1922 Australian federal election

The 1922 Australian federal election was held on 16 December 1922 to elect members to the Parliament of Australia. All 76 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party government failed to win a majority and instead formed a coalition with the Country Party, with Stanley Bruce replacing Billy Hughes as Nationalist leader and prime minister.

The election was held following a period of parliamentary instability, with the Nationalists governing in minority. The main issue of the campaign was Hughes' leadership, which had become increasingly divisive and led to anti-Hughes factions running against endorsed Nationalists. The opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Matthew Charlton, emerged as the largest single party in the House but with no reasonable prospect of forming government. Page and the Country Party strengthened their parliamentary position and won a clear balance of power, which they used to force Hughes' resignation. A new government was not formed until February 1923, with Bruce as prime minister and Page as deputy prime minister.

Background The 1919 federal election had resulted in a hung parliament, with the newly formed Country Party holding the balance of power. Prime Minister Billy Hughes' Nationalist Party government was reliant on the support of the Country Party to pass legislation. Country Party leader Earle Page used the situation to his advantage, bargaining for concessions and refusing to guarantee support for confidence motions.

A vote of confidence held in October 1921 on the government's budget passed by only a single vote, when Country MP Alexander Hay abstained from voting. The following month, Hughes made an explicit offer of cabinet portfolios to Page, but on 30 November the Country Party "resolved to have no compromise with Hughes, but to concentrate on getting enough members at the next election to control parliament and insist on his removal".

ALP leader Frank Tudor died in office in January 1922, after a long period of ill health. He was replaced as party leader and opposition leader by New South Wales MP Matthew Charlton, who had been acting leader for some time, although he was not formally confirmed in the position until May 1922.

Campaign According to Hughes' biographer L. F. Fitzhardinge, "observers noted that the campaign that followed was one of the dullest on record, all parties being received with equal indifference". Gavin Souter's history of the Australian Parliament likewise describes the 1922 election as "probably the dullest yet in federal history".

Nationalist Party Hughes opened the Nationalist campaign on 4 October 1922 at the Willoughby Town Hall in Chatswood, New South Wales. Following an electoral redistribution, he had declined to recontest his existing seat of Bendigo in Victoria and instead returned to his home state of New South Wales to contest the safe Nationalist seat of North Sydney. The government's platform included a constitutional convention, the introduction of industrial tribunals, public service reforms and acceleration of the construction of Canberra. Hughes also promised to reduce government regulation of the coal and sugar industries, increase government-sponsored migration and provide more assistance to farmers.

For many voters, Hughes' leadership was the defining issue of the election. In Melbourne, disaffected liberals – including Hughes' former treasurer William Watt – stood on explicit anti-Hughes platform, with John Latham running under the slogan "Hughes must go!". The Nationalists in South Australia split into the pro-Hughes National Labor faction and the anti-Hughes Liberal Union faction, running separate House and Senate candidates.

Australian Labor Party

Charlton presented the ALP's campaign speech on the same day in Maitland, New South Wales, a "long and prosy exposition of orthodox Labor policies". He advocated "policies of national development under a unified government with regional devolution of powers, tariff protection and limited immigration". Charlton was briefly hospitalised during the campaign.

Several ALP breakaway groups contested the election in opposition to official ALP candidates. New South Wales MP James Catts was expelled from the ALP in April 1922 and subsequently made "lurid allegations of corruption". He recontested his seat for a new Majority Labor Party which fielded seven candidates at the election. On the left, Michael Considine quit the ALP in 1920 and recontested his seat for the Industrial Socialist Labor Party.

Country Party The Country Party platform presented by Page included decentralisation, reduction in government expenditure and public debt, tariff and agricultural marketing reforms, and rural credits (a form of government subsidy for primary producers). He also supported placing the Commonwealth Bank under an independent board, tasked with supporting national development projects. His speech was critical of Hughes, alleging broken promises and describing the prime minister as having "total disregard of the financial position of the country".

