1938 Queensland state election

Election held in Queensland, Australia

1938 Queensland state election

* * *

| <- 1935 | 2 April 1938 | 1941 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

* * *

All 62 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
32 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered| 582,711 6.2%
Turnout| 539,037 (92.51%)
(0.20 pp)
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | William Forgan Smith | Ted Maher | Hugh Russell
Party  | Labor | Country | United Australia
Leader since  | 27 May 1929  | 15 July 1936  | July 1936
Leader's seat  | Mackay | West Moreton | Hamilton
Last election  | 46 seats, 53.43%  | New party | New party
Seats before  | 46 seats  | 13 seats[a] | 3 seats[a]
Seats won  | 43 | 14  | 4
Seat change  |  3  |  1  |  1
Popular vote  | 250,943 | 120,469  | 74,328
Percentage  | 47.17% | 22.65%  | 13.97%
Swing  |  3.26pp  | New party | New party

* * *

Legislative Assembly after the election

* * *

| Premier before election

William Forgan Smith
Labor

| Elected Premier

William Forgan Smith
Labor

|

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 2 April 1938 to elect the 62 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government of Premier William Forgan Smith was seeking a third term in office. During the previous term, the Country and United Australia parties had emerged from the united Country and Progressive National Party, which had represented conservative forces for over a decade.

The most notable feature of the election campaign was the Protestant Labor Party, established in 1937, which claimed that the Forgan Smith Ministry was disproportionately Catholic and made extravagant claims that three-quarters of all police and public servants in the State were Catholic.[1] Despite the campaign, Labor only lost one seat, Kelvin Grove, to the party.

The unsuccessful Protestant Labor candidate for Ithaca, George Webb, lodged a petition against the return of Labor member Ned Hanlon.[2] He was initially successful in the Supreme Court when the case was heard by Justice E.A. Douglas, who voided the election result on 12 October on the basis of a finding that two men who had acted improperly were Hanlon's agents, but Hanlon appealed to the Full Bench of the Supreme Court and on 16 December 1938, his appeal was allowed.[3] A further appeal by Webb to the High Court was refused leave on 31 March 1939.[4]

## Key dates

[edit]

Date  | Event

|

5 March 1938  | The Parliament was dissolved.[5]
7 March 1938  | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[6]
14 March 1938  | Close of nominations.
2 April 1938  | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
12 April 1938  | The Forgan Smith Ministry was re-sworn in.[7]
16 April 1938  | The poll was retaken in Gregory.[8]
30 April 1938  | The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
9 August 1938  | Parliament resumed for business.[9]

## Results

[edit]

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1938

Legislative Assembly (IRV) – Turnout: 92.51% (CV)[10]

Party  | Primary vote  | Seats
Votes  | %  | Swing (pp)  | Seats  | Change
| Labor | 250,943  | 47.17  | –6.26  | 43 |  3
| Country | 120,469  | 22.65  | —  | 14[a] |  1
| United Australia | 74,328  | 13.97  | —  | 4[a] |  1
| Protestant Labour | 46,568  | 8.75  | +8.75  | 1 |  1
| Social Credit | 27,758  | 5.22  | –1.80  | 0  |
| Communist | 8,510  | 1.60  | +0.28  | 0  |
| Independent | 3,403  | 0.64  | –2.73  | 0  |
Total | 531,979 | 100.00 |  | 62 |
Invalid/blank votes | 7,058 | 1.31 | –0.43 | —
Turnout | 539,037 | 92.51 | –0.19 | —
Registered voters | 582,711 | — | —

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor |

| 47.17%
Country |

| 22.65%
United Australia |

| 13.97%
Protestant Labor |

| 8.75%
Social Credit |

| 5.22%
Communist |

| 1.60%
Independents |

| 0.64%

| Seats

|  |
Labor |

| 70.97%
Country |

| 20.97%
United Australia |

| 6.45%
Protestant Labor |

| 1.61%

1 606,559 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 3 seats were uncontested—2 Labor seats (4 less than in 1935) representing 15,007 enrolled voters and one Country seat (one less than in 1935) representing 8,841 enrolled voters.

## Seats changing party representation

[edit]

This table lists changes in party representation at the 1938 election.

Seat | Incumbent member | Party | New member | Party
Dalby | Godfrey Morgan |  | Country  | Aubrey Slessar |  | Labor
East Toowoomba | James Kane |  | Labor  | Herbert Yeates |  | Country
Kelvin Grove | Frank Waters |  | Labor  | George Morris |  | Protestant Labor
Toowong | James Maxwell |  | United Australia  | Harry Massey |  | Independent UAP
Wynnum | John Donnelly |  | Labor  | Bill Dart |  | United Australia

* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.

## See also

[edit]

* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1935–1938
* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1938–1941
* Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1938
* Forgan Smith Ministry

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Seats previously held by members of the Country and Progressive National Party (CPNP).

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Evans, Raymond (2007). A History of Queensland. Cambridge University Press. p. 184\. ISBN 978-0-521-87692-6.
2. ^ "In the Supreme Court of Queensland - The Election Acts 1915–1936". Queensland Government Gazette. 4 June 1938. p. 150:2012–2013.
3. ^ The Ithaca Election Petition: Webb v Hanlon (1939) St. R. Qd. 90, heard by Blair CJ, Douglas J and Hart AJ (dissenting) LawCite records.
4. ^ Webb v Hanlon [1939] HCA 8, (1939) 61 CLR 313 (31 March 1939), High Court (Australia).
5. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 5 March 1938. p. 150:591.
6. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 7 March 1938. p. 150:595.
7. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 12 April 1938. p. 150:1371.
8. ^ "Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette. 7 May 1938. p. 150:1585. The cause of the delayed poll was that a poll could not be held at Arrabury.
9. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 11 July 1938. p. 151:109.
10. ^ Hughes, CA; Graham, BD (1974). Voting for the Queensland legislative assembly, 1890–1964 (PDF). Australia National University (ANU). pp. 178–191.178-191&rft.pub=Australia+National+University+(ANU)&rft.date=1974&rft.aulast=Hughes&rft.aufirst=CA&rft.au=Graham,+BD&rft_id=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/210108/1/b14246545_Hughes_C_and_Graham_B.pdf&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:1938+Queensland+state+election" class="Z3988">

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queensland state election, 1938.

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