1913 Australian federal election

The 1913 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 31 May 1913. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, was defeated by the opposition Commonwealth Liberal Party under Joseph Cook, marking the second time an Australian Prime Minister was defeated at an election. The new government had a majority of just a single seat, and held a minority of seats in the Senate.^[1] It would last only 15 months, suffering defeat at the 1914 election.

1913 Australian federal election

← 1910 31 May 1913 (1913-05-31) 1914 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 75 seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 18 (of the 36) seats in the Senate
Registered	2,760,216 22.22%
Turnout	1,955,723 (73.49%)[a] (10.69 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Joseph Cook Andrew Fisher Party Liberal Labor Leader since 20 January 1913 30 October 1907 Leader's seat Parramatta (NSW) Wide Bay (Qld) Last election 31 seats 42 seats Seats won 38 seats 37 seats Seat change 7 5 Popular vote 930,076 921,099 Percentage 48.94% 48.47% Swing 3.85% 1.50%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Andrew Fisher Labor Subsequent Prime Minister Joseph Cook Commonwealth Liberal

The 1913 election was held in conjunction with six referendum questions, none of which were carried. According to David Day, Andrew Fisher's biographer, "it was probably the timing of the referenda that was most responsible for the disappointing election result" for the Labor Party.^[2]

Results

House of Representatives

See also: Results of the 1913 Australian federal election (House of Representatives)

  Labour: 37 seats

  Liberal: 38 seats

House of Reps 1913–14 (FPTP) — Turnout 73.49% (Non-CV) — Informal 2.83%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal	930,076	48.94	+3.85	38	+7
	Labor	921,099	48.47	−1.50	37	−5
	Independents	49,194	2.59	−2.35	0	−2
	Total	1,900,369			75
	Liberal	Win			38	+7
	Labor				37	−5

---

Notes

• Three members were elected unopposed – one Liberal and two Labor.

Popular vote Liberal   48.94% Labor   48.47% Independent   2.59%

Parliament seats Liberal   50.67% Labor   49.33%

Senate

Senate 1913–14 (FPTP BV) — Turnout 73.66% (Non-CV) — Informal N/A

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Liberal	946,807	49.38	+3.83	7	7	−7
	Labor	934,176	48.72	−1.58	11	29	+7
	Socialist Labor	20,183	1.05	+1.05	0	0	0
	Independents	16,233	0.85	−2.51	0	0	0
	Total	1,917,399			18	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1913				Swing	Post-1913
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Ballaarat, Vic		Liberal	Alfred Deakin	1.1	3.1	0.6	Charles McGrath	Labor
Bendigo, Vic		Liberal	John Quick	1.3	3.6	2.0	John Arthur	Labor
Boothby, SA		Liberal	David Gordon	7.1	10.8	3.0	George Dankel	Labor
Calare, NSW		Labor	Thomas Brown	3.6	5.9	2.1	Henry Pigott	Liberal
Corangamite, Vic		Labor	James Scullin	4.7	6.1	2.2	Chester Manifold	Liberal
Corio, Vic		Labor	Alfred Ozanne	4.4	5.1	1.8	William Kendell	Liberal
Fremantle, WA		Liberal	William Hedges	4.5	11.4	5.8	Reginald Burchell	Labor
Gippsland, Vic		Independent	George Wise	12.1	12.7	5.0	James Bennett	Liberal
Hume, NSW		Independent	William Lyne	16.4	16.2	0.7	Robert Patten	Liberal
Indi, Vic		Labor	Parker Moloney	3.1	3.2	2.2	Cornelius Ahern	Liberal
New England, NSW		Labor	Frank Foster	2.7	9.5	6.5	Percy Abbott	Liberal
Oxley, Qld		Liberal	Richard Edwards	12.2	N/A	4.4	James Sharpe	Labor
Riverina, NSW		Labor	John Chanter	7.0	8.6	1.0	Franc Falkiner	Liberal
Wannon, Vic		Labor	John McDougall	5.0	7.8	4.2	Arthur Rodgers	Liberal
Werriwa, NSW		Labor	Benjamin Bennett	0.8	6.5	5.9	Alfred Conroy	Liberal

