1945 Victorian state election

Australian state election

1945 Victorian state election

* * *

| <- 1943 | 10 November 1945 (1945-11-10) | 1947 ->

|
|

* * *

All 65 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly[a]
33 seats needed for a majority
Registered| 1,019,063
Turnout| 87.98% ( 0.98)
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

Leader  | John Cain | Albert Dunstan
Party  | Labor | Country[b]
Leader since  | 18 October 1937  | 14 March 1935
Leader's seat  | Northcote | Korong
Last election  | 22 seats  | 18 seats
Seats won  | 31 | 18
Seat change  |  9  |
Primary vote  | 360,079 | 163,940
Percentage  | 41.02% | 18.67%
Swing  |  4.89  |  5.64

* * *

| Third party  | Fourth party

Leader  | Thomas Hollway | Ian Macfarlan
Party  | Liberal | Ministerial
Leader since  | 3 December 1940  | 2 October 1945
Leader's seat  | Ballarat | Brighton
(lost seat)
Last election  | 13 seats  | Did not exist
Seats won  | 10  | 3
Seat change  |  3  |  3
Primary vote  | 188,119  | 29,276
Percentage  | 20.51%  | 3.33%
Swing  |  2.56  |  3.33

* * *

Results in each electorate

* * *

| Premier before election

Ian Macfarlan
Ministerial Liberal

| Premier after election

John Cain
Labor

|

The 1945 Victorian state election was held on 10 November 1945 to elect all 65 members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.[4][5]

The Labor Party, led by John Cain, won 31 seats and formed government with the support of two independents.[6] Labor defeated the Country Party, led by former premier Albert Dunstan, and the Liberal Party, led by Thomas Hollway.[7]

The incumbent premier at the election was Ian Macfarlan, the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, who became premier on 2 October 1945 after the Dunstan government was defeated on the floor of parliament.[8] Macfarlan contested the election as a Ministerial Liberal, but lost his seat of Brighton to an endorsed Liberal candidate.[9] This marks the only time in Victorian history where the sitting premier did not lead any of the three largest parties at an election.[10]

## Background

[edit]

See also: First Cain ministry, Second Dunstan ministry, and Macfarlan ministry

The Country Party was returned to power at the 1943 state election, with Albert Dunstan serving as premier.[11][12] The ministry was composed entirely of Country MPs, with the United Australia Party (UAP) giving supply in parliament.[13][14]

On 10 September 1943, the Dunstan government was defeated on the floor of parliament after Labor Party MPs voted for a motion of no confidence brought forward by UAP leader Thomas Hollway on the issue of electoral redistribution.[15][16] Dunstan resigned as premier on 14 September, and Labor leader John Cain was sworn in.[17][18]

Four days later on 18 September 1943, Dunstan was again sworn in as premier after the Country Party formed a coalition government with the UAP.[19][20]

A Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia, which had been formed on 13 October 1944, was established between December 1944 and January 1945.[21][22] The Victorian UAP branch and its parliamentary members joined the Liberal Party on 5 March 1945, with the state parliamentary UAP becoming the state parliamentary Liberal Party, prior to the national UAP being absorbed into the Liberal Party of Australia in October 1945.[23][24]

On 25 September 1945, the second Dunstan ministry was defeated on the floor of the Legislative Assembly amid dissatisfaction with the premier's leadership.[25] Five dissident Liberals, two expelled Country MPs (Albert Allnutt and Edwin Mackrell), two independents and one Independent Labor MP voted with Labor to block supply to the government.[26]

Instead of resigning, Dunstan persuaded governor Winston Dugan to grant him a dissolution of parliament, on the condition that the budget was passed. When it became clear that the Assembly would not grant supply, Dugan commissioned deputy Liberal leader Ian Macfarlan to serve as premier with written assurances from Labor and other non-Country MPs. Macfarlan formed a government on 2 October 1945 and parliament was dissolved, with Macfarlan serving as premier until 21 November 1945, eleven days after the state election.[27]

## Candidates

[edit]

Main article: Candidates of the 1945 Victorian state election

The Labor Party endorsed 56 candidates, the Country Party endorsed 33, the Liberal Party endorsed 31 and the Communist Party of Australia endorsed six.[28][29][30]

### Ministerial Liberals

[edit]

