Australian federal election, 1917

Australian federal election, 1917

1914 ← 5 May 1917 (1917-05-05) → 1919

All 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 18 (of the 36) seats in the Australian Senate   First party Second party   Leader Billy Hughes Frank Tudor Party Nationalist Labor Leader since 14 November 1916 14 November 1916 Leader's seat Bendigo Yarra Last election 32 seats 42 seats Seats won 53 seats 22 seats Seat change 21 20 Percentage 54.22% 43.94% Swing 7.01 6.96

Prime Minister before election Billy Hughes Nationalist Resulting Prime Minister Billy Hughes Nationalist

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 May 1917. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia (a result of a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and National Labor Party) led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Frank Tudor. Hughes became Prime Minister when Andrew Fisher retired, before leaving Labor to form the National Labor Party and then the Nationalist Party. The election was fought in the aftermath of the first plebiscite on conscription, which had been narrowly defeated. The opposition Australian Labor Party, still recovering from the split on conscription that had led Hughes to form his own party, failed to make an impression on voters and suffered a large swing against it. The Nationalist Party was rewarded with the then largest majority for a party in the national parliament.

House of Reps 1917–19 (FPTP) — Turnout 78.30% (Non-CV) — Informal 2.64%

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Nationalist Party of Australia	1,021,138	54.22	+7.01	53	+21	(7 elected unopposed)
	Australian Labor Party	827,541	43.94	-6.96	22	-20	(3 elected unopposed)
	Independents	34,755	1.85	−0.05	0	-1
	Total	1,883,434			75
	Nationalist Party of Australia	WIN			53	+21
	Australian Labor Party				22	−20

Senate 1917–19 (FPTP BV) — Turnout 77.69% (Non-CV) — Informal N/A

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held
	Nationalist Party of Australia	3,516,354	55.37	+7.60	18	24
	Australian Labor Party	2,776,648	43.72	−8.42	0	12
	Other	57,368	0.90		0	0
	Total	6,350,370			18	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1917				Swing	Post-1917
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Bass, Tas		Labor	Jens Jensen	6.0	15.9	9.9	Jens Jensen	Nationalist
Bendigo, Vic		Labor	Alfred Hampson	0.9	12.5	7.4	Billy Hughes	Nationalist
Boothby, SA		Labor	George Dankel	5.3	19.8	14.5	William Story	Nationalist
Corio, Vic		Labor	Alfred Ozanne	1.2	8.5	7.3	John Lister	Nationalist
Darwin, Tas		Labor	King O'Malley	6.1	14.9	8.8	Charles Howroyd	Nationalist
Denison, Tas		Labor	William Laird Smith	5.9	12.2	6.3	William Laird Smith	Nationalist
Fawkner, Vic		Labor	Joseph Hannan	9.3	10.7	N/A	George Maxwell	Nationalist
Fremantle, WA		Labor	Reginald Burchell	6.3	25.2	18.9	Reginald Burchell	Nationalist
Gippsland, Vic		Independent	George Wise	1.0	24.7	22.7	George Wise	Nationalist
Grey, SA		Labor	Alexander Poynton	4.0	11.7	7.7	Alexander Poynton	Nationalist
Gwydir, NSW		Labor	William Webster	3.8	10.3	6.5	William Webster	Nationalist
Herbert, Qld		Labor	Fred Bamford	14.4	15.7	1.3	Fred Bamford	Nationalist
Hindmarsh, SA		Labor	William Archibald	24.4	30.2	5.8	William Archibald	Nationalist
Illawarra, NSW		Labor	George Burns	4.2	8.5	4.3	Hector Lamond	Nationalist
Indi, Vic		Labor	Parker Moloney	1.0	7.2	6.2	John Leckie	Nationalist
Kalgoorlie, WA		Labor	Hugh Mahon	100.0	51.3	1.3	Edward Heitmann	Nationalist
Oxley, Qld		Labor	James Sharpe	6.8	9.6	2.3	James Bayley	Nationalist
Werriwa, NSW		Labor	John Lynch	0.0	2.8	2.8	John Lynch	Nationalist

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

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1917
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1917–1919
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1917–1920

References

• University of WA election results in Australia since 1890