1928 Australian federal election

Australian federal election, 1928

17 November 1928 (1928-11-17)
All 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats in the Australian Senate
First party Second party   Leader Stanley Bruce James Scullin Party Nationalist/Country coalition Labor Leader since 9 February 1923 26 April 1928 Leader's seat Flinders Yarra Last election 51 seats 23 seats Seats won 42 seats 31 seats Seat change 9 8 Percentage 51.60% 48.40% Swing 2.20 2.20
Prime Minister before election Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition Resulting Prime Minister Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Stanley Bruce in power since 1922 with coalition partner the Country Party led by Earle Page defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by James Scullin.

The election was held in conjunction with a referendum, which was carried.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1928–29—Turnout 93.64% (CV) — Informal 4.90%

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
style="border: solid thin" Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|	Australian Labor Party	1,158,505	44.64	−0.40	31	+8	(3 elected unopposed)
style="border: solid thin" Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist Party of Australia	1,014,522	39.09	−3.37	29	-8	(5 elected unopposed)
style="border: solid thin" Template:Australian politics/party colours/Country|	Country Party	271,686	10.47	−0.27	13	−1	(4 elected unopposed)
style="border: solid thin" Template:Australian politics/party colours/Country Progressive |	Country Progressive Party	41,713	1.61	*	1	0
style="border: solid thin" Template:Australian politics/party colours/Independent|	Independents	108,659	4.19	+2.43	1	0
	Total	2,595,085			75
style="border: solid thin" Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist/Country coalition	WIN	51.60	−2.20	42	−9
style="border: solid thin" Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|	Australian Labor Party		48.40	+2.20	31	+8

Independent: William McWilliams (Franklin, Tas)

Popular Vote Labor   44.64% Nationalist   39.09% Country   10.47% Country Progressive   1.61% Independent   4.19%

Parliament Seats Coalition   56.00% Labor   41.33% Country Progressive   1.33% Independent   1.33%

Senate (P BV) — 1928–31—Turnout 93.61% (CV) — Informal 9.88%

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held	Change
Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|	Australian Labor Party	1,422,418	48.95	+3.93	7	7	−1
Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist |	Nationalist Party of Australia	1,141,405	39.28	−6.07	10	24	−1
Template:Australian politics/party colours/Country |	Country Party	324,918	11.18	+1.73	2	5	+2
Template:Australian politics/party colours/Independent |	Independents	17,092	0.59	+0.42	0	0	0
	Total	2,905,833			19	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1928				Swing	Post-1928
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Barton, NSW	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	Thomas Ley	1.0	7.3	6.3	James Tully	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Boothby, SA	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	Jack Duncan-Hughes	7.6	7.7	0.1	John Price	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Denison, Tas	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	John Gellibrand	2.2	2.5	0.3	Charles Culley	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Franklin, Tas	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	Alfred Seabrook	N/A	7.2	1.6	William McWilliams	Independent	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Independent|
Fremantle, WA	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Independent|	Independent	William Watson	8.1	1.2	2.1	John Curtin	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Herbert, Qld	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	Lewis Nott	0.3	0.5	0.2	George Martens	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Indi, Vic	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationals|	Country	Robert Cook	6.7	N/A	(Unopposed)	Paul Jones	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Lang, NSW	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	Elliot Johnson	5.9	9.4	3.5	William Long	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Macquarie, NSW	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	Arthur Manning	1.3	6.2	4.9	Ben Chifley	Labor	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor|
Wakefield, SA	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|	Nationalist	Richard Foster	14.8	24.4	9.6	Maurice Collins	Country	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationals|
Wilmot, Tas	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationals|	Country	Llewellyn Atkinson	7.0	N/A	4.6	Llewellyn Atkinson	Nationalist	Template:Australian politics/party colours/Nationalist|

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

In the Division of Indi, the sitting candidate Robert Cook lost his seat after forgetting to file nomination papers, resulting in Labor candidate Paul Jones winning the seat unopposed.

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1928
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1928–1929
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1929–1932

References

• University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
• Two-party-preferred vote since 1919