Australian federal election, 1943

Australian federal election, 1943
Australia
21 August 1943

All 74 seats in the Australian House of Representatives
38 seats were needed for a majority in the House
19 (of the 36) seats in the Australian Senate
  First party Second party
 
Leader John Curtin Arthur Fadden
Party Labor Country/UAP coalition
Leader since 1 October 1935 (1935-10-01) 29 August 1941 (1941-08-29)
Leader's seat Fremantle Darling Downs
Last election 32 seats 37 seats
Seats won 49 seats 19 seats
Seat change Increase17 Decrease18
Percentage 58.20% 41.80%
Swing Increase7.90% Decrease7.90%

Prime Minister before election

John Curtin
Labor

Elected Prime Minister

John Curtin
Labor

Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 August 1943. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia John Curtin defeated the opposition Country Party led by Arthur Fadden and coalition partner the United Australia Party led by Billy Hughes.

Although the UAP was the nominal senior partner in the Coalition and had been in government since 1931, it found itself bereft of leadership following the forced resignation of its leader, Robert Menzies. Hughes succeeded him as UAP leader, which would have normally positioned him to become Prime Minister for a second time. However, Hughes was a month shy of 78 and already in declining health. With Hughes deemed too frail to lead the country in war, Country Party leader Fadden was thus forced to take over as Prime Minister. Fadden only stayed in office for six weeks before the two independents who had been keeping the UAP in office since 1940 joined Labor in voting down his budget. Governor-General Lord Gowrie was reluctant to call an election for a Parliament barely a year old, especially considering the international situation. At his urging, the independents threw their support to Labor for the remainder of the parliamentary term.

Over the next two years, Curtin proved to be a very popular and effective leader, and the Coalition was unable to get the better of him. Labor thus went into the election in a strong position, and scored an 18-seat swing on 58 percent of the two-party vote. The Coalition saw its seat count cut in half, to 19 seats--including only seven for the Country Party. Notably, Labor won every seat in Western Australia and all but one in South AustraliaArchie Cameron, the member for Barker, was left as the only Coalition MP outside the eastern states.

This election was significant in the fact that it resulted in the election of the first female member of the House of Representatives, the UAP's Enid Lyons for Darwin, Tasmania; and the first female Senator, Labor's Dorothy Tangney in Western Australia. The election remains Labor's greatest federal victory in terms of proportion of seats and two-party votes in the lower house, and primary vote in the Senate.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1943–46 — Turnout 96.32% (CV) — Informal 2.89%
  Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Australian Labor Party 2,058,578 49.94 +9.78 49 +17 (1 elected
unopposed)
  United Australia Party 661,750 16.05 14.17 12 11
  Country Party 287,000 6.96 6.74 7 7
  Country-National Party (QLD) 166,419 4.04 * 3 +3
  Liberal Country Party (VIC) 145,665 3.53 * 1 +1
  One Parliament for Australia 87,112 2.11 * 0 0
  Country Party (QLD) 61,196 1.48 * 1 +1
  State Labor Party 29,752 0.72 1.89 0 0
  Independents 501,054 12.15 +4.08 1 0
  Other 123,965 3.01 0 4
  Total 4,122,491     74
  Australian Labor Party WIN 58.20 +7.90 49 +17
  Country/UAP coalition 41.80 7.90 19 17

Independent: Arthur Coles (Henty, Vic)

Popular Vote
Labor
 
49.94%
United Australia
 
16.05%
Country
 
6.96%
Country National QLD
 
4.04%
LCP
 
3.53%
OPfA
 
2.11%
Country QLD
 
1.48%
State Labor
 
0.72%
Independent
 
12.15%
Other
 
3.01%
Two Party Preferred Vote
Labor
 
58.20%
Coalition
 
41.80%
Parliament Seats
Labor
 
66.22%
Coalition
 
25.68%
Country National QLD
 
4.05%
LCP
 
1.35%
Country QLD
 
1.35%
Independent
 
1.35%
Senate (PBV) — 1943–46 — Turnout 96.31% (CV) — Informal 9.73%
  Party Votes % Swing Seats Won Seats Held Change
  Australian Labor Party 2,139,164 55.09 +17.57 19 22 +5
  Country/UAP (Joint Ticket) 995,910 25.65 18.05 0
  Country-National Party (QLD) 184,181 4.74 * 0 0 0
  Liberal & Country League (SA) 148,419 3.82 * 0 0 0
  Nationalist Country Party (WA) 101,738 2.62 * 0 0 0
  Christian New Order (NSW) 101,247 2.61 * 0 0 0
  Country Party 37,350 0.96 * 0 2 2
  United Australia Party * * 6.71 0 12 3
  Other 175,161 4.51 0 0 0
  Total 3,883,170     19 36

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1943 Swing Post-1943
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Adelaide, SA   United Australia Fred Stacey 4.7 20.3 15.6 Cyril Chambers Labor  
Barker, SA   Country Archie Cameron* N/A 14.2 1.7 Archie Cameron United Australia  
Boothby, SA   United Australia Grenfell Price 6.6 16.1 0.9 Thomas Sheehy Labor  
Denison, Tas   United Australia Arthur Beck 1.1 10.1 9.0 John Gaha Labor  
Eden-Monaro, NSW   United Australia John Perkins 4.8 10.8 5.4 Allan Fraser Labor  
Grey, SA   Country Oliver Badman* 7.7 10.2 2.5 Edgar Russell Labor  
Hume, NSW   Country Thomas Collins 0.9 7.2 6.3 Arthur Fuller Labor  
Lilley, Qld   United Australia William Jolly 9.6 9.9 0.4 James Hadley Labor  
Maranoa, Qld   Labor Frank Baker 1.6 2.6 1.0 Charles Adermann Country  
Martin, NSW   United Australia William McCall 2.6 8.3 5.7 Fred Daly Labor  
Parkes, NSW   United Australia Charles Marr 7.4 10.3 2.9 Les Haylen Labor  
Perth, WA   United Australia Walter Nairn 14.5 20.5 6.0 Tom Burke Labor  
Robertson, NSW   United Australia Eric Spooner 0.3 9.2 8.9 Thomas Williams Labor  
Swan, WA   Country Thomas Marwick* 7.5 10.5 3.0 Don Mountjoy Labor  
Wakefield, SA   United Australia Jack Duncan-Hughes 3.4 4.6 1.2 Albert Smith Labor  

See also

Notes

    References

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