This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1931 Australian federal election. The election was held on 19 December 1931.
In 1931, the Nationalist Party had become the United Australia Party, absorbing five Labor defectors. In New South Wales, the Labor Party split, with the Lang Labor group voting against the Labor government. Seats held by Labor defectors are here considered to be held by the Labor Party.
By-elections, appointments and defections
By-elections and appointments On 14 December 1929, Charles Frost (Labor) was elected to replace William McWilliams (Independent) as the member for Franklin. On 31 January 1931, Charles Marr (Nationalist) was elected to replace Edward McTiernan (Labor) as the member for Parkes. On 7 March 1931, Eddie Ward (Labor) was elected to replace John West (Labor) as the member for East Sydney. On 1 April 1931, Harry Kneebone (Labor) was appointed as a South Australian Senator to replace John Chapman (Country). On 12 May 1931, Tom Brennan (UAP) was appointed as a Victorian Senator to replace Harold Elliott (UAP). On 14 October 1931, Percy Stewart (Independent), the member for Wimmera, died. No by-election was held due to the proximity of the election. Subsequent to the election, but prior to the new Senate taking its place: On 23 December 1931, Patrick Mooney (NSW Labor) was appointed as a New South Wales Senator to replace Walter Duncan (UAP). On 3 March 1932, Charles Grant (UAP) was appointed as a Tasmanian Senator to replace James Ogden (UAP).
Defections In 1930, the three MPs elected as Independent Nationalists in 1929 – Billy Hughes (North Sydney), Walter Marks (Wentworth) and George Maxwell (Fawkner) – constituted themselves as the Australian Party. In 1931, Labor MPs James Fenton (Maribyrnong), Moses Gabb (Angas), Allan Guy (Bass), Joseph Lyons (Wilmot), Charles McGrath (Ballaarat) and John Price (Boothby) resigned from the party in protest at the reappointment of Ted Theodore as Treasurer. They sat with the Opposition Nationalist Party and soon merged with them to become the United Australia Party. The UAP was also joined by the three Australian Party MPs, Billy Hughes (North Sydney), Walter Marks (Wentworth) and George Maxwell (Fawkner). In 1931, supporters of NSW Premier Jack Lang broke away from the federal Labor Party to form the Australian Labor Party (NSW). Federally, these members were Jack Beasley (West Sydney), Senator James Dunn (New South Wales), John Eldridge (Martin), Rowley James (Hunter), Bert Lazzarini (Werriwa), Senator Arthur Rae (New South Wales) and Eddie Ward (East Sydney).
Seat changes The member for Eden-Monaro (NSW), John Cusack (Labor), contested Cowper. The member for Flinders (Vic), Jack Holloway (Labor), contested Melbourne Ports. The member for Martin (NSW), John Eldridge (NSW Labor), contested Barton. New South Wales Senator Walter Duncan (UAP) resigned from the Senate to contest Warringah.
Retiring Members and Senators
Labor James Mathews MP (Melbourne Ports, Vic)
United Australia Senator Sir John Newlands (SA)
Country William Killen MP (Riverina, NSW)
House of Representatives Sitting members at the time of the election are shown in bold text. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk (*) is also used.
