1934 Australian federal election

1934 Australian federal election
← outgoing members elected members →
All 75 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%); (0.13 pp)
	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 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.

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

House of Reps^[1] (IRV) — 1934–37—Turnout 95.17% (CV) — Informal 3.44%
	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%
	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
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	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.

Notes

^ Turnout in contested seats
^ 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.
^ Including Northern Territory

References

^ Barber, Stephen (31 March 2017). "Federal election results 1901–2016" (PDF). Parliamentary Library. p. 29.

External links

University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890
Two-party-preferred vote since 1919

[1] Turnout in contested seats

[2] 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.

[4] Including Northern Territory

[3] Barber, Stephen (31 March 2017). "Federal election results 1901–2016" (PDF). Parliamentary Library. p. 29.

[b]

[a]

[1]

[c]

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See also: By-elections