1932 New South Wales state election

State election for New South Wales, Australia in June 1932

1932 New South Wales state election

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| <- 1930 | 11 June 1932 | 1935 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

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All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
46 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered| 1,465,008
Turnout| 1,336,827 (96.40%)
(1.46 pp)
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | Bertram Stevens | Jack Lang | Michael Bruxner
Party  | United Australia | Lang Labor | Country
Leader since  | 5 April 1932  | 31 July 1923  | 27 April 1932
Leader's seat  | Croydon | Auburn | Tenterfield
Last election  | New party | 55 seats, 55.05%  | 12 seats, 9.56%
Seats won  | 41 | 24  | 23
Seat change  |  41  |  31  |  11
Popular vote  | 491,124  | 536,897 | 175,862
Percentage  | 36.74%  | 40.16% | 13.16%
Swing  |  36.74%  |  14.89%  |  3.6%

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Results by division for the Legislative Assembly, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.

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Composition of New South Wales Legislative Assembly following the election.

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| Premier before election

Bertram Stevens
United Australia

| Elected Premier

Bertram Stevens
United Australia

|

UAP advertisement published in The Bulletin a few weeks before the election

The 1932 New South Wales state election was held on 11 June 1932. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 30th New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting (Instant-runoff voting). The election resulted in a landslide victory for the UAP/Country Party coalition of Bertram Stevens, which won an 18-seat majority in the legislature.[1][2][3]

The 29th parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 18 May 1932 after the Governor, Sir Philip Game dismissed the Premier Jack Lang (see the crisis of 1931–32)[4] and commissioned Bertram Stevens to form a caretaker government.[5] Lang's government had a majority of 20 at the time of the dismissal. In this election, the Australian Labor Party (NSW) and the Federal Executive of the Australian Labor Party, which had separated in 1931 (see Lang Labor), endorsed separate candidates. The ALP (Federal) had candidates in 43 seats but none were elected. The parties were re-united in 1936.

The campaign was marked by mass Labor Party public meetings including, allegedly, the largest public meeting in Australian history when Lang addressed 200,000 people at Moore Park on 5 June. Despite this high level of support, Labor's elected caucus was halved, cut to only 24 seats.

## Key dates

[edit]

Date | Event

|

13 May 1932  | Third Lang ministry dismissed by the Governor of New South Wales, Philip Game and Bertram Stevens appointed Premier.
16 May 1932  | Balance of first Stevens ministry appointed.
18 May 1932  | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
25 May 1932  | Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
11 June 1932  | Polling day.
23 June 1932  | Opening of 30th Parliament.

## Results

[edit]

Main article: Results of the 1932 New South Wales state election

New South Wales state election, 11 June 1932
Legislative Assembly
<< 1930–1935 >>

Enrolled voters  | 1,418,141[a] |  |
Votes cast  | 1,336,827  |  | Turnout | 96.40  | –1.46
Informal votes  | 30,260  |  | Informal  | 2.21  | –0.04
Summary of votes by party
Party  | Primary votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change
| Labor (NSW) | 536,897  | 40.16  | –14.89  | 24  | –31
| United Australia | 491,124  | 36.74  | +6.24 [b] | 41 | +18
| Country | 175,862  | 13.16  | +3.60  | 23 | +11
| Federal Labor | 56,641  | 4.24  | +4.24  | 0  | ±0
| Country–UAP (joint endorsement) | 23,020  | 1.72  | +1.72  | 2 | +2
| Communist | 12,351  | 0.92  | +0.13  | 0  | ±0
| Independent Country | 9,696  | 0.73  | +0.48  | 0  | ±0
| Ind. United Australia | 9,088  | 0.68  | +0.61 [b] | 0  | ±0
| All for Australia | 3,806  | 0.28  | +0.28  | 0  | ±0
| Independent Labor | 1,915  | 0.14  | –0.40  | 0  | ±0
| Women's Candidate  | 704  | 0.05  | +0.05  | 0  | ±0
| Independents | 15,723  | 1.18  | +0.01  | 0  | ±0
Total  | 1,336,827  |  |  | 90  |

