1932 New South Wales state election

The 1932 New South Wales state election was held on 11 June 1932. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 30th New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting. It was a landslide victory for the UAP/Country Party coalition of Bertram Stevens, which won an 18-seat majority in the legislature.^[1][2][3]

1932 New South Wales state election

← 1930 11 June 1932 1935 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 46 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered	1,465,008
Turnout	1,336,827 (96.40%) (1.46 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Bertram Stevens Jack Lang Michael Bruxner Party United Australia Lang Labor Country Leader since 5 April 1932 31 July 1923 27 April 1932 Leader's seat Croydon Auburn Tenterfield Last election New party 55 seats, 55.05% 12 seats, 9.56% Seats won 41 24 23 Seat change 41 31 11 Popular vote 491,124 536,897 175,862 Percentage 36.74% 40.16% 13.16% Swing 36.74% 14.89% 3.6%
Results by division for the Legislative Assembly, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Composition of New South Wales Legislative Assembly following the election.
Premier before election Bertram Stevens United Australia (United Australia–Country Coalition) Elected Premier Bertram Stevens United Australia (United Australia–Country Coalition)

UAP advertisement published in The Bulletin a few weeks before the election

The 29th parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 18 May 1932 after the Governor, Sir Philip Game dismissed the Premier Jack Lang (see the crisis of 1931–32)^[4] and commissioned Bertram Stevens to form a caretaker government.^[5] Lang's government had a majority of 20 at the time of the dismissal. In this election, the Australian Labor Party (NSW) and the Federal Executive of the Australian Labor Party, which had separated in 1931 (see Lang Labor), endorsed separate candidates. The ALP (Federal) had candidates in 43 seats but none were elected. The parties were re-united in 1936.

The campaign was marked by mass Labor Party public meetings including, allegedly, the largest public meeting in Australian history when Lang addressed 200,000 people at Moore Park on 5 June. Despite this, Labor's caucus was more than halved, to 24 seats.

Key dates

Date	Event
13 May 1932	Third Lang ministry dismissed by the Governor of New South Wales, Philip Game and Bertram Stevens appointed Premier.
16 May 1932	Balance of first Stevens ministry appointed.
18 May 1932	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
25 May 1932	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
11 June 1932	Polling day.
23 June 1932	Opening of 30th Parliament.

Results

Main article: Results of the 1932 New South Wales state election

New South Wales state election, 11 June 1932 Legislative Assembly << 1930–1935 >>
Enrolled voters		1,418,141[a]
Votes cast		1,336,827		Turnout	96.40	–1.46
Informal votes		30,260		Informal	2.21	–0.04
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor (NSW)	536,897	40.16	–14.89	24	–31
	United Australia	491,124	36.74	+6.24 [b]	41	+18
	Country	175,862	13.16	+3.60	23	+11
	Federal Labor	56,641	4.24	+4.24	0	±0
	Country–UAP (joint endorsement)	23,020	1.72	+1.72	2	+2
	Communist	12,351	0.92	+0.13	0	±0
	Independent Country	9,696	0.73	+0.48	0	±0
	Ind. United Australia	9,088	0.68	+0.61 [b]	0	±0
	All for Australia	3,806	0.28	+0.28	0	±0
	Independent Labor	1,915	0.14	–0.40	0	±0
	Women's Candidate	704	0.05	+0.05	0	±0
	Independents	15,723	1.18	+0.01	0	±0
Total		1,336,827			90

Popular vote Labor (NSW)   40.16% United   36.74% Country   13.16% Federal Labor   4.24% Country–UAP   1.72% Others   3.98% Parliamentary seats Labor (NSW)   24 United   41 Country   23 Federal Labor   0 Country–UAP   2 Others   0

Changing seats

Seats changing hands
Seat	1930			1932
	Party		Member	Member	Party
Albury		Labor (NSW)	Joseph Fitzgerald	Alexander Mair	United Australia
Arncliffe			Joseph Cahill	Horace Harper
Ashburnham			William Keast	Hilton Elliott	Country
Barwon			Bill Ratcliffe [c]	Ben Wade
Bathurst			Gus Kelly	Gordon Wilkins	United Australia-Country
Bondi			Abe Landa	Norman Thomas	United Australia
Canterbury			Arthur Tonge	Edward Hocking
Castlereagh			Joseph Clark	Alfred Yeo	Country
Concord			Henry McDicken	Stan Lloyd	United Australia
Cootamundra			Ken Hoad	Bill Ross	Country
Corowa		Nationalist	Richard Ball [d]	Richard Ball
Drummoyne		Labor (NSW)	David McLelland	John Lee	United Australia
Dubbo			Alfred McClelland	George Wilson	Country
Dulwich Hill			Frank Connors	John Ness	United Australia
George's River			Ted Kinsella	Cecil Monro
Goulburn			Jack Tully	Peter Loughlin
Granville			Bill Ely	Claude Fleck
Hurstville			Walter Butler	James Webb
Kogarah			Mark Gosling	James Ross
Maitland			Walter O'Hearn	Walter Howarth
Mudgee			Bill Dunn	David Spring	United Australia-Country
Murray			John Donovan	Joe Lawson	Country
Murrumbidgee			Martin Flannery	Robert Hankinson
Namoi			William Scully	Colin Sinclair
North Sydney			Ben Howe	Hubert Primrose	United Australia
Orange			William Folster	Alwyn Tonking
Parramatta			Joseph Byrne	George Gollan
Petersham			Joe Lamaro	Eric Solomon
Randwick			Jack Flanagan	Arthur Moverly
Ryde			Evan Davies	Eric Spooner
Upper Hunter		Nationalist	William Cameron [e]	Malcolm Brown	Country
Waverley		Labor (NSW)	William Clementson	John Waddell	United Australia
Young			Clarrie Martin	Albert Reid	Country

See also

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1932–1935
• Candidates of the 1932 New South Wales state election

Notes

1. Of the 1,465,008 enrolled voters, 46,867 were enrolled in three electorates that were uncontested at the election (one UAP-held and two Country-held).^[1]
2. The swing figures for the United Australia Party (and independent UAP candidates) are calculated using the Nationalist Party's figures at the previous election.
3. Bill Ratcliffe retired.
4. Nationalist Richard Ball joined Country.
5. William Cameron (Nationalist) died and Malcolm Brown (Independent Country) won the resulting by-election, standing as a Country candidate at this election.