1922 Australian Federal Election
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The 1922 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 16 December 1922. All 75 seats in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
, and 19 of the 36 seats in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party, led by Prime Minister
Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...
lost its majority. However, the opposition Labor Party led by
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 (Australia), Leader of the Opposition from 1922 to 1928. He led the party to ...
did not take office as the Nationalists sought a
coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...
with the fledgling Country Party led by
Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian politician and surgeon who served as the 11th prime minister of Australia from 7 to 26 April 1939, in a caretaker capacity following the death of Joseph Lyons. ...
. The Country Party made Hughes's resignation the price for joining, and Hughes was replaced as Nationalist leader by
Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician, statesman and businessman who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929. He held office as ...
. Future Prime Minister
Frank Forde Francis Michael Forde (18 July 189028 January 1983) was an Australian politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945, in a caretaker capacity following the death of John Curtin. He was deputy leader of th ...
and future opposition leader John Latham both entered parliament at this election. At this election, Hughes as the sitting prime minister made his second seat transfer, in this case, from Bendigo to North Sydney. Hughes had held Bendigo since transferring there from West Sydney at the 1917 election also as the sitting prime minister. Hughes remains the only sitting Prime Minister to transfer to another seat, not once but twice. Aside from the 1917 and 1922 elections, all other elections have seen the sitting prime minister recontest the seat that they held prior to the election.


Background

The 1919 federal election had resulted in a
hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...
, with the newly formed Country Party holding the balance of power. Prime Minister
Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...
' Nationalist Party government was reliant on the support of the Country Party to pass legislation. Country Party leader
Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian politician and surgeon who served as the 11th prime minister of Australia from 7 to 26 April 1939, in a caretaker capacity following the death of Joseph Lyons. ...
used the situation to his advantage, bargaining for concessions and refusing to guarantee support for
confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...
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. ALP leader
Frank Tudor Francis Gwynne Tudor (29 January 1866 – 10 January 1922) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1916 until his death. He had previously been a government minister under Andrew Fisher and Billy ...
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 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 (Australia), Leader of the Opposition from 1922 to 1928. He led the party to ...
, who had been acting leader for some time, although he was not formally confirmed in the position until May 1922.


Campaign

Charlton and the ALP presented "policies of national development under a unified government with regional devolution of powers, tariff protection and limited immigration". He was briefly hospitalised during the campaign. Page presented the Country Party platform in October 1922, which included decentralisation, reduction in government expenditure and public debt,
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
and agricultural marketing reforms, and rural credits (a form of government subsidy for primary producers). He also supported placing the
Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...
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

---- Notes *Independents: William Watson (
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
, WA) *Five members were elected unopposed – one Labor, two Nationalist, one Country, and one Liberal.


Senate


Seats changing hands

* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. * *Alexander Hay contested his seat as an independent


Post-election pendulum


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


External links


University of WA
election results in Australia since 1890
Two-party-preferred vote since 1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Federal Election, 1922 Federal elections in Australia 1922 elections in Australia December 1922