Five Liberal MPs who voted against the Dunstan government and joined the Macfarlan ministry (William Cumming, William Everard, William Haworth, Thomas Maltby and Archie Michaelis) − as well as Macfarlan himself − had their preselection vetoed by the Liberal Party's State Council.[31][32] The Liberals endorsed candidates against all so-called "breakaways", although the party still recommended preferencing the breakaways over Labor candidates.[33][34]

The breakaways − along with ministers Edwin Mackrell (Independent Country) and Leslie Hollins (independent), as well as Macfarlan supporter Henry Zwar (Independent Liberal) − contested the election as "Ministerial Liberal" candidates.[35] They were also referred to as "Marfarlan Liberals" or "Government Liberals".[36][37]

In Toorak, four different Liberal candidates stood without official party endorsement, in what The Argus described as "probably the most complicated and bewildering [contest] in the history of the electorate".[38] Incumbent Liberal MP Harold Thonemann was endorsed by the local Liberal selection committee, but a number of branch members supported Robert Hamilton as the candidate.[39] Neither candidate was officially endorsed by the Liberals, leaving both to stand as "Unendorsed Liberal" candidates, while Charles Kennett stood as an Independent Liberal and Robert Bruce stood as a Ministerial Liberal (also using the "Liberal and Country League" label).[40][41] Additionally, Albert Nicholls stood as an Independent Labor candidate and John Smith ran under the "Moderate Labor" label.[42][43]

## Campaign

[edit]

Labor announced it would establish a Minister for Employment if elected, with Cain promising a "sane and stable government for the grave years ahead".[44] Dunstan said a Country Party government would support the "full utilisation of our vast coal resources" and oppose further electoral redistributions that would "further deprive country people of their parliamentary representation".[44]

The Liberals focused its campaign around education, including making education free from pre-school to university, raising the school-leaving age to 16 and extending free bus services to cover primary and secondary schools.[45] Although the Ministerial Liberals did not have enough candidates to lead the next government, Macfarlan still campaigned, saying his government had "restored harmony" and "shown its capacity to deal promptly with matters that have long been neglected".[44][46]

The Communist Party called for the immediate improvement in the wages and working conditions of the public service and the police, proportional representation in the Legislative Assembly, the abolition of the Legislative Council, universal suffrage at the age of 18 in state and local elections, and the nationalisation of the Metropolitan Gas Company.[47]

## Results

[edit]

Main article: Results of the 1945 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly)

Legislative Assembly (IRV) – (CV)[48][49] Party  | Votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change

|
|
|
|
|

| Labor | 360,079  | 41.02  | +4.89  | 31  |  9
| Liberal | 180,046  | 20.51  | −2.56  | 10  |  3
| Country | 163,940  | 18.67  | +5.64  | 18  |
| Independents | 67,414  | 7.68  | −7.25  | 2  |  3
| Ministerial | 29,276  | 3.33  | +3.33  | 3  |  3
| Communist | 25,083  | 2.86  | −1.65  | 0  |
| Independent Labor | 67,414  | 2.31  | −1.00  | 1  |
| Independent Liberal | 19,278  | 2.20  | +2.20  | 0  |
| Independent Country | 4,404  | 0.50  | −0.37  | 0  |
Formal votes  | 877,872  | 97.92  | +0.51  |  |
Informal votes  | 18,689  | 2.08  | −0.51  |  |
Total  | 896,561  | 100.0  |  | 65[a] |
Registered voters / turnout  | 1,019,063  | 87.98  | +0.98  |  |

## See also

[edit]

