1948 Tasmanian state election

* * *

| <- 1946 | 21 August 1948 | 1950 ->

|
|

* * *

All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

Leader  | Robert Cosgrove | Neil Campbell
Party  | Labor | Liberal
Leader since  | 25 February 1948  | February 1945
Leader's seat  | Denison | Wilmot
Last election  | 16 seats  | 12 seats
Seats won  | 15 seats  | 12 seats
Seat change  | 1  | 0
Percentage  | 49.38%  | 37.84%
Swing  | 1.59  | 3.59

* * *

Results of the election

* * *

| Premier before election

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

| Elected Premier

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

|

The 1948 Tasmanian state election was held on 21 August 1948 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.

In December 1947, Labor leader Robert Cosgrove had stood down as Premier while he faced charges of bribery, corruption and conspiracy. Cosgrove was acquitted of all charges on 22 February 1948, and was re-elected as Premier by the caucus, taking over from Edward Brooker who had filled in for him for three months. Brooker died on 18 June, four months after handing the premiership back to Cosgrove, and two months prior to the 1948 election.[2]

On 8 July, the Legislative Council voted to grant the House of Assembly two months supply provided an election was called after that time. The election was fought mainly on constitutional issues.[2]

Labor lost its slender one seat majority, winning 15 seats out of 30, although they regained government and Cosgrove remained as Premier after receiving the support of one of the Independent members, Bill Wedd.[2]

## Results

[edit]

See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1948

Party| Votes| %| +/–| Seats| +/–
| Labor| 70,476| 49.44| -1.59| 15|  1
| Liberal| 54,010| 37.89| +3.59| 12|
| Ind. Lib.| 9,729| 6.83| -1.96| 1|
| Independents| 8,330| 5.84| -0.17| 2|  1
Total| 142,545| 100.00| –| 30| –
Valid votes| 142,545| 96.05| |
Invalid/blank votes| 5,866| 3.95| -6.13|
Total votes| 148,411| 100.00| –|
Registered voters/turnout| 161,088| 92.13| +1.17|

## Distribution of votes

[edit]

### Primary vote by division

[edit]

| Bass  | Darwin  | Denison  | Franklin  | Wilmot

|
|
|
|
|

Labor Party | 55.9% | 47.7% | 44.5% | 47.8% | 51.7%
Liberal Party | 44.1% | 45.7% | 20.9% | 33.8% | 45.8%
Other | – | 6.6% | 34.6% | 18.4% | 2.5%

### Distribution of seats

[edit]

| Electorate  | Seats won

|

Bass |  |  |  |  |  |
Darwin |  |  |  |  |  |
Denison |  |  |  |  |  |
Franklin |  |  |  |  |  |
Wilmot |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | Labor

|

| Liberal
| Ind. Lib.
| Independent

## See also

[edit]

* Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1948–1950
* Candidates of the 1948 Tasmanian state election

## References

[edit]

1. ^ House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
2. ^ a b c W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507.

## External links

[edit]

* Assembly Election Results, 1948, Parliament of Tasmania.
* Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1949, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

* v
* t
* e

Elections and referendums in Tasmania

General elections|

* 1856
* 1861
* 1862
* 1866
* 1871
* 1872
* 1877
* 1882
* 1886
* 1891
* 1893
* 1897
* 1900
* 1903
* 1906
* 1909
* 1912
* 1913
* 1916
* 1919
* 1922
* 1925
* 1928
* 1931
* 1934
* 1937
* 1941
* 1946
* 1948
* 1950
* 1955
* 1956
* 1959
* 1964
* 1969
* 1972
* 1976
* 1979
* 1982
* 1986
* 1989
* 1992
* 1996
* 1998
* 2002
* 2006
* 2010
* 2014
* 2018
* 2021
* 2024
* Next

Legislative Council elections|

* 1909
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Local elections|

* 1914
* 1994
* 1996
* 1999
* 2000
* 2002
* 2005
* 2007
* 2009
* 2011
* 2014
* 2018
* 2022
* 2026

Referendums|

* 1898
* 1899
* 1916
* 1968
* 1981

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template