1928 Australian federal election

The 1928 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist–Country coalition, led by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce won a record fifth consecutive election defeating the opposition Labor Party led by James Scullin.

1928 Australian federal election

← 1925 17 November 1928 (1928-11-17) 1929 →
← 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	3,444,769 4.32%
Turnout	2,728,815 (93.64%)[b] (2.25 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Stanley Bruce James Scullin Party Nationalist/Country coalition Labor Leader since 9 February 1923 26 April 1928 Leader's seat Flinders (Vic.) Yarra (Vic.) Last election 51 seats 23 seats Seats won 42 31 + NT Seat change 9 8 Percentage 51.60% 48.40% Swing 2.20% 2.20   Third party Fourth party   IND Leader Albert Dunstan N/A Party Country Progressive Independents Leader since April 1926 N/A Leader's seat N/A[c] N/A Last election 0 seats 2 seats Seats won 1 seats 1 seats Seat change 1 1 Primary vote 41,713 88,447 Percentage 1.61% 3.41% Swing +1.61 +1.65
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition

The election was held in conjunction with a referendum on Commonwealth–State relations, which was carried.

Future Prime Ministers John Curtin and Ben Chifley both entered parliament at this election. Both then lost their seats in the 1931 election and did not re-enter parliament until 1934 and 1940 respectively.

Issues

In September 1928, federal treasurer Earle Page introduced the National Insurance Bill 1928 into the House of Representatives, which provided for the establishment of a National Insurance scheme inclusive of "sickness, old age, disability and maternity benefits, mainly paid for by compulsory contributions by workers and employers, along with smaller payments to parents of children under 16 and to orphans".^[2] The bill failed to pass before the dissolution of the House, but the scheme was "strongly promoted" by the government during the election campaign.^[3]

Results

  Nationalist: 29 seats

  Labor: 31 seats

  Country: 13 seats

  Country Progressive: 1 seat

  Independent: 1 seat

House of Representatives

See also: Results of the Australian federal election, 1928 (House of Representatives)

House of Reps (IRV) — 1928–29—Turnout 93.64% (CV) — Informal 4.90%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Nationalist–Country coalition		1,286,208	49.56	–3.64	42	–8
		Nationalist	1,014,522	39.09	–3.37	29	–8
		Country	271,686	10.47	–0.27	13	0
	Labor		1,158,505	44.64	–0.40	32[d]	+8
	Country Progressive		41,713	1.61	+1.61	1	+1
	Protestant Labor		20,212	0.78	+0.78	0	0
	Independents		88,447	3.41	+1.65	1	–1
	Total		2,595,085			76
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	Nationalist–Country coalition		Win	51.60	−2.20	42	–8
	Labor			48.40	+2.20	31	+8

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Notes

• Independent: William McWilliams (Franklin, Tas.).
• Twelve members were elected unopposed – three Labor, five Nationalist, and four Country.

Popular vote Labor   44.64% Nationalist   39.09% Country   10.47% Country Progressive   1.61% Independent/Other   4.19%

Two-party-preferred vote Coalition   51.60% Labor   48.40%

Parliament seats Coalition   56.00% Labor   41.33% Country Progressive   1.33% Independent   1.33%

Senate

See also: 1928 Australian Senate election

Senate (P BV) — 1928–31—Turnout 93.61% (CV) — Informal 9.88%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Nationalist–Country coalition		1,466,323	50.46	–4.35	12	29	+1
		Nationalist	1,141,405	39.28	–6.07	10	24	0
		Country	324,918	11.18	+1.73	2	5	+1
	Labor		1,422,418	48.95	+3.93	7	7	–1
	Independents		17,092	0.59	+0.42	0	0	0
	Total		2,905,833			19	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1928				Swing	Post-1928
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Barton, NSW		Nationalist	Thomas Ley	1.0	7.3	6.3	James Tully	Labor
Boothby, SA		Nationalist	Jack Duncan-Hughes	7.6	7.7	0.1	John Price	Labor
Denison, Tas		Nationalist	John Gellibrand	2.2	2.5	0.3	Charles Culley	Labor
Franklin, Tas		Nationalist	Alfred Seabrook	N/A	7.2	1.6	William McWilliams	Independent
Fremantle, WA		Independent	William Watson	8.1	1.2	2.1	John Curtin	Labor
Herbert, Qld		Nationalist	Lewis Nott	0.3	0.5	0.2	George Martens	Labor
Indi, Vic		Country	Robert Cook	6.7	N/A	(Unopposed)	Paul Jones	Labor
Lang, NSW		Nationalist	Elliot Johnson	5.9	9.4	3.5	William Long	Labor
Macquarie, NSW		Nationalist	Arthur Manning	1.3	6.2	4.9	Ben Chifley	Labor
Wakefield, SA		Nationalist	Richard Foster	14.8	24.4	9.6	Maurice Collins	Country
Wilmot, Tas		Country	Llewellyn Atkinson	7.0	N/A	4.6	Llewellyn Atkinson	Nationalist

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

In the Division of Indi, the sitting candidate Robert Cook lost his seat after forgetting to file nomination papers, resulting in Labor candidate Paul Jones winning the seat unopposed.

See also

• Candidates of the 1928 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1928–1929
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1929–1932

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. Albert Dunstan was the member for Korong and Eaglehawk in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and did not contest the federal election.^[1]
4. Including Northern Territory