1914 Australian federal election

The 1914 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 5 September 1914. The election had been called before the declaration of war in August 1914. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and all 36 seats in the Senate were up for election, as a result of the first double dissolution being granted. The incumbent Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Cook, was defeated by the opposition Labor Party under Andrew Fisher, who returned for a third term as prime minister.

1914 Australian federal election

← 1913 5 September 1914 (1914-09-05) 1917 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 75 seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House All 36 seats in the Senate
Registered	2,811,515 1.86%
Turnout	1,726,906 (73.53%)[a] (0.04 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Andrew Fisher Joseph Cook Party Labor Liberal Leader since 30 October 1907 20 January 1913 Leader's seat Wide Bay (Qld) Parramatta (NSW) Last election 37 seats 38 seats Seats won 42 seats 32 seats Seat change 5 6 Popular vote 858,451 796,397 Percentage 50.89% 47.21% Swing 2.42% 1.73%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Joseph Cook Commonwealth Liberal Subsequent Prime Minister Andrew Fisher Labor

The Cook government is one of only two non-Labor governments in Australian history that did not last longer than the Labor government it had replaced; the other was the Howard government, which was defeated in 2007.

Additionally this marks the only time that three consecutive elections resulted in a change in government. In fact, since this election there have never been two consecutive elections resulting in a change in government. It also marks the third overall time that an election resulted in a change in government.

Fisher is one of only two Opposition Leaders from the Labor party to become prime minister with previous federal ministerial experience, the other being Anthony Albanese. This election was the second time he accomplished this, the first being in 1910. ^{[citation needed]}

This election resulted in the highest ever primary vote percentage for the Labor party at 50.89% and was the first time that the Labor party achieved more than 50% of the primary vote. The only other time this happened was in 1954.

Results

House of Representatives

See also: Results of the 1914 Australian federal election (House of Representatives)

  Labour: 42 seats

  Liberal: 32 seats

  Independent: 1 seat

House of Reps 1914–17 (FPTP) — Turnout 73.53% (Non-CV) — Informal 2.32%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	858,451	50.89	+2.42	42	+5
	Liberal	796,397	47.21	−1.73	32	-6
	Independents	31,915	1.89	−0.70	1	+1
	Total	1,686,763			75
	Labor	Win			42	+5
	Liberal				32	−6

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Notes

• Independents: George Wise (Gippsland, Vic)
• Thirteen members were elected unopposed – seven Labor and six Liberal.

Popular vote Labor   50.89% Liberal   47.21% Independent   1.89%

Parliament seats Labor   56.00% Liberal   42.67% Independent   1.33%

Senate

See also: 1914 Australian Senate election

Senate 1914–17 (FPTP BV) — Turnout 72.64% (Non-CV) — Informal N/A

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Labor	6,119,018	52.15	+3.43	31	31	+2
	Liberal	5,605,305	47.77	−1.61	5	5	−2
	Independents	9,799	0.08	–0.78	0	0	0
	Total	11,734,122			36	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1914				Swing	Post-1914
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Corio, Vic		Liberal	William Kendell	1.4	3.0	1.2	Alfred Ozanne	Labor
Gippsland, Vic		Liberal	James Bennett	5.0	6.0	1.0	George Wise	Independent
Grampians, Vic		Liberal	Hans Irvine	3.9	4.2	0.3	Edward Jolley	Labor
Indi, Vic		Liberal	Cornelius Ahern	1.8	3.0	1.0	Parker Moloney	Labor
Riverina, NSW		Liberal	Franc Falkiner	1.0	3.1	2.1	John Chanter	Labor
Werriwa, NSW		Liberal	Alfred Conroy	5.9	5.9	0.0	John Lynch	Labor