Results House of Representatives

+ House of Reps (IRV) – 1922–25—Turnout 59.36% (Non-CV) – Informal 4.51% Party First preference votes % Swing Seats Change  Labor 665,145 42.30 −0.19 30 4  Nationalist 553,920 35.23 −9.85 26 11  Country 197,513 12.56 +3.30 14 3  Liberal Union 37,904 2.41 +2.41 3 3  Liberal 32,167 2.04 +2.04 2 2  Constitutionalist 11,812 0.75 +0.75 0  Majority Labor 10,303 0.66 +0.66 0  Industrial Labor 4,331 0.28 +0.09 0  Protestant Labor 3,631 0.23 +0.23 0  NT Representation League 362 0.02 +0.02 0  Independents 51,538 3.28 +1.86 1  Total 1,572,514     76 1 Two-party-preferred  Nationalist Win 51.20 −2.90 40 +3  Labor 48.80 +2.90 29 0

Notes Independents: William Watson (Fremantle, WA) Five members were elected unopposed – one Labor, two Nationalist, one Country, and one Liberal.

Senate

+ Senate (P BV) – 1922–1925—Turnout 57.99% (Non-CV) – Informal 9.44% Party First preference Votes % Swing Seats won Seats held Change   Labor 715,219 45.70 +2.86 11 12 +11   Nationalist 567,084 36.23 −10.16 8 24 −11   Country 203,267 12.99 +4.20 0 0 0   Liberal Union 43,706 2.79 +2.79 0 0 0   Socialist Labor 8,551 0.55 +0.55 0 0 0   Majority Labor 3,813 0.24 +0.24 0 0 0   Independents 23,447 1.50 +0.08 0 0 0   Total 1,565,087     19 36

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1922 Swing Post-1922 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Adelaide, SA  Nationalist Reginald Blundell 0.8 8.0 3.6 George Edwin Yates Labor  Balaclava, Vic  Nationalist William Watt N/A 100.0 100.0 William Watt Liberal  Barker, SA  Nationalist John Livingston N/A N/A 2.3 Malcolm Cameron Liberal Union  Barton, NSW  Nationalist notional – new seat N/A 13.8 7.6 Frederick McDonald Labor  Boothby, SA  Nationalist William Story N/A N/A 4.7 Jack Duncan-Hughes Liberal Union  Calare, NSW  Labor Thomas Lavelle 2.3 8.5 5.3 Neville Howse Nationalist  Darwin, Tas  Nationalist George Bell 4.0 N/A 0.4 Joshua Whitsitt Country  Denison, Tas  Nationalist William Laird Smith 3.9 4.3 0.4 David O'Keefe Labor  Fremantle, WA  Nationalist Reginald Burchell N/A 56.9 6.9 William Watson Independent  Gippsland, Vic  Nationalist George Wise 5.2 18.1 12.9 Thomas Paterson Country  Grey, SA  Nationalist Alexander Poynton 1.8 5.5 3.7 Andrew Lacey Labor  Henty, Vic  Independent Frederick Francis 2.9 8.7 5.8 Frederick Francis Nationalist  Kalgoorlie, WA  Nationalist George Foley 1.4 7.1 7.4 Albert Green Labor  Kooyong, Vic  Nationalist Robert Best 14.3 14.9 0.6 John Latham Liberal  Macquarie, NSW  Labor Samuel Nicholls 3.2 0.6 0.2 Arthur Manning Nationalist  New England, NSW  Nationalist Alexander Hay* 7.3 N/A 8.5 Victor Thompson Country  Northern Territory, NT new division 0.4 H. G. Nelson Labor  Richmond, NSW  Nationalist Walter Massy-Greene 22.5 24.0 3.3 Roland Green Country  Riverina, NSW  Nationalist John Chanter N/A 54.3 4.3 William Killen Country  Wakefield, SA  Nationalist Richard Foster N/A N/A 5.3 Richard Foster Liberal Union  Wannon, Vic  Nationalist Arthur Rodgers 4.1 4.9 0.8 John McNeill Labor  Wilmot, Tas  Nationalist Llewellyn Atkinson 10.2 N/A 11.2 Llewellyn Atkinson Country  Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. *Alexander Hay contested his seat as an independent

