1932 Queensland state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 11 June 1932 to elect the 62 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

1932 Queensland state election

11 June 1932 (1932-06-11)
All 62 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 32 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader William Forgan Smith Arthur Edward Moore Party Labor CPNP Leader since 27 May 1929 (1929-05-27) 19 April 1924 Leader's seat Mackay Aubigny Last election 27 seats 43 seats Seats won 33 seats 28 seats Seat change 5 15 Percentage 49.89% 45.21% Swing 9.73 9.02
Premier before election Arthur Edward Moore CPNP Elected Premier William Forgan Smith Labor

The election was the first electoral test of the Country and Progressive National Party government led by Arthur Edward Moore, and was held in the midst of the Great Depression. Labor had previously held office from 1915 until 1929.

The election resulted in the defeat of the one-term Moore government by the Labor Party, led by William Forgan Smith.

Key dates

Date	Event
3 February 1932	The new electoral boundaries under the Electoral Districts Act 1931 were proclaimed.[1]
19 April 1932	The Parliament was dissolved.[2]
20 April 1932	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[3]
28 April 1932	Close of nominations.
11 June 1932	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
18 June 1932	The Moore Ministry resigned and the Forgan Smith Ministry was sworn in.[4]
2 July 1932	Polling day in the seat of Hamilton, delayed due to the death of a candidate.[5]
16 July 1932	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
15 August 1932	Parliament resumed for business.[6]

Results

The election saw a major swing to Labor from the 1929 election. The election took place on modified boundaries — the Assembly had been reduced by the Electoral Districts Act 1931 from 72 to 62 seats, mainly accomplished by the abolition of sitting Labor members' seats. Despite this, Labor went from a deficit of 16 seats to a surplus of 5 seats.

Queensland state election, 11 June 1932[7] Legislative Assembly << 1929–1935 >>
Enrolled voters		492,036^[1]
Votes cast		456,706		Turnout	92.82%	+3.67%
Informal votes		5,144		Informal	1.13%	–0.43%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	225,270	49.89%	+9.73%	33	+5
	CPNP	204,158	45.21%	–9.02%	28	-15
	Queensland Party	7,590	1.68%	+1.68%	0	± 0
	Independent Labor	1,831	0.41%	+0.41%	0	± 0
	Communist	1,057	0.23%	–0.45%	0	± 0
	Lang Labor	587	0.13%	+0.13%	0	± 0
	Independent	11,069	2.45%	–2.42%	1	– 1
Total		451,562			62

¹ 525,944 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 5 seats (8.1% of the total) were uncontested—4 Labor seats (two more than in 1929) representing 27,083 enrolled voters and one Independent seat (held by Arnold Wienholt) representing 6,825 enrolled voters.

Seats changing party representation

There was an extensive redistribution across Queensland prior to this election, decreasing the amount of seats from 72 to 62. The seat changes are as follows.

Abolished seats

Seat	Incumbent member	Party
Balonne	Samuel Brassington		Labor
Burke	Arthur Jones		Labor
Burnett	Robert Boyd		CPNP
Burrum	William Brand		CPNP
Chillagoe	Ernest Atherton		CPNP
Eacham	George Duffy		CPNP
Flinders	John Mullan		Labor
Leichhardt	Tom Foley		Labor
Lockyer	Charles Jamieson		Independent
Mitchell	Richard Bow		Labor
Mount Morgan	James Stopford		Labor
Paddington	Alfred Jones		Labor
Queenton	Vernon Winstanley		Labor
Rosewood	Ted Maher		CPNP
Toombul	Hugh Russell		CPNP

• Members in italics did not run for this election.

New seats

Seat	Party		Elected member
Carpentaria		Labor	John Mullan
Hamilton		CPNP	Hugh Russell
Isis		CPNP	William Brand
The Tableland		Labor	Harry Bruce
West Moreton		CPNP	Ted Maher

Seats changing hands

Seat	Incumbent member	Party		New member	Party
Bulimba	Irene Longman		CPNP	William Copley		Labor
Enoggera	Jim Kerr		CPNP	George Taylor		Labor
Ipswich	James Walker		CPNP	David Gledson		Labor
Kelvin Grove	Richard Hill		CPNP	Frank Waters		Labor
Kennedy	Harry Bruce		Labor	Arthur Fadden		CPNP
Kurilpa	James Fry		CPNP	Kerry Copley		Labor
Maree	George Tedman		CPNP	William King		Labor
Maryborough	John Blackley*		CPNP	James Stopford		Labor
Merthyr	Patrick Kerwin		CPNP	James Keogh		Labor
Normanby	Jens Peterson		CPNP	Tom Foley		Labor
Nundah	William Kelso		CPNP	John Hayes		Labor
Port Curtis	Frank Butler		CPNP	Tommy Williams		Labor
Rockhampton	Thomas Dunlop		Independent	James Larcombe		Labor
South Brisbane	Neil MacGroarty		CPNP	Vince Gair		Labor
Toowoomba	James Annand		CPNP	Evan Llewelyn		Labor

• Members in italics did not recontest their seats.
• In addition, Independent MP Arnold Wienholt held the seat of Fassifern, which he had won from the CPNP at the 1930 by-election.
• The sitting member for Maryborough, John Blackley won this seat from Labor at the 1929 by-election.

Aftermath

Forgan Smith would go on to be premier for over 10 years, and Labor held power continuously until the party's split in 1957.

See also

• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1929–1932
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1932–1935
• Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1932
• Moore Ministry (Queensland)
• Forgan Smith Ministry

References

1. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 4 February 1932. p. 137:483.
2. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 19 April 1932. p. 137:1513.
3. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 20 April 1932. p. 137:1515.
4. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 18 June 1932. p. 137:2117–2118.
5. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 14 June 1932. p. 137:2053.
6. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 21 July 1932. p. 138:227.
7. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 11 June 1932". Retrieved 10 December 2009.