* 1946 Victorian Legislative Council election

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Eleven seats − including eight Labor-held seats (Bendigo, Collingwood, Footscray, Geelong, Melbourne, Moonee Ponds, Northcote, Sunshine) and three Liberal-held seats (Kew, Malvern, Scoresby) − were uncontested and thus retained by the incumbent parties.
2. ^ The Country Party was officially known as the United Country Party (UCP) from September 1930 until March 1947, although it was still commonly referred to as the "Country Party".[1][2][3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "UNITED COUNTRY PARTY". Sunraysia Daily. 30 October 1930. p. 1. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
2. ^ Dunstan, Albert (7 November 1945). "COUNTRY PARTY". The Herald. p. 6. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
3. ^ "LIBERAL−CP POLL TALKS". The Herald. 26 March 1947. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
4. ^ "SCHOOLBOYS VOTE IN "STATE ELECTION"". The Herald. 9 November 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
5. ^ "VICTORIAN STATE ELECTIONS". Gippsland Times. 12 November 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
6. ^ "CAIN ACCEPTS COMMISSION". Daily Mirror. 19 November 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
7. ^ "MR. JOHN CAIN Labor Premier of Victoria". The Australian Worker. 19 December 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
8. ^ Abjorensen, Norman (5 June 2014). "Geoff Shaw crisis evokes tumultuous events in Victoria's past". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
9. ^ Macfarlan, Rod. "Ian Macfarlan, Honest Politician". vicpol.macfarlan.au. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
10. ^ "Heads of government in Australasia who sat in the upper house of parliament". Dr André Brett. 12 December 2024. Archived from the original on 7 January 2025. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
11. ^ "DUNSTAN'S MAJORITY ASSURED". Daily Mirror. 14 June 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
12. ^ "DUNSTAN GOVERNMENT RETURNED". Corryong Courier. 17 June 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
13. ^ "Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan (1882–1950)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Archived from the original on 3 November 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
14. ^ "JOINT STATE CABINET MOVE TODAY". The Herald. 26 August 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
15. ^ "Dunstan Government May Be Replaced By U.A.P. Ministry". Daily Examiner. 9 September 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
16. ^ "UAP And Labour Oust Dunstan Government". The Daily News. 10 September 1943. p. 14. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
17. ^ "DEFEAT OF THE DUNSTAN GOVERNMENT". Advocate. 13 September 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
18. ^ "LABOUR MINISTRY FOR VICTORIA". The Argus. 14 September 1943. p. 1. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
19. ^ "DUNSTAN TO BE PREMIER AGAIN". The Newcastle Sun. 15 September 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
20. ^ "Dunstan Again Premier of Victoria". Daily Examiner. 17 September 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
21. ^ "THE LIBERAL PARTY'S EXECUTIVE". The Age. 30 December 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
22. ^ "First Executive Meeting". The Age. 5 January 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
23. ^ "STATE UAP AND LIBERAL PARTY". The Argus. 5 March 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
24. ^ "STATE UAP NOW LIBERAL PARTY". The Argus. 6 March 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
25. ^ Wright, R. "Ian Macfarlan (1881–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
26. ^ "DUNSTAN MINISTRY DEFEATED". The Age. 26 September 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
27. ^ "WHY MR. MACFARLAN FORMED CABINET". Weekly Times. 3 October 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
28. ^ "NOMINATIONS TODAY IN STATE ELECTION". The Herald. 22 October 1945. p. 7. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
29. ^ "Three Last-minute Endorsements". The Argus. 23 October 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
30. ^ "STATE ELECTION NOMINATIONS". The Sun News-Pictorial. 23 October 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
31. ^ "SIX LIBERALS VETOED FOR SELECTION". The Argus. 4 October 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
32. ^ "Liberal Unity Talk With Breakaways". The Herald. 6 October 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
33. ^ "LIBERAL PREFERENCES TO SIX BREAKAWAYS". The Herald. 23 October 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
34. ^ "ALBERT PARK WILL BE HARD FIGHT". The Argus. 29 October 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
35. ^ "Attempts to Reunite Liberal Sections". The Age. 22 October 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
36. ^ "164 Candidates Contest 54 Seats". Ovens and Murray Advertiser. 24 October 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
37. ^ "Victorian Election Position". Daily Advertiser. 12 November 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
38. ^ "BATTLE OF PAMPHLETS IN TOORAK". The Argus. 5 November 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
39. ^ "PREFERENCES IN TOORAK". The Argus. 31 October 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
40. ^ "VICTORIAN ELECTIONS". Cairns Post. 9 November 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
41. ^ "TOORAK UNENDORSED LIBERALS". The Argus. 10 November 1945. p. 7. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
42. ^ "POSITION IN TOORAK CONFUSED". The Argus. 3 November 1945. p. 9. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
43. ^ "LABOUR QUARREL IN TOORAK". The Argus. 9 November 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
44. ^ a b c "STATE ELECTION POLL TODAY". The Age. 10 November 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
45. ^ "ELECTION ISSUES STAYED BY PARTY LEADERS". The Herald. 30 October 1945. p. 8. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
46. ^ "Premier Says Government Was Hopeless". The Sun News-Pictorial. 23 October 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
47. ^ "COMMUNIST PARTY POLICY". The Age. 22 October 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
48. ^ Carr, Adam. "THE THIRTY-SIXTH PARLIAMENT ELECTED 10 NOVEMBER 1945". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
49. ^ "Election of 10 November 1945". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 March 2023.

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