Post-election pendulum

Government seatsNationalist/Country coalitionMarginalMacquarie (NSW)Arthur ManningNAT00.2Darwin (Tas)Joshua WhitsittCP00.4 v NATCorio (Vic)John ListerNAT00.8Bendigo (Vic)Geoffry HurryNAT01.7Herbert (Qld)Fred BamfordNAT01.7Brisbane (Qld)Donald CameronNAT02.0Richmond (NSW)Roland GreenCP03.3Oxley (Qld)James BayleyNAT03.3Bass (Tas)Syd JacksonNAT03.6Corangamite (Vic)William GibsonCP03.9Riverina (NSW)William KillenCP04.3Lang (NSW)Elliot JohnsonNAT04.4Maranoa (Qld)James HunterCP04.4Calare (NSW)Neville HowseNAT05.3Flinders (Vic)Stanley BruceNAT05.6 v LIBHenty (Vic)Frederick FrancisNAT05.8 v NATFairly safeFranklin (Tas)Alfred SeabrookNAT06.3Fawkner (Vic)George MaxwellNAT08.0North Sydney (NSW)Billy HughesNAT08.2 v Const.New England (NSW)Victor ThompsonCP08.5Darling Downs (Qld)Littleton GroomNAT08.6Perth (WA)Edward MannNAT08.9Moreton (Qld)Josiah FrancisNAT09.5SafeWide Bay (Qld)Edward CorserNAT10.5Eden-Monaro (NSW)Austin ChapmanNAT11.1Wilmot (Tas)Llewellyn AtkinsonCP11.2Robertson (NSW)Sydney GardnerNAT11.8Parkes (NSW)Charles MarrNAT11.8Wentworth (NSW)Walter MarksNAT11.9Gippsland (Vic)Thomas PatersonCP12.9 v NATIndi (Vic)Robert CookCP13.2Lilley (Qld)George MackayNAT15.2 v INDParramatta (NSW)Eric BowdenNAT15.4Cowper (NSW)Earle PageCP17.3 v NATVery safeEchuca (Vic)William HillCP20.3 v NATWimmera (Vic)Percy StewartCP21.2 v INDForrest (WA)John ProwseCP29.5 v NATMartin (NSW)Herbert PrattenNATunopposedSwan (WA)Henry GregoryCPunopposedWarringah (NSW)Granville RyrieNATunopposed Non-government seatsAustralian Labor Party and Liberal PartyMarginalGwydir (NSW)Lou CunninghamALP00.1 v CPNorthern Territory (NT)H. G. NelsonALP00.4 v INDDenison (Tas)David O'KeefeALP00.4Kooyong (Vic)John LathamLIB00.6 v NATWannon (Vic)John McNeillALP00.8Ballaarat (Vic)Charles McGrathALP01.7Barker (SA)Malcolm CameronLIB02.3 v ALPCapricornia (Qld)Frank FordeALP02.5Batman (Vic)Frank BrennanALP03.3Adelaide (SA)George Edwin YatesALP03.6 v LIBGrey (SA)Andrew LaceyALP03.7Werriwa (NSW)Bert LazzariniALP03.9Boothby (SA)Jack Duncan-HughesLIB04.7 v ALPHume (NSW)Parker MoloneyALP04.9Wakefield (SA)Richard FosterLIB05.3 v ALPFairly safeKalgoorlie (WA)Albert GreenALP07.4Barton (NSW)Frederick McDonaldALP07.6Angas (SA)Moses GabbALP08.0 v LIBReid (NSW)Percy ColemanALP08.6East Sydney (NSW)John WestALP09.1SafeKennedy (Qld)Charles McDonaldALP11.6South Sydney (NSW)Edward RileyALP11.7Maribyrnong (Vic)James FentonALP13.2Darling (NSW)Arthur BlakeleyALP15.1Hindmarsh (SA)Norman MakinALP18.6Newcastle (NSW)David WatkinsALP19.4Very safeBourke (Vic)Frank AnsteyALP20.1Dalley (NSW)William MahonyALP20.9Melbourne Ports (Vic)James MathewsALP23.1Cook (NSW)Edward Charles RileyALP24.9West Sydney (NSW)William LambertALP25.4 v INDMelbourne (Vic)William MaloneyALP27.2Yarra (Vic)James ScullinALP28.0Balaclava (Vic)William WattLIBunopposedHunter (NSW)Matthew CharltonALPunopposedIndependentsFremantle (WA)William WatsonIND06.9 v ALP

See also Candidates of the 1922 Australian federal election Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1922–1925 Members of the Australian Senate, 1923–1926

Notes

References

Further reading

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