1932 Queensland state election

Summary

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

← 1929 11 June 1932 (1932-06-11) 1935 →

All 62 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
32 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout92.82 (Increase 3.67 pp)
  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, 40.16% 43 seats, 54.23%
Seats won 33 28
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 15
Popular vote 225,270 204,158
Percentage 49.89% 45.21%
Swing Increase 9.73 Decrease 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 edit

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 edit

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
<< 19291935 >>

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  
Popular vote
Labor
49.89%
CPNP
45.21%
Queensland Party
1.68%
Communist
0.23%
Lang Labor
0.13%
Independents
2.86%
Seats
Labor
53.22%
CPNP
45.16%
Independents
1.61%
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 edit

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 edit

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 listed in italics did not run for this election.

New seats edit

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 edit

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 listed 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 edit

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

See also edit

References edit

  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.