The 1910 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 13 April 1910. All 75 seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent

Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fus ...

(the result of a merger between the Protectionist Party and the Anti-Socialist Party) led by Prime Minister Alfred Deakin was defeated by the opposition Labour Party, led by

Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician who served three terms as prime minister of Australia – from 1908 to 1909, from 1910 to 1913, and from 1914 to 1915. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party ...

. The election represented a number of landmarks: it was Australia's first elected federal majority government; Australia's first elected Senate majority; the world's first Labour party majority government at a national level; after the 1904 Chris Watson minority and Fisher's former minority government the world's third Labour party government at a national level; the first time it controlled ''both'' houses of a bicameral legislature; and the first time that a prime minister, in this case Deakin, was defeated at an election. It also remains the only election in Australia's federal history to have occurred following expiration of a full three-year parliamentary term by the "effluxion of time". Two

referendums A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

to approve proposed amendments to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

were held on the same day. The State Debts referendum was carried, but the Surplus Revenue referendum was not carried. Future Prime Minister

James Scullin James Henry Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian Labor Party politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Scullin led Labor to government at the 1929 Australian federal election. He was the first Cathol ...

and future opposition leader

Matthew Charlton Matthew Charlton (15 March 1866 – 8 December 1948) was an Australian politician who served as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the Opposition from 1922 to 1928. He led the party to defeat at the 1922 and 1925 federal e ...

both entered parliament at this election. Scullin lost his seat at the subsequent 1913 election and did not re-enter parliament until

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

Background

After the 1906 election, the House of Representatives first met on 20 February 1907. Prime Minister Alfred Deakin allowed the parliament to run to its maximum permissible length under section 28 of the constitution (three years). Its final meeting ended on 8 December 1909, and it was then

prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections ...

until 19 February 1910 at which point it expired by "effluxion of time". This remains the only occasion to date where the House has been allowed to expire, rather than being dissolved earlier by the Governor-General. The writs for the election were issued on 28 February, producing the longest gap between federal elections in Australian history.

Results

House of Representatives

---- ;Notes * Independents:

William Lyne Sir William John Lyne KCMG (6 April 1844 – 3 August 1913) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901, and later as a federal cabinet minister under Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin. He is best kno ...

( Hume, NSW), George Wise (

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

, Vic) * Four members were elected unopposed: two Labour and two Liberal.

Senate

Seats changing hands

* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. * Electorates listed as previously won by a margin of 100% were contested in 1906 as Anti-Socialists v Protectionists (Echuca and Hume) or by two Protectionists (Corio and Gippsland): these parties merged to form the Commonwealth Liberal Party on 26 May 1909.

Post-election pendulum

Notes

Notes Citations

References

University of WA
election results in Australia since 1890 {{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Federal Election, 1910 Federal elections in Australia 1910 elections in Australia April 1910 events