Australian federal election, 1929

Australian federal election, 1929

1928 ← 12 October 1929 (1929-10-12) → 1931

All 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader James Scullin Stanley Bruce Party Labor Nationalist/Country coalition Leader since 26 April 1928 9 February 1923 Leader's seat Yarra Flinders (lost seat) Last election 31 seats 42 seats Seats won 46 seats 24 seats Seat change 15 18 Swing 4.20 5.40

Prime Minister before election Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition Resulting Prime Minister James Scullin Labor

Federal elections were held in Australia on 12 October 1929. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, with no Senate seats up for election, as a result of Billy Hughes and other rebel backbenchers crossing the floor over industrial relations legislation, depriving the Bruce government of a lower house majority. In the resulting election, the incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Stanley Bruce in power since 1923 with coalition partner the Country Party led by Earle Page was defeated by the opposition Australian Labor Party led by James Scullin. Labor won with its then largest-ever majority in the federal parliament, but still held a minority of Senate seats after the house-only election.

It was the only federal election in Australia's history at which no sitting members retired. It also saw the defeat of the Prime Minister Stanley Bruce in his own seat of Flinders; this was the first time that a serving Prime Minister has lost his own seat at an election.

House of Reps (IRV) — 1929–31—Turnout 94.85% (CV) — Informal 2.65%

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Australian Labor Party	1,406,327	48.84	+4.20	46	+15	(6 elected unopposed)
	Nationalist Party of Australia	975,979	33.90	−5.20	14	−15
	Country Party	295,640	10.27	−0.20	10	−3	(3 elected unopposed)
	Independent Nationalist	112,108	3.89	*	3	+3
	Country Progressive Party	27,942	0.97	−0.64	1	0
	Independent	61,254	2.13	−2.06	1	0
	Total	2,879,250			75
	Australian Labor Party	WIN			46	+15
	Nationalist/Country coalition				24	−18

Independent: William McWilliams (Franklin, Tas)

See Australian federal election, 1928 for Senate composition.

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1929				Swing	Post-1929
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Angas, SA		Nationalist	Walter Parsons	9.4	14.1	4.7	Moses Gabb	Labor
Bass, Tas		Nationalist	David Jackson	3.1	13.5	10.4	Allan Guy	Labor
Bendigo, Vic		Nationalist	Geoffry Hurry	3.1	8.2	5.1	Richard Keane	Labor
Calare, NSW		Nationalist	Neville Howse	10.7	12.3	1.6	George Gibbons	Labor
Corangamite, Vic		Country	William Gibson	3.0	5.1	2.1	Richard Crouch	Labor
Corio, Vic		Nationalist	John Lister	8.5	14.5	6.0	Arthur Lewis	Labor
Eden-Monaro, NSW		Nationalist	John Perkins	7.6	7.7	0.1	John Cusack	Labor
Fawkner, Vic		Nationalist	George Maxwell	N/A	23.1	11.4	George Maxwell	Independent Nationalist
Flinders, Vic		Nationalist	Stanley Bruce	10.7	10.9	0.2	Jack Holloway	Labor
Gwydir, NSW		Country	Aubrey Abbott	2.3	6.0	3.7	Lou Cunningham	Labor
Kennedy, Qld		Nationalist	Grosvenor Francis	2.4	5.5	3.1	Darby Riordan	Labor
Martin, NSW		Nationalist	Frederick Pratten	6.9	13.3	6.4	John Eldridge	Labor
North Sydney, NSW		Nationalist	Billy Hughes	N/A	32.3	16.1	Billy Hughes	Independent Nationalist
Parkes, NSW		Nationalist	Charles Marr	7.4	15.2	7.8	Edward McTiernan	Labor
Parramatta, NSW		Nationalist	Eric Bowden	10.1	13.4	3.3	Albert Rowe	Labor
Wakefield, SA		Country	Maurice Collins	9.6	16.5	6.9	Charles Hawker	Nationalist
Wannon, Vic		Nationalist	Arthur Rodgers	2.8	4.8	2.0	John McNeill	Labor
Wentworth, NSW		Nationalist	Walter Marks	11.5	19.8	8.3	Walter Marks	Independent Nationalist
Wilmot, Tas		Nationalist	Llewellyn Atkinson	4.6	N/A	2.9	Joseph Lyons	Labor

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1929
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1929-1931

References

• University of WA election results in Australia since 1890