1950 Queensland state election

* * *

| <- 1947 | 29 April 1950 (1950-04-29) | 1953 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

* * *

All 75 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
38 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered| 688,309
Turnout| 628,750 (91.35%)[a]
(1.76 pp)
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Ned Hanlon | Frank Nicklin
Party  | Labor | Country
Leader since  | 7 March 1946 (1946-03-07) | 21 May 1941
Leader's seat  | Ithaca | Landsborough
Last election  | 35 seats, 43.00%  | 14 seats, 20.40%
Seats won  | 42 | 20
Seat change  |  7  |  6
Popular vote  | 295,138 | 121,199[a]
Percentage  | 46.94% | 19.28%
Swing  |  3.94  |  1.12

* * *

| Third party  | Fourth party
|  |
Leader  | Thomas Hiley | Tom Aikens
Party  | Liberal | North Queensland Labor
Leader since  | 9 July 1949  | 1942
Leader's seat  | Coorparoo
(won seat) | Mundingburra
Last election  | 9 seats, 25.38%[b] | 1 seat, 0.72%[c]
Seats won  | 11  | 1
Seat change  |  2  |
Popular vote  | 188,331  | 7,689
Percentage  | 29.95%  | 1.22%
Swing  |  0.57  |  0.50

* * *

Electoral boundaries following the election.

* * *

* * *

| Premier before election

Ned Hanlon
Labor

| Elected Premier

Ned Hanlon
Labor

|

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 29 April 1950 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government was seeking its seventh continuous term in office since the 1932 election; it would be Premier Ned Hanlon's second election.

The Assembly had been increased in size prior to the election by the Electoral Districts Act 1949 from 62 to 75 seats.

## Key dates

[edit]

Date  | Event

|

8 December 1949  | The new electoral boundaries under the Electoral Districts Act 1949 were proclaimed.[1]
27 March 1950  | The Parliament was dissolved.[2]
27 March 1950  | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[3]
3 April 1950  | Close of nominations.
29 April 1950  | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
10 May 1950  | The Hanlon Ministry was re-sworn in.[4]
13 May 1950  | Polling day in the seat of Gregory.[5]
9 June 1950  | The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
1 August 1950  | Parliament resumed for business.[6]

## Results

[edit]

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1950

Legislative Assembly (IRV) – Turnout: 91.35%[7]

Party  | Primary vote  | Seats
Votes  | %  | Swing (pp)  | Seats  | Change
| Labor | 295,138  | 46.94  | +3.94  | 42  |  7
| Country | 121,199[a] | 19.28  | –1.12  | 20  |  6
| Liberal | 188,331  | 29.95  | +0.57  | 11  |  2
| North Queensland Labor | 7,689  | 1.22  | +0.5  | 1 |
| Frank Barnes Labor | 2,759  | 0.44  | –3.01  | 0  |  1
| Communist | 2,351  | 0.37  | –0.87  | 0  |  1
| Independent Labor | 243  | 0.04  | +0.04  | 0  |
| Independent | 11,952  | 1.90  | –0.90  | 1 |  1
Total | 628,750[a] | 100.00 |  | 75 |  13
Invalid/blank votes | 7,088 | 1.13 | –0.27 | —
Turnout | 628,750[a] | 91.35 | +0.6 | —
Registered voters | 688,309 | — | —

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor |

| 46.87%
Liberal |

| 29.91%
Country |

| 19.33%
NQ Labor |

| 1.22%
Frank Barnes Labor |

| 0.44%
Communist |

| 0.37%
Independents |

| 1.86%

| Seats

|  |
Labor |

| 56.00%
Country |

| 26.67%
Liberal |

| 14.67%
NQ Labor |

| 1.33%
Independents |

| 1.33%

1 718,685 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 3 seats held by the Country Party representing 30,376 enrolled voters were unopposed.

## Seats changing party representation

[edit]

There was an extensive redistribution across Queensland prior to this election, increasing the amount of seats from 62 to 75. The seat changes are as follows.

