1922 Australian federal election

The 1922 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 16 December 1922. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party, led by Prime Minister Billy Hughes lost its majority. However, the opposition Labor Party led by Matthew Charlton did not take office as the Nationalists sought a coalition with the fledgling Country Party led by Earle Page. The Country Party made Hughes's resignation the price for joining, and Hughes was replaced as Nationalist leader by Stanley Bruce.

1922 Australian federal election

← 1919 16 December 1922 (1922-12-16) 1925 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 76[a] seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats in the Senate
Registered	2,980,424 4.58%
Turnout	1,646,863 (59.36%)[b] (18.94 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Matthew Charlton Billy Hughes Earle Page Party Labor Nationalist Country Leader since 16 May 1922 14 November 1916 5 April 1921 Leader's seat Hunter (NSW) won North Sydney (NSW)[c] Cowper (NSW) Last election 26 seats 37 seats 11 seats Seats won 29 + NT 26 14 seats Seat change 4 11 3 Popular vote 665,145 553,920 197,513 Percentage 48.80% 51.20% Swing 2.90% 2.90%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Billy Hughes Nationalist Subsequent Prime Minister Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition

Future Prime Minister Frank Forde and future opposition leader John Latham both entered parliament at this election.

At this election, Hughes as the sitting prime minister made his second seat transfer, in this case, from Bendigo to North Sydney. Hughes had held Bendigo since transferring there from West Sydney at the 1917 election also as the sitting prime minister.

Hughes remains the only sitting Prime Minister to transfer to another seat, not once but twice.

Aside from the 1917 and 1922 elections, all other elections have seen the sitting prime minister recontest the seat that they held prior to the election.

Background

The 1919 federal election had resulted in a hung parliament, with the newly formed Country Party holding the balance of power. Prime Minister Billy Hughes' Nationalist Party government was reliant on the support of the Country Party to pass legislation. Country Party leader Earle Page used the situation to his advantage, bargaining for concessions and refusing to guarantee support for confidence motions. A vote of confidence held in October 1921 on the government's budget passed by only a single vote, when Country MP Alexander Hay abstained from voting.^[1]

ALP leader Frank Tudor died in office in January 1922, after a long period of ill health.^[2] He was replaced as party leader and opposition leader by New South Wales MP Matthew Charlton, who had been acting leader for some time, although he was not formally confirmed in the position until May 1922.^[3][4]

Campaign

Charlton and the ALP presented "policies of national development under a unified government with regional devolution of powers, tariff protection and limited immigration". He was briefly hospitalised during the campaign.^[5]

Page presented the Country Party platform in October 1922, which included decentralisation, reduction in government expenditure and public debt, tariff and agricultural marketing reforms, and rural credits (a form of government subsidy for primary producers).^[6] He also supported placing the Commonwealth Bank under an independent board, tasked with supporting national development projects.^[7] His speech was critical of Hughes, alleging broken promises and describing the prime minister as having "total disregard of the financial position of the country".^[8]

Results

House of Representatives

See also: Results of the 1922 Australian federal election (House of Representatives)

  Labor: 29 seats

  Nationalist: 26 seats

  Country: 14 seats

  Independent: 1 seat

  Liberal: 5 seats

House of Reps (IRV) – 1922–25—Turnout 59.36% (Non-CV) – Informal 4.51%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	665,145	42.30	−0.19	30[d]	4
	Nationalist	553,920	35.23	−9.85	26	11
	Country	197,513	12.56	+3.30	14	3
	Liberal Union	37,904	2.41	+2.41	3	3
	Liberal	32,167	2.04	+2.04	2	2
	Constitutionalist	11,812	0.75	+0.75	0
	Majority Labor	10,303	0.66	+0.66	0
	Industrial Labor	4,331	0.28	+0.09	0
	Protestant Labor	3,631	0.23	+0.23	0
	NT Representation League	362	0.02	+0.02	0
	Independents	51,538	3.28	+1.86	1
	Total	1,572,514			76	1
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Nationalist	Win	51.20	−2.90	40	+3
	Labor		48.80	+2.90	29	0

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Notes

• Independents: William Watson (Fremantle, WA)
• Five members were elected unopposed – one Labor, two Nationalist, one Country, and one Liberal.