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor (NSW) |

| 40.16%
United |

| 36.74%
Country |

| 13.16%
Federal Labor |

| 4.24%
Country–UAP |

| 1.72%
Others |

| 3.98%
Parliamentary seats
Labor (NSW) |

| 24
United |

| 41
Country |

| 23
Federal Labor |

| 0
Country–UAP |

| 2
Others |

| 0

## Changing seats

[edit]

Seats changing hands

Seat  | 1930 | 1932
Party  | Member  | Member  | Party
Albury |  | Labor (NSW) | Joseph Fitzgerald | Alexander Mair | United Australia |
Arncliffe | Joseph Cahill | Horace Harper
Ashburnham | William Keast | Hilton Elliott | Country |
Barwon | Bill Ratcliffe [c] | Ben Wade
Bathurst | Gus Kelly | Gordon Wilkins | United Australia-Country
Bondi | Abe Landa | Norman Thomas | United Australia |
Canterbury | Arthur Tonge | Edward Hocking
Castlereagh | Joseph Clark | Alfred Yeo | Country |
Concord | Henry McDicken | Stan Lloyd | United Australia |
Cootamundra | Ken Hoad | Bill Ross | Country |
Corowa |  | Nationalist | Richard Ball [d] | Richard Ball
Drummoyne |  | Labor (NSW) | David McLelland | John Lee | United Australia |
Dubbo | Alfred McClelland | George Wilson | Country |
Dulwich Hill | Frank Connors | John Ness | United Australia |
George's River | Ted Kinsella | Cecil Monro
Goulburn | Jack Tully | Peter Loughlin
Granville | Bill Ely | Claude Fleck
Hurstville | Walter Butler | James Webb
Kogarah | Mark Gosling | James Ross
Maitland | Walter O'Hearn | Walter Howarth
Mudgee | Bill Dunn | David Spring | United Australia-Country |
Murray | John Donovan | Joe Lawson | Country
Murrumbidgee | Martin Flannery | Robert Hankinson
Namoi | William Scully | Colin Sinclair
North Sydney | Ben Howe | Hubert Primrose | United Australia |
Orange | William Folster | Alwyn Tonking
Parramatta | Joseph Byrne | George Gollan
Petersham | Joe Lamaro | Eric Solomon
Randwick | Jack Flanagan | Arthur Moverly
Ryde | Evan Davies | Eric Spooner
Upper Hunter |  | Nationalist | William Cameron [e] | Malcolm Brown | Country |
Waverley |  | Labor (NSW) | William Clementson | John Waddell | United Australia |
Young | Clarrie Martin | Albert Reid | Country |

## See also

[edit]

* Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1932–1935
* Candidates of the 1932 New South Wales state election

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Of the 1,465,008 enrolled voters, 46,867 were enrolled in three electorates that were uncontested at the election (one UAP-held and two Country-held).[1]
2. ^ a b The swing figures for the United Australia Party (and independent UAP candidates) are calculated using the Nationalist Party's figures at the previous election.
3. ^ Bill Ratcliffe retired.
4. ^ Nationalist Richard Ball joined Country.
5. ^ William Cameron (Nationalist) died and Malcolm Brown (Independent Country) won the resulting by-election, standing as a Country candidate at this election.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Green, Antony. "1932 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
2. ^ "Part 5B alphabetical list of all electorates and Members since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
3. ^ "Former members of the New South Wales Parliament, 1856–2006". New South Wales Parliament. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
4. ^ Nairn, Bede. "Lang, John Thomas (Jack) (1876–1975)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
5. ^ Ward, John M. "Stevens, Sir Bertram Sydney Barnsdale (1889–1973)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 2 November 2021.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Nairn, Bede (1995). Jack Lang the 'Big Fella':Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party 1891–1949. Melbourne University Press Melbourne. ISBN 0522846963. OCLC 34416531.

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