Australian federal election, 1934
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All 74 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Federal elections were 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 with coalition partner the Country Party led by Earle Page defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by James Scullin. Labor's share of the primary vote fell to an even lower number than in the 1931 election due to the Lang Labor split, but it was able to pick up an extra four seats on preferences and therefore improve on its position. The Coalition suffered an eight-seat swing, forcing Lyons to take the Country Party into his government (the UAP had governed alone in the previous term).
Future Prime Ministers Robert Menzies and John McEwen both entered parliament at this election.
Results
Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United Australia Party | 1,170,978 | 32.97 | −3.13 | 28 | −6 | ||
Australian Labor Party | 952,251 | 26.81 | −0.28 | 18 | +4 | (1 elected unopposed) | |
Australian Labor Party (NSW) | 510,480 | 14.37 | +3.80 | 9 | +5 | ||
Country Party | 447,968 | 12.61 | +0.36 | 14 | −2 | ||
Social Credit Party | 166,589 | 4.69 | * | 0 | 0 | ||
Liberal & Country League (SA) | 142,583 | 4.01 | * | 5 | +5 | ||
Communist Party of Australia | 47,499 | 1.34 | 0 | -6 | |||
Independents | 113,037 | 3.18 | −5.04 | 0 | −1 | ||
Total | 3,551,385 | 74 | −1 | ||||
UAP/Country coalition | WIN | 53.50 | −5.00 | 42 | −8 | ||
Australian Labor Party | 46.50 | +5.00 | 18 | +4 |
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.
Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | Change | |
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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 | ||||||
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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 in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
See also
Notes
References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- Two-party-preferred vote since 1919