Popular vote Labor   42.30% Nationalist   35.23% Country   12.56% Liberal   4.70% Independent/Others   5.22%

Two-party-preferred vote Coalition   51.20% Labor   48.80%

Parliament seats Coalition   53.33% Labor   38.67% Liberal   6.67% Independent   1.33%

Senate

See also: Results of the 1922 Australian federal election (Senate)

Senate (P BV) – 1922–1925—Turnout 57.99% (Non-CV) – Informal 9.44%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Labor	715,219	45.70	+2.86	11	12	+11
	Nationalist	567,084	36.23	−10.16	8	24	−11
	Country	203,267	12.99	+4.20	0	0	0
	Liberal Union	43,706	2.79	+2.79	0	0	0
	Socialist Labor	8,551	0.55	+0.55	0	0	0
	Majority Labor	3,813	0.24	+0.24	0	0	0
	Independents	23,447	1.50	+0.08	0	0	0
	Total	1,565,087			19	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1922				Swing	Post-1922
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Adelaide, SA		Nationalist	Reginald Blundell	0.8	8.0	3.6	George Edwin Yates	Labor
Balaclava, Vic		Nationalist	William Watt	N/A	100.0	100.0	William Watt	Liberal
Barker, SA		Nationalist	John Livingston	N/A	N/A	2.3	Malcolm Cameron	Liberal Union
Barton, NSW		Nationalist	notional – new seat	N/A	13.8	7.6	Frederick McDonald	Labor
Boothby, SA		Nationalist	William Story	N/A	N/A	4.7	Jack Duncan-Hughes	Liberal Union
Calare, NSW		Labor	Thomas Lavelle	2.3	8.5	5.3	Neville Howse	Nationalist
Darwin, Tas		Nationalist	George Bell	4.0	N/A	0.4	Joshua Whitsitt	Country
Denison, Tas		Nationalist	William Laird Smith	3.9	4.3	0.4	David O'Keefe	Labor
Fremantle, WA		Nationalist	Reginald Burchell	N/A	56.9	6.9	William Watson	Independent
Gippsland, Vic		Nationalist	George Wise	5.2	18.1	12.9	Thomas Paterson	Country
Grey, SA		Nationalist	Alexander Poynton	1.8	5.5	3.7	Andrew Lacey	Labor
Henty, Vic		Independent	Frederick Francis	2.9	8.7	5.8	Frederick Francis	Nationalist
Kalgoorlie, WA		Nationalist	George Foley	1.4	7.1	7.4	Albert Green	Labor
Kooyong, Vic		Nationalist	Robert Best	14.3	14.9	0.6	John Latham	Liberal
Macquarie, NSW		Labor	Samuel Nicholls	3.2	0.6	0.2	Arthur Manning	Nationalist
New England, NSW		Nationalist	Alexander Hay*	7.3	N/A	8.5	Victor Thompson	Country
Northern Territory, NT		new division				0.4	H. G. Nelson	Labor
Richmond, NSW		Nationalist	Walter Massy-Greene	22.5	24.0	3.3	Roland Green	Country
Riverina, NSW		Nationalist	John Chanter	N/A	54.3	4.3	William Killen	Country
Wakefield, SA		Nationalist	Richard Foster	N/A	N/A	5.3	Richard Foster	Liberal Union
Wannon, Vic		Nationalist	Arthur Rodgers	4.1	4.9	0.8	John McNeill	Labor
Wilmot, Tas		Nationalist	Llewellyn Atkinson	10.2	N/A	11.2	Llewellyn Atkinson	Country

• Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
• *Alexander Hay contested his seat as an independent

