 1956	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.^[2]
27 April 1956	Close of nominations.
19 May 1956	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
26 May 1956	Polling day in the seat of Warrego, delayed due to absence of the presiding officer.^[3]
28 May 1956	The Gair Ministry was re-sworn in.^[4]
2 June 1956	Polling day in the seat of Tablelands, delayed due to floods.^[3]
30 June 1956	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
31 July 1956	Parliament resumed for business.^[5]

Results

Queensland state election, 19 May 1956^[6] Legislative Assembly << 1953–1957 >>
Enrolled voters		712,508^[1]
Votes cast		662,680		Turnout	93.01	–0.79
Informal votes		8,006		Informal	1.21	–0.07
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	335,311	51.22	–1.99	49	– 1
	Liberal	164,116	25.07	+3.77	8	± 0
	Country	126,183	19.27	+0.53	16	+ 1
	NQ Labor	8,625	1.32	+0.22	1	± 0
	Communist	1,332	0.20	–0.45	0	± 0
	Ind. Labor	414	0.06	–0.08	0	± 0
	Independent	18,693	2.86	–0.26	1	± 0
Total		654,674			75

¹ 775,258 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 6 seats representing 62,750 enrolled voters were unopposed: three Country seats (28,062 voters), two Liberal seats (23,119 voters) and one Labor seat (11,569 voters).

Aftermath

This was to be Labor's last successful election until the 1989 election. On 18 April 1957, the Queensland Central Executive of the Labor Party passed a vote of no confidence in Premier Gair, and on 24 April, despite having gained a unanimous vote of support from the Cabinet, he was expelled from the Labor Party. On 26 April, Gair convened a meeting of 25 MLAs, including all of the Cabinet except Deputy Premier John Duggan and two ex-Labor Independents, and formed the Queensland Labor Party (QLP) with those present, while the Labor Party moved to the opposition benches. All these were also expelled from the party. The resulting government was denied supply in parliament, and an election was called for 3 August, at which the QLP government and the Labor Party were defeated by the Country-Liberal coalition led by Frank Nicklin.

The Queensland Labor Party (QLP) was a political party of Queensland, Australia formed in 1957 by a breakaway group of the then ruling Labor Party Government after the expulsion of Premier Vince Gair. In 1962 the party became the Queensland section of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). The party continued to hold seats in the Queensland state parliament until 1972, then suffered a collapse in its vote and wound itself up in 1978.

The Australian Labor Party , commonly known as Queensland Labor is the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party.

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References

↑ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette . 17 April 1956. p. 191:1397.
↑ Queensland Government Gazette . 17 April 1956. p. 191:1399. Missing or empty |title= (help)
1 2 "Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette . 31 July 1956. p. 192:1408. .
↑ Queensland Government Gazette . 28 May 1956. p. 192:612. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Queensland Government Gazette . 21 June 1956. p. 192:1011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 19 May 1956" . Retrieved 25 January 2010.

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[1] "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette . 17 April 1956. p. 191:1397.

[2] Queensland Government Gazette . 17 April 1956. p. 191:1399. Missing or empty |title= (help)

[delay-3] 1 2 "Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette . 31 July 1956. p. 192:1408. .

[4] Queensland Government Gazette . 28 May 1956. p. 192:612. Missing or empty |title= (help)

[5] Queensland Government Gazette . 21 June 1956. p. 192:1011. Missing or empty |title= (help)

[6] Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 19 May 1956" . Retrieved 25 January 2010.

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