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

Post-election pendulum

Government seats
Commonwealth Liberal Party
Marginal
Hume (NSW)	Robert Patten	LIB	0.7 vs IND
Riverina (NSW)	Franc Falkiner	LIB	1.0
Corio (Vic)	William Kendell	LIB	1.8
Calare (NSW)	Henry Pigott	LIB	2.1
Indi (Vic)	Cornelius Ahern	LIB	2.2
Corangamite (Vic)	Chester Manifold	LIB	2.2
Dampier (WA)	Henry Gregory	LIB	2.6
Perth (WA)	James Fowler	LIB	3.3
Wakefield (SA)	Richard Foster	LIB	3.7
Grampians (Vic)	Hans Irvine	LIB	3.9
Wannon (Vic)	Arthur Rodgers	LIB	4.2
Lilley (Qld)	Jacob Stumm	LIB	4.7
Swan (WA)	John Forrest	LIB	4.9
Gippsland (Vic)	James Bennett	LIB	5.0 vs IND
Robertson (NSW)	William Fleming	LIB	5.3
Nepean (NSW)	Richard Orchard	LIB	5.6
Franklin (Tas)	William McWilliams	LIB	5.8
Werriwa (NSW)	Alfred Conroy	LIB	5.9
Fairly safe
New England (NSW)	Percy Abbott	LIB	6.5
Lang (NSW)	Elliot Johnson	LIB	7.1
Flinders (Vic)	William Irvine	LIB	7.8
Eden-Monaro (NSW)	Austin Chapman	LIB	8.7
Barker (SA)	John Livingston	LIB	9.0
Safe
Darling Downs (Qld)	Littleton Groom	LIB	10.0
Moreton (Qld)	Hugh Sinclair	LIB	10.7
Echuca (Vic)	Albert Palmer	LIB	11.0
Wentworth (NSW)	Willie Kelly	LIB	11.7
Kooyong (Vic)	Robert Best	LIB	11.9 vs IND
Parkes (NSW)	Bruce Smith	LIB	11.9
Wilmot (Tas)	Llewellyn Atkinson	LIB	12.6
Balaclava (Vic)	Agar Wynne	LIB	15.0
Henty (Vic)	James Boyd	LIB	17.1
Parramatta (NSW)	Joseph Cook	LIB	18.3
North Sydney (NSW)	Granville Ryrie	LIB	19.1
Richmond (NSW)	Walter Massy-Greene	LIB	19.9
Very safe
Wimmera (Vic)	Sydney Sampson	LIB	21.0
Cowper (NSW)	John Thomson	LIB	22.2
Angas (SA)	Paddy Glynn	LIB	unopposed

Non-government seats
Australian Labor Party
Marginal
Illawarra (NSW)	George Burns	ALP	0.2
Ballaarat (Vic)	Charles McGrath	ALP	0.6
Macquarie (NSW)	Ernest Carr	ALP	1.6
Grey (SA)	Alexander Poynton	ALP	2.0
Bendigo (Vic)	John Arthur	ALP	2.0
Darwin (Tas)	King O'Malley	ALP	2.1
Gwydir (NSW)	William Webster	ALP	2.2
Bass (Tas)	Jens Jensen	ALP	2.4
Boothby (SA)	George Dankel	ALP	3.0
Denison (Tas)	William Laird Smith	ALP	3.3
Fawkner (Vic)	Joseph Hannan	ALP	3.3
Oxley (Qld)	James Sharpe	ALP	4.4
Hunter (NSW)	Matthew Charlton	ALP	4.5
Wide Bay (Qld)	Andrew Fisher	ALP	5.6
Fremantle (WA)	Reginald Burchell	ALP	5.8
Fairly safe
East Sydney (NSW)	John West	ALP	6.1
Brisbane (Qld)	William Finlayson	ALP	6.9
Dalley (NSW)	Robert Howe	ALP	7.7
Herbert (Qld)	Fred Bamford	ALP	8.0
Cook (NSW)	James Catts	ALP	9.9
Safe
Bourke (Vic)	Frank Anstey	ALP	10.0
Darling (NSW)	William Spence	ALP	10.5
Maribyrnong (Vic))	James Fenton	ALP	10.8
Capricornia (Qld)	William Higgs	ALP	14.1
Batman (Vic)	Frank Brennan	ALP	14.9
Maranoa (Qld)	Jim Page	ALP	15.0
South Sydney (NSW)	Edward Riley	ALP	15.0
Adelaide (SA)	Ernest Roberts	ALP	18.4
Very safe
West Sydney (NSW)	Billy Hughes	ALP	21.3
Melbourne (Vic)	William Maloney	ALP	21.9 vs IND
Newcastle (NSW)	David Watkins	ALP	23.8
Kennedy (Qld)	Charles McDonald	ALP	24.4
Yarra (Vic)	Frank Tudor	ALP	25.0
Barrier (NSW)	Josiah Thomas	ALP	26.8
Melbourne Ports (Vic)	James Mathews	ALP	29.2
Hindmarsh (SA)	William Archibald	ALP	unopposed
Kalgoorlie (WA)	Charlie Frazer	ALP	unopposed

See also

• Candidates of the 1913 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1913–1914
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1913–1914

Notes

1. Turnout in contested seats