New South Wales
ElectorateHeld byLabor candidateCoalition candidateLabor (NSW) candidateOther candidates Barton Labor James Tully Albert Lane (UAP) John Eldridge Calare Labor George Gibbons Harold Thorby (CP) Tom Watson Cook Labor Edward Riley Charles Robinson (UAP) Jock Garden Tom Wright (CPA)Cowper Country John Cusack Earle Page (CP) Tom Roach Dalley Labor Ted Theodore Sidney Massey (UAP) Sol Rosevear William Little (Ind Nat)Jack Sylvester (CPA)Darling Labor Arthur Blakeley Harold Campbell (CP) Richard Quintrell Ted Tripp (CPA)East Sydney Labor George Buckland John Clasby (UAP) Eddie Ward Eden-Monaro Labor Gerald O'Sullivan Arthur Christian (CP)John Perkins* (UAP) Gwydir Labor Lou Cunningham Aubrey Abbott* (CP)Arnold Brown (CP) Edward Cummins Hume Labor Parker Moloney Thomas Collins (CP) Lynden Regan Hunter Labor Allan Howie Rowley James Arnold Bailey (Ind)Harris Burnham (CPA)Lang Labor William Long Alfred Bennett (UAP)Dick Dein* (UAP) Dan Mulcahy Macquarie Labor Ben Chifley John Lawson (UAP) Tony Luchetti Robert Deveney (CPA)Martin Labor James Catts Mac Abbott (UAP)William Holman* (UAP) Charles Hankin New England Country Victor Thompson (CP) Angus Campbell (Ind)Newcastle Labor David Watkins James Kidd Rowland Clark (AAL)Jack Simpson (CPA)Walter Skelton (Ind Lab)North Sydney IndependentNationalist Norman Cowper (UAP)Billy Hughes* (UAP) Norman Nelson Parkes United Australia William Gibbs Charles Marr (UAP) Herbert Garden Parramatta Labor Albert Rowe Frederick Stewart (UAP) Valentine Patterson Anwoth Brown (Ind)Reid Labor Percy Coleman Robert Uebel (UAP) Joe Gander Richmond Country Robert Gibson (CP)Roland Green* (CP)Leonard Greening (CP)Percy Tighe (CP) Jim Fredericks (Ind)Riverina Country Louis Levy Robert Hankinson (CP)Horace Nock* (CP) John Heiss Robertson United Australia Wilfred Turnbull Sydney Gardner (UAP) Peter Robb William Fleming (Ind CP)South Sydney Labor Edward Riley John Jennings (UAP) John Stewart Warringah United Australia Walter Duncan (UAP)Archdale Parkhill* (UAP) Wentworth IndependentNationalist Eric Harrison* (UAP)Walter Marks (UAP) Werriwa Labor Ernest Tully Walter McNicoll* (CP) Bert Lazzarini Mont Sheppard (Ind AAL)West Sydney Labor James Donaldson Arthur Butterell (UAP) Jack Beasley
Northern Territory
ElectorateHeld byLabor candidateIndependent candidate Northern Territory Labor Harold Nelson William Easton (Ind)John McMillan (Ind Lab)
Queensland
ElectorateHeld byLabor candidateCoalition candidateOther candidates Brisbane United Australia George Lawson Donald Cameron (UAP) Hugh Talty (LL)Capricornia Labor Frank Forde Robert Staines (CP) Darling Downs United Australia Arthur Morgan (UAP) Sir Littleton Groom* (Ind)Herbert Yeates (Ind)Herbert Labor George Martens Grosvenor Francis (UAP) Kennedy Labor Darby Riordan Jim Clarke (UAP) Lilley United Australia George Mackay (UAP) Alexander Costello (Ind Lab)Frank Mason (SC)Maranoa Country Myles Ferricks James Hunter (CP) Moreton United Australia Josiah Francis (UAP) Oxley United Australia Francis Baker James Bayley (UAP) Frank Pforr (LL)Wide Bay Country Bernard Corser (CP)
South Australia
ElectorateHeld byLabor candidateEC candidateOther candidates Adelaide Labor George Edwin Yates Fred Stacey Agnes Goode (Ind)Tom Howard (LL)Crawford Vaughan (L-L)John Zwolsman (CPA)Angas Labor David Fraser Moses GabbLabor-turned-independent MP Moses Gabb was endorsed in the Division of Angas by the Emergency Committee of South Australia (formed by the state UAP for this election) who did not run their own candidate in Angas. Though Gabb is counted as an Emergency Committee MP, he remained an independent and did not help form or sit with the government and as such has been removed from government tallies. Barker Emergency Cyril Hasse Malcolm Cameron Percy Spehr (Ind)Boothby Labor Cecil Skitch John Price Sam Lindsay (ST)Grey Labor Andrew Lacey Philip McBride Alfred Barns (Ind)James Hodgson (ST)Hindmarsh Labor Norman Makin Ernest Evans Sid O'Flaherty (LL)Wakefield Emergency Charles Hawker Maurice Collins (Ind CP)
Tasmania
ElectorateHeld byLabor candidateUAP candidateOther candidates Bass Labor Claude Barnard Allan Guy Harold Solomon (Nat)Darwin United Australia Joseph McGrath George Bell Denison Labor Charles Culley Arthur Hutchin Franklin Labor Charles Frost Archibald Blacklow Albert Beard (Ind)Wilmot Labor George Becker Joseph Lyons George Pullen (Nat)
