1925 Australian federal election

The 1925 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 14 November 1925. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 22 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist–Country coalition, led by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce, defeated the opposition Labor Party led by Matthew Charlton in a landslide. This was the first time any party had won a fourth consecutive federal election.

1925 Australian federal election

14 November 1925 (1925-11-14)
All 75 seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 22 (of the 36) seats in the Senate
First party Second party   Leader Stanley Bruce Matthew Charlton Party Nationalist/Country coalition Labor Leader since 9 February 1923 16 May 1922 Leader's seat Flinders (Vic.) Hunter (NSW) Last election 40 seats 29 seats Seats won 51 seats 23 seats Seat change 11 6 Percentage 53.80% 46.20% Swing 2.60% 2.60%
Popular vote by state with graphs indicating the number of seats won. As this is an IRV election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote by state but instead via results in each electorate.
Prime Minister before election Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition

Compulsory voting for federal elections was introduced in 1924 and first used in the 1925 elections, where 91.4% of the electorate cast a vote, compared to 59.4% at the 1922 elections.

Campaign

Prime Minister Stanley Bruce was a supporter of the White Australia Policy, and made it an issue in his campaign for the 1925 Australian Federal election.[1]

It is necessary that we should determine what are the ideals towards which every Australian would desire to strive. I think those ideals might well be stated as being to secure our national safety, and to ensure the maintenance of our White Australia Policy to continue as an integral portion of the British Empire.[1] We intend to keep this country white and not allow its people to be faced with the problems that at present are practically insoluble in many parts of the world.[2]

Results

  Labor: 23 seats

  Nationalist: 37 seats

  Country : 13 seats

  Independent: 2 seats

House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) — 1925–28 — Turnout 91.39% (CV) — Informal 2.36%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Nationalist–Country coalition		1,551,760	53.20	N/A	50	N/A
		Nationalist	1,238,397	42.46	+7.23	37	+11
		Country	313,363	10.74	–1.82	13	–1
	Labor		1,313,627	45.04	+2.74	23	–6
	Independents		51,251	1.76	–2.80	2	+1
	Total		2,916,638			75
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Nationalist–Country coalition		WIN	53.80	N/A	51	N/A
	Labor			46.20	−2.60	23	–6

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Notes

• Independents: Percy Stewart (Wimmera, Vic.), William Watson (Fremantle, WA).
• Labor lost Kennedy, Qld., when the sitting member Charles McDonald died on the day before the election, leading to his opponent Grosvenor Francis being declared elected unopposed.[3]

Popular Vote Labor   45.04% Nationalist   42.46% Country   10.74% Others   1.76%

Two Party Preferred Vote Coalition   53.80% Labor   46.20%

Parliament Seats Coalition   68.00% Labor   30.67% Others   2.67%

Senate

Senate (P BV) — 1925–28 — Turnout 91.31% (CV) — Informal 6.96%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held	Change
	Nationalist–Country coalition		1,537,282	54.81	N/A	22	28	N/A
		Nationalist	1,272,127	45.35	+9.12	18	24	0
		Country	265,155	9.45	–3.53	4	4	+4
	Labor		1,262,912	45.02	–0.67	0	8	–4
	Independents		4,808	0.17	–1.87	0	0	0
	Total		2,805,002			22	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1925				Swing	Post-1925
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Angas, SA		Labor	Moses Gabb	8.0	8.3	0.3	Walter Parsons	Nationalist
Balaclava, Vic		Liberal	William Watt	100.0	30.3	19.7	William Watt	Nationalist
Barker, SA		Liberal	Malcolm Cameron	2.3	9.3	11.6	Malcolm Cameron	Nationalist
Barton, NSW		Labor	Frederick McDonald	7.6	8.6	1.0	Thomas Ley	Nationalist
Boothby, SA		Liberal	Jack Duncan-Hughes	4.7	2.9	7.6	Jack Duncan-Hughes	Nationalist
Darwin, Tas		Country	Joshua Whitsitt	0.4	10.9	10.5*	George Bell	Nationalist
Denison, Tas		Labor	David O'Keefe	0.4	2.6	2.2	John Gellibrand	Nationalist
Gwydir, NSW		Labor	Lou Cunningham	0.1	3.2	3.1	Aubrey Abbott	Country
Kennedy, Qld		Labor	Charles McDonald	N/A	100.0	100.0	Grosvenor Francis	Nationalist
Kooyong, Vic		Liberal	John Latham	0.6	18.3	17.7	John Latham	Nationalist
Wakefield, SA		Liberal	Richard Foster	5.3	9.5	14.8	Richard Foster	Nationalist
Wannon, Vic		Labor	John McNeill	0.8	4.8	4.0	Arthur Rodgers	Nationalist
Wimmera, Vic		Country	Percy Stewart	21.2	77.8	27.8	Percy Stewart	Independent

• Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
• *Figure is Nationalist versus Labor.

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1925
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1925–1928
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1926–1929

Notes

1. "ISSUES OF THE ELECTIONS". The Age (21, 999). Victoria, Australia. 6 October 1925. p. 11. Retrieved 9 December 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
2. Bowen, James; Bowen, Margarita (2002). The Great Barrier Reef: History, Science, Heritage. Cambridge University Press. p. 301. ISBN 0-521-82430-3. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
3. "Kennedy Seat". Brisbane Courier. 14 November 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 19 July 2010.

References

• University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
• Two-party-preferred vote since 1919
• Compulsory Voting in Australia