### Abolished seats

[edit]

Seat | Incumbent member | Party
Albert | Tom Plunkett |  | Country
Bowen | Fred Paterson |  | Communist
Dalby*  | vacant |  |
East Toowoomba | Gordon Chalk |  | Liberal
Enoggera | Kenneth Morris |  | Liberal
Gympie | Thomas Dunstan |  | Labor
Hamilton | Harold Taylor |  | Liberal
Herbert | Stephen Theodore |  | Labor
Kennedy | Cecil Jesson |  | Labor
Logan | Thomas Hiley |  | Liberal
Maranoa | John Taylor |  | Labor
Maree | Louis Luckins |  | Liberal
Nanango | Joh Bjelke-Petersen |  | Country
Normanby | Tom Foley |  | Labor
Oxley | Tom Kerr |  | Liberal
Stanley | Duncan MacDonald |  | Country
The Tableland | Harry Bruce |  | Labor
West Moreton*  | vacant |  |
Wide Bay | James Heading |  | Country

* Members listed in italics resigned from politics at this election.
* The Country Party member for Dalby, Charles Russell resigned from the seat to contest and win the seat of Maranoa at the 1949 federal election. No by-election was held due to the proximity to the state election.
* The Country Party member for West Moreton, Ted Maher resigned from the seat to contest and win a seat in the Senate at the 1949 federal election. No by-election was held due to the proximity to the state election.

### New seats

[edit]

Seat | Party | Elected member
Balonne |  | Labor  | John Taylor
Barambah |  | Country  | Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Belyando |  | Labor  | Tom Foley
Burdekin |  | Independent  | Arthur Coburn
Callide |  | Country  | Vince Jones
Chermside |  | Liberal  | Alex Dewar
Clayfield |  | Liberal  | Harold Taylor
Condamine |  | Country  | Eric Allpass
Coorparoo |  | Liberal  | Thomas Hiley
Darlington |  | Country  | Tom Plunkett
Flinders |  | Labor  | Ernest Riordan
Haughton |  | Labor  | Colin McCathie
Hinchinbrook |  | Labor  | Cecil Jesson
Kedron |  | Liberal  | Bruce Pie
Landsborough |  | Country  | Frank Nicklin
Lockyer |  | Liberal  | Gordon Chalk
Mackenzie |  | Labor  | Paddy Whyte
Marodian |  | Country  | James Heading
Mount Coot-tha |  | Liberal  | Kenneth Morris
Mount Gravatt |  | Labor  | Felix Dittmer
Mourilyan |  | Labor  | Peter Byrne
Mulgrave |  | Country  | Bob Watson
Nash |  | Labor  | Thomas Dunstan
Norman |  | Liberal  | Louis Luckins
North Toowoomba |  | Labor  | Les Wood
Roma |  | Country  | William Ewan
Sherwood |  | Liberal  | Tom Kerr
Somerset |  | Country  | Duncan MacDonald
Southport |  | Country  | Eric Gaven
Tablelands |  | Labor  | Harold Collins
Whitsunday |  | Country  | Lloyd Roberts
Yeronga |  | Liberal  | Winston Noble

### Seats changing hands

[edit]

Seat | Incumbent member | Party | New member | Party
Bulimba | George Marriott |  | Independent Labor  | Bob Gardner |  | Labor
Bundaberg | Frank Barnes |  | Frank Barnes Labor  | Ted Walsh |  | Labor
Cook | Harold Collins |  | Labor  | Carlisle Wordsworth |  | Country
Windsor | Bruce Pie |  | Liberal  | Tom Rasey |  | Labor

* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.

## See also

[edit]

* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1947–1950
* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1950–1953
* Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1950
* Hanlon Ministry

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e The Country Party won the electorates of Cunningham, Darlington, and Landsborough unopposed.
2. ^ Figures of the People's Party, the precursor to the Liberal Party.
3. ^ Figures from Hermit Park Labor total.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 8 December 1949. p. 173:2273.
2. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 27 March 1950. p. 174:1175.
3. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 27 March 1950. p. 174:1177.
4. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 May 1950. p. 174:1907–1908.
5. ^ "Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette. 29 July 1950. p. 175:596.
6. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 29 June 1950. p. 174:3141.
7. ^ Hughes, CA; Graham, BD (1974). Voting for the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1890–1964 (PDF). ANU Press (ANU).

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