1928 Australian federal election

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.

1928 Australian federal election

17 November 1928 (1928-11-17)
All 75 seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats in the Senate
First party Second party   Leader Stanley Bruce James Scullin Party Nationalist/Country coalition Labor Leader since 9 February 1923 26 April 1928 Leader's seat Flinders (Vic.) Yarra (Vic.) Last election 51 seats 23 seats Seats won 42 seats 31 seats Seat change 9 8 Percentage 51.60% 48.40% Swing 2.20% 2.20
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

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.

Results

  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%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Nationalist–Country coalition		1,286,208	49.56	–3.64	42	–8
		Nationalist	1,014,522	39.09	–3.37	29	–8
		Country	271,686	10.47	–0.27	13	0
	Labor		1,158,505	44.64	–0.40	31	+8
	Country Progressive		41,713	1.61	+1.61	1	+1
	Protestant Labor		20,212	0.78	+0.78	0	0
	Independents		88,447	3.41	+1.65	1	–1
	Total		2,595,085			75
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Nationalist–Country coalition		WIN	51.60	−2.20	42	–8
	Labor			48.40	+2.20	31	+8

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Notes

• Independent: William McWilliams (Franklin, Tas.).
• Twelve members were elected unopposed – three Labor, five Nationalist, and four Country.

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%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held	Change
	Nationalist–Country coalition		1,466,323	50.46	–4.35	12	29	+1
		Nationalist	1,141,405	39.28	–6.07	10	24	0
		Country	324,918	11.18	+1.73	2	5	+1
	Labor		1,422,418	48.95	+3.93	7	7	–1
	Independents		17,092	0.59	+0.42	0	0	0
	Total		2,905,833			19	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1928				Swing	Post-1928
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Barton, NSW		Nationalist	Thomas Ley	1.0	7.3	6.3	James Tully	Labor
Boothby, SA		Nationalist	Jack Duncan-Hughes	7.6	7.7	0.1	John Price	Labor
Denison, Tas		Nationalist	John Gellibrand	2.2	2.5	0.3	Charles Culley	Labor
Franklin, Tas		Nationalist	Alfred Seabrook	N/A	7.2	1.6	William McWilliams	Independent
Fremantle, WA		Independent	William Watson	8.1	1.2	2.1	John Curtin	Labor
Herbert, Qld		Nationalist	Lewis Nott	0.3	0.5	0.2	George Martens	Labor
Indi, Vic		Country	Robert Cook	6.7	N/A	(Unopposed)	Paul Jones	Labor
Lang, NSW		Nationalist	Elliot Johnson	5.9	9.4	3.5	William Long	Labor
Macquarie, NSW		Nationalist	Arthur Manning	1.3	6.2	4.9	Ben Chifley	Labor
Wakefield, SA		Nationalist	Richard Foster	14.8	24.4	9.6	Maurice Collins	Country
Wilmot, Tas		Country	Llewellyn Atkinson	7.0	N/A	4.6	Llewellyn Atkinson	Nationalist

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

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

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1928
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1928–1929
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1929–1932

Notes

References

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