Post-election pendulum

Government seats
Nationalist/Country coalition
Marginal
Macquarie (NSW)	Neville Howse	NAT	00.2
Darwin (Tas)	Joshua Whitsitt	CP	00.4 v NAT
Corio (Vic)	John Lister	NAT	00.8
Bendigo (Vic)	Geoffry Hurry	NAT	01.7
Herbert (Qld)	Fred Bamford	NAT	01.7
Brisbane (Qld)	Donald Cameron	NAT	02.0
Richmond (NSW)	Roland Green	CP	03.3
Oxley (Qld)	James Bayley	NAT	03.3
Bass (Tas)	Syd Jackson	NAT	03.6
Corangamite (Vic)	William Gibson	CP	03.9
Riverina (NSW)	William Killen	CP	04.3
Lang (NSW)	Elliot Johnson	NAT	04.4
Maranoa (Qld)	James Hunter	CP	04.4
Calare (NSW)	Neville Howse	NAT	05.3
Flinders (Vic)	Stanley Bruce	NAT	05.6 v LIB
Henty (Vic)	Frederick Francis	NAT	05.8 v NAT
Fairly safe
Franklin (Tas)	Alfred Seabrook	NAT	06.3
Fawkner (Vic)	George Maxwell	NAT	08.0
North Sydney (NSW)	Billy Hughes	NAT	08.2 v Const.
New England (NSW)	Victor Thompson	CP	08.5
Darling Downs (Qld)	Littleton Groom	NAT	08.6
Perth (WA)	Edward Mann	NAT	08.9
Moreton (Qld)	Josiah Francis	NAT	09.5
Safe
Wide Bay (Qld)	Edward Corser	NAT	10.5
Eden-Monaro (NSW)	Austin Chapman	NAT	11.1
Wilmot (Tas)	Llewellyn Atkinson	CP	11.2
Robertson (NSW)	Sydney Gardner	NAT	11.8
Parkes (NSW)	Charles Marr	NAT	11.8
Wentworth (NSW)	Walter Marks	NAT	11.9
Gippsland (Vic)	Thomas Paterson	CP	12.9 v NAT
Indi (Vic)	Robert Cook	CP	13.2
Lilley (Qld)	George Mackay	NAT	15.2 v IND
Parramatta (NSW)	Eric Bowden	NAT	15.4
Cowper (NSW)	Earle Page	CP	17.3 v NAT
Very safe
Echuca (Vic)	William Hill	CP	20.3 v NAT
Wimmera (Vic)	Percy Stewart	CP	21.2 v IND
Forrest (WA)	John Prowse	CP	29.5 v NAT
Martin (NSW)	Herbert Pratten	NAT	unopposed
Swan (WA)	Henry Gregory	CP	unopposed
Warringah (NSW)	Granville Ryrie	NAT	unopposed

Non-government seats
Australian Labor Party and Liberal Party
Marginal
Gwydir (NSW)	Lou Cunningham	ALP	00.1 v CP
Northern Territory (NT)	H. G. Nelson	ALP	00.4 v IND
Denison (Tas)	David O'Keefe	ALP	00.4
Kooyong (Vic)	John Latham	LIB	00.6 v NAT
Wannon (Vic)	John McNeill	ALP	00.8
Ballaarat (Vic)	Charles McGrath	ALP	01.7
Barker (SA)	Malcolm Cameron	LIB	02.3 v ALP
Capricornia (Qld)	Frank Forde	ALP	02.5
Batman (Vic)	Frank Brennan	ALP	03.3
Adelaide (SA)	George Edwin Yates	ALP	03.6 v LIB
Grey (SA)	Andrew Lacey	ALP	03.7
Werriwa (NSW)	Bert Lazzarini	ALP	03.9
Boothby (SA)	Jack Duncan-Hughes	LIB	04.7 v ALP
Hume (NSW)	Parker Moloney	ALP	04.9
Wakefield (SA)	Richard Foster	LIB	05.3 v ALP
Fairly safe
Kalgoorlie (WA)	Albert Green	ALP	07.4
Barton (NSW)	Frederick McDonald	ALP	07.6
Angas (SA)	Moses Gabb	ALP	08.0 v LIB
Reid (NSW)	Percy Coleman	ALP	08.6
East Sydney (NSW)	John West	ALP	09.1
Safe
Kennedy (Qld)	Charles McDonald	ALP	11.6
South Sydney (NSW)	Edward Riley	ALP	11.7
Maribyrnong (Vic)	James Fenton	ALP	13.2
Darling (NSW)	Arthur Blakeley	ALP	15.1
Hindmarsh (SA)	Norman Makin	ALP	18.6
Newcastle (NSW)	David Watkins	ALP	19.4
Very safe
Bourke (Vic)	Frank Anstey	ALP	20.1
Dalley (NSW)	William Mahony	ALP	20.9
Melbourne Ports (Vic)	James Mathews	ALP	23.1
Cook (NSW)	Edward Charles Riley	ALP	24.9
West Sydney (NSW)	William Lambert	ALP	25.4 v IND
Melbourne (Vic)	William Maloney	ALP	27.2
Yarra (Vic)	James Scullin	ALP	28.0
Balaclava (Vic)	William Watt	LIB	unopposed
Hunter (NSW)	Matthew Charlton	ALP	unopposed
Independents
Fremantle (WA)	William Watson	IND	06.9 v ALP

See also

• Candidates of the 1922 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1922–1925
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1923–1926

Notes

1. The Northern Territory had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation.
2. Turnout in contested seats
3. Hughes' seat prior to the election was Bendigo (Vic.). He ran for the New South Wales seat of North Sydney and won.
4. Including Northern Territory