Victoria
ElectorateHeld byLabor candidateCoalition candidateOther candidates Balaclava United Australia Edward Stewart Thomas White (UAP) James Denyer (ADP)Ballaarat Labor Stewart Miller Henry Bromfield (CP)Charles McGrath* (UAP) Batman Labor Frank Brennan Samuel Dennis (UAP) Frank Blake (ADP)Jim Hannan (CPA)Bendigo Labor Richard Keane Eric Harrison (UAP) Bourke Labor Frank Anstey Roy Ivey (UAP) James Adie (CPA)Walter Norman (Ind)Corangamite Labor Richard Crouch William Gibson (CP) Corio Labor Arthur Lewis Richard Casey (UAP) John Lister (Ind UAP)Echuca Country William Hill (CP) John Fitzpatrick (Ind UAP)William Moss (Ind CP)Galloway Stewart (Ind CP)Fawkner IndependentNationalist John McKenna George Maxwell (UAP) David Robertson (Ind)Flinders Labor Arthur Haywood Stanley Bruce (UAP) Gippsland Country Thomas Paterson (CP) Henty United Australia Fred Katz Henry Gullett (UAP) Indi Labor Paul Jones William Hutchinson* (UAP)Arthur Walter (CP) Kooyong United Australia Cornelius Loughnan John Latham (UAP) Maribyrnong Labor William Beckett James Fenton (UAP) William Scott (ADP)Melbourne Labor William Maloney Israel Smith (UAP) Melbourne Ports Labor Jack Holloway William Orr (UAP) Thomas Houston (LL)William Howey (Ind UAP)Noble Kerby (Ind)Thomas le Huray (CPA)Wannon Labor John McNeill Arthur Rodgers (CP)Thomas Scholfield* (UAP) Wimmera CPP Samuel Lockhart (CP)William McCann (CP)Hugh McClelland* (CP)William Morgan (UAP) Alexander Dowsley (Ind)Yarra Labor James Scullin John Davis (UAP) Patrick Branagan (ST)Ernie Thornton (CPA)
Western Australia
ElectorateHeld byLabor candidateCoalition candidateOther candidates Forrest Country John Prowse (CP) Fremantle Labor John Curtin Keith Watson (UAP) William Watson (Ind)Kalgoorlie Labor Albert Green William Pickering (CP)George Rainsford (UAP) Perth United Australia John Moloney Walter Nairn (UAP) Swan Country John Fraser Henry Gregory (CP) Carlyle Ferguson (Ind)Alfred Reynolds (Ind CP)
Senate Sitting Senators are shown in bold text. Tickets that elected at least one Senator are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are identified by an asterisk (*).
New South Wales Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party was defending three seats. Labor Senator John Dooley and NSW Labor Senators James Dunn and Arthur Rae were not up for re-election.
Labor candidatesCoalition candidatesLang Labor candidatesOther candidates John BaileyHilton BlackburnAlbert Gardiner Charles Cox* (UAP)Walter Massy-Greene* (UAP)Charles Hardy* (CP) Christopher AndersonTom ArthurErnest Barker James Dooley (Ind Lab)George McDonald (Ind)Lance Sharkey (CPA)Abraham Taylor (Ind)
Queensland Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party-Country Party Coalition was defending three seats. United Australia Party Senators Thomas Crawford, Harry Foll and Matthew Reid were not up for re-election.
Labor candidatesCoalition candidatesOther candidates Gordon Brown*Joe Collings*John MacDonald* Walter Cooper (CP)Sir William Glasgow (UAP)William Thompson (UAP) Fred Paterson (CPA)
South Australia Three seats were up for election. The Emergency Committee of South Australia was defending three seats. Labor Senators John Daly, Bert Hoare and Mick O'Halloran were not up for re-election.
Labor candidatesEC candidatesIndependent candidates Harry KneeboneJohn VerranFrederick Ward Oliver Badman*Jack Duncan-Hughes*Alexander McLachlan* Raphael A. CilentoRuth Ravenscroft
Tasmania Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party was defending three seats. United Australia Party Senators John Hayes, Herbert Hays and James Ogden were not up for re-election.
Labor candidatesUAP candidates Thomas JudeDavid O'KeefeWalter Woods Andrew CooperJames CounselBayard EdgellSyd JacksonJohn Millen*Herbert Payne*Benjamin PearsallHerbert PostleBurford Sampson*
Victoria Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party was defending three seats. Labor Senator John Barnes, United Australia Party Senator Harry Lawson and Country Party Senator Robert Elliott were not up for re-election.