1934 Australian federal election

The 1934 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons formed a minority government, with 33 out of 74 seats in the House.

1934 Australian federal election

← 1931 15 September 1934 1937 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 75[a] seats of the Australian House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 18 (of the 36) seats of the Australian Senate
Registered	3,902,677 6.92%
Turnout	3,677,723 (95.17%)[b] (0.13 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Joseph Lyons James Scullin Party United Australia Labor Leader since 7 May 1931 26 April 1928 Leader's seat Wilmot (Tas.) Yarra (Vic.) Last election 39 seats 14 seats Seats won 33 18 Seat change 6 4 Percentage 32.97% 26.81% Swing 3.13% 0.28%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Earle Page Jack Lang Party Country Lang Labor Leader since 5 April 1921 31 July 1923 Leader's seat Cowper (NSW) Did not run Last election 16 seats 4 seats Seats won 14 9 Seat change 2 5 Percentage 12.61% 14.37% Swing 0.36% 3.80%   Fifth party   IND Leader N/A Party Independents Leader since N/A Leader's seat N/A Last election 2 seats Seats won 1 seats Seat change 1 Popular vote 107,335 Percentage 3.02% Swing −5.17
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Joseph Lyons United Australia Subsequent Prime Minister Joseph Lyons United Australia

The opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by James Scullin saw its share of the primary vote fall to an even lower number than in the 1931 election, due to the Lang Labor split. However, it was able to pick up an extra four seats on preferences and therefore improve on its position.

Almost two months after the election, the UAP entered into a coalition with the Country Party, led by Earle Page.

Future Prime Ministers Robert Menzies and John McEwen both entered parliament at this election.

Results

House of Representatives

See also: Results of the Australian federal election, 1934 (House of Representatives)

House of Reps^[1] (IRV) — 1934–37—Turnout 95.17% (CV) — Informal 3.44%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	United Australia Party	1,287,963	36.25	−5.53	32	−6
	Australian Labor Party	953,101	26.82	−0.20	18	+2
	Australian Labor Party (NSW)	510,480	14.37	+3.83	9	+5
	Country Party	480,279	13.52	+1.31	15	−1
	Social Credit Party	166,589	4.69	+4.69	0	0
	Communist Party of Australia	47,499	1.34	+1.08	0	0
	Independents	107,335	3.02	−5.17	1[c]	−1
	Total	3,553,246			75	−1

The member for Northern Territory, Adair Blain (independent), had voting rights only for issues affecting the Territory, and so is not included in this table.

Popular vote United Australia   36.25% Labor   26.82% Labor (NSW)   14.37% Country   13.52% Social Credit   4.69% Independent   3.02% Communist   1.34%

Parliament seats United Australia   42.67% Labor   24.00% Country   20.00% Labor (NSW)   12.00% Independent   1.33%

Senate

Senate (P BV) — 1934–37—Turnout 95.03% (CV) — Informal 11.35%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Australian Labor Party	923,151	28.08	−1.18	0	3	−7
	United Australia Party	679,422	20.66	−4.59	10	26	+5
	UAP/Country (Joint Ticket)	599,723	18.24	−11.92	6
	Country Party	470,283	14.30	*	2	7	+2
	Australian Labor Party (NSW)	435,045	13.23	+1.12	0	0	0
	Social Credit Party	91,596	2.79	*	0	0	0
	Communist Party of Australia	73,506	2.24	+1.30	0	0	0
	Independents	15,105	0.46	−1.81	0	0	0
	Total	3,287,831			18	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1934				Swing	Post-1934
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Barker, SA		United Australia	Malcolm Cameron	N/A	6.4	18.7	Archie Cameron	Country
Bass, Tas		United Australia	Allan Guy	14.5	14.8	0.3	Claude Barnard	Labor
Batman, Vic		United Australia	Samuel Dennis	14.5	14.8	0.3	Frank Brennan	Labor
Corangamite, Vic		Country	William Gibson	N/A	7.2	15.7	Geoffrey Street	United Australia
Darling, NSW		Labor	Arthur Blakeley	N/A	63.5	13.5	Joe Clark	Labor (NSW)
Denison, Tas		United Australia	Arthur Hutchin	5.0	5.3	0.3	Gerald Mahoney	Labor
Franklin, Tas		United Australia	Archibald Blacklow	13.0	15.4	2.4	Charles Frost	Labor
Fremantle, WA		United Australia	William Watson	5.5	6.6	1.1	John Curtin	Labor
Maribyrnong, Vic		United Australia	James Fenton	0.4	7.1	6.7	Arthur Drakeford	Labor
Northern Territory, NT		Labor	H. G. Nelson	N/A	7.5	1.8	Adair Blain	Independent
Werriwa, NSW		Country	Walter McNicoll	1.7	3.2	2.5	Bert Lazzarini	Labor (NSW)

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

See also

• Candidates of the 1934 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1934–1937
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1935–1938

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. Including Northern Territory