Post-election pendulum

Government seats
Australian Labor Party
Marginal
Werriwa (NSW)	John Lynch	ALP	00.0
Grampians (Vic)	Edward Jolley	ALP	00.3
Indi (Vic)	Parker Moloney	ALP	01.0
Corio (Vic)	Alfred Ozanne	ALP	01.2
Ballaarat (Vic)	Charles McGrath	ALP	01.2
Riverina (NSW)	John Chanter	ALP	02.1
Macquarie (NSW)	Ernest Carr	ALP	03.3
Gwydir (NSW)	William Webster	ALP	03.8
Grey (SA)	Alexander Poynton	ALP	04.0
Illawarra (NSW)	George Burns	ALP	04.2
Hunter (NSW)	Matthew Charlton	ALP	04.6
Bendigo (Vic)	John Arthur	ALP	05.1
Boothby (SA)	George Dankel	ALP	05.3
Denison (Tas)	William Laird Smith	ALP	05.9
Fairly safe
Bass (Tas)	Jens Jensen	ALP	06.0
Darwin (Tas)	King O'Malley	ALP	06.1
Fremantle (WA)	Reginald Burchell	ALP	06.3
Oxley (Qld)	James Sharpe	ALP	06.8
East Sydney (NSW)	John West	ALP	07.3
Fawkner (Vic)	Joseph Hannan	ALP	09.3
Safe
Brisbane (Qld)	William Finlayson	ALP	10.3
Darling (NSW)	William Spence	ALP	10.5
Dalley (NSW)	Robert Howe	ALP	11.3
Cook (NSW)	James Catts	ALP	11.7
Wide Bay (Qld)	Andrew Fisher	ALP	14.3 vs QFU
Maribyrnong (Vic)	James Fenton	ALP	14.3
Herbert (Qld)	Fred Bamford	ALP	14.4
Bourke (Vic)	Frank Anstey	ALP	15.9
Adelaide (SA)	George Edwin Yates	ALP	16.4
Capricornia (Qld)	William Higgs	ALP	17.4
South Sydney (NSW)	Edward Riley	ALP	18.8
Melbourne (Vic)	William Maloney	ALP	19.3
Very safe
Hindmarsh (SA)	William Archibald	ALP	24.4
West Sydney (NSW)	Billy Hughes	ALP	25.3
Barrier (NSW)	Josiah Thomas	ALP	29.7
Batman (Vic)	Frank Brennan	ALP	unopposed
Kalgoorlie (WA)	Hugh Mahon	ALP	unopposed
Kennedy (Qld)	Charles McDonald	ALP	unopposed
Maranoa (Qld)	Jim Page	ALP	unopposed
Melbourne Ports (Vic)	James Mathews	ALP	unopposed
Newcastle (NSW)	David Watkins	ALP	unopposed
Yarra (Vic)	Frank Tudor	ALP	unopposed

Non-government seats
Liberal Party
Marginal
Hume (NSW)	Robert Patten	LIB	01.0
Calare (NSW)	Henry Pigott	LIB	01.2
Corangamite (Vic)	Chester Manifold	LIB	01.6
Lilley (Qld)	Jacob Stumm	LIB	02.3
Wakefield (SA)	Richard Foster	LIB	02.4
Flinders (Vic)	William Irvine	LIB	02.7
Nepean (NSW)	Richard Orchard	LIB	02.7
Robertson (NSW)	William Fleming	LIB	03.4
Lang (NSW)	Elliot Johnson	LIB	03.5
Wannon (Vic)	Arthur Rodgers	LIB	03.6
Dampier (WA)	Henry Gregory	LIB	03.9
Perth (WA)	James Fowler	LIB	05.8
Fairly safe
Wentworth (NSW)	Willie Kelly	LIB	06.5
New England (NSW)	Percy Abbott	LIB	06.7
Barker (SA)	John Livingston	LIB	06.7
Darling Downs (Qld)	Littleton Groom	LIB	06.9
Moreton (Qld)	Hugh Sinclair	LIB	07.3
Henty (Vic)	James Boyd	LIB	07.7
Echuca (Vic)	Albert Palmer	LIB	08.2
Balaclava (Vic)	William Watt	LIB	08.4
Parkes (NSW)	Bruce Smith	LIB	08.5
Eden-Monaro (NSW)	Austin Chapman	LIB	09.2
Swan (WA)	John Forrest	LIB	09.2
Safe
Wilmot (Tas)	Llewellyn Atkinson	LIB	10.9
Kooyong (Vic)	Robert Best	LIB	13.3 vs IND
North Sydney (NSW)	Granville Ryrie	LIB	17.6
Very safe
Angas (SA)	Paddy Glynn	LIB	unopposed
Cowper (NSW)	John Thomson	LIB	unopposed
Franklin (Tas)	William McWilliams	LIB	unopposed
Parramatta (NSW)	Joseph Cook	LIB	unopposed
Richmond (NSW)	Walter Massy-Greene	LIB	unopposed
Wimmera (Vic)	Sydney Sampson	LIB	unopposed
Independents
Gippsland (Vic)	George Wise	IND	01.0 vs LIB

See also

• Candidates of the 1914 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1914–1917
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1914–1917

Notes

1. Turnout in contested seats