1929 Queensland state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 11 May 1929 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. In this election, Irene Longman became the first woman to both stand and be elected into the Queensland Parliament.

1929 Queensland state election
11 May 1929 (1929-05-11)
All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout89.15 (Increase 0.42 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Arthur Edward Moore William McCormack
Party CPNP Labor
Leader since 19 April 1924 22 October 1925 (1925-10-22)
Leader's seat Aubigny Cairns
Last election 28 seats, 48.48% 43 seats, 47.96%
Seats won 43 27
Seat change Increase 15 Decrease 16
Popular vote 233,977 173,242
Percentage 54.24% 40.16%
Swing Increase 5.03 Decrease 7.80
Premier before election

William McCormack
Labor

 Elected Premier

Arthur Edward Moore
CPNP

The Labor government was seeking its sixth continuous term in office since the 1915 election; it would be Premier William McCormack's second election. His main opponent was the Country and Progressive National Party (CPNP), led by Arthur Edward Moore. The term had not gone well for McCormack's government, including a railway lock-out in 1927 which pitted the Labor Party against the union movement, restrictive financial policies and attempts to sell off state-owned enterprises, as well as suggestions of corruption which later came to be known as the Mungana affair.

The election resulted in the defeat of the McCormack government in a landslide, and the first non-Labor ministry since 1915.

Key dates
Date Event
11 April 1929 The Parliament was dissolved.[1]
12 April 1929 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2]
19 April 1929 Close of nominations.
11 May 1929 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
21 May 1929 The McCormack Ministry resigned and the Moore Ministry was sworn in.[3]
15 June 1929 The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
29 June 1929 The writ was returned for the seat of Gregory.
20 August 1929 Parliament resumed for business.[4]

Results
See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1929

The election saw the defeat of the Labor government by the CPNP.

Queensland state election, 11 May 1929[5]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1926–1932 >>

Enrolled voters 491,589[1]
Votes cast 438,248 Turnout 89.15% +0.42
Informal votes 6,836 Informal 1.56% +0.33
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats Change
  CPNP 233,977 54.23% +5.03 43 +15
  Labor 173,242 40.16% –7.80 27 –16
  Communist 2,890 0.67% +0.67 0 ± 0
  Independent 21,303 4.94% +3.33 2 + 1
Total 431,412     72  
Popular vote
CPNP
 
 54.23%
Labor
 
 40.16%
Communist
 
 0.67%
Independents
 
 4.94%
Seats
CPNP
 
 59.72%
Labor
 
 37.50%
Independents
 
 2.78%
1 517,466 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 4 seats (5.6% of the total) were uncontested—2 Labor seats (3 less than 1926) representing 9,041 enrolled voters and two CPNP seats (one more than 1926) representing 16,536 enrolled voters.

Seats changing party representation

This table lists changes in party representation at the 1929 election.

SeatIncumbent memberPartyNew memberParty
Bulimba Harry Wright   Labor Irene Longman   CPNP
Chillagoe John O'Keefe   Labor Ernest Atherton   CPNP
Cook Henry Ryan   Labor James Kenny   CPNP
Dalby Wilfred Russell   Independent Wilfred Russell   CPNP
Eacham Cornelius Ryan   Labor George Duffy   CPNP
Fitzroy Harry Hartley   Labor William Carter   CPNP
Gympie Thomas Dunstan   Labor Vivian Tozer   CPNP
Ipswich David Gledson   Labor James Walker   CPNP
Kelvin Grove William Lloyd   Labor Richard Hill   CPNP
Keppel James Larcombe   Labor Owen Daniel   CPNP
Lockyer George Logan   CPNP Charles Jamieson   Independent
Maree William Bertram   Labor George Tedman   CPNP
Merthyr Peter McLachlan   Labor Patrick Kerwin   CPNP
Port Curtis George Carter   Labor Frank Butler   CPNP
Rockhampton George Farrell   Labor Thomas Dunlop   Independent
Rosewood William Cooper   Labor Ted Maher   CPNP
South Brisbane Myles Ferricks   Labor Neil MacGroarty   CPNP
Toowoomba Evan Llewelyn   Labor James Annand   CPNP

Aftermath

The CPNP found itself in power as the Great Depression took hold. It lost power after one term.

See also

References
  1. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 11 April 1929. p. 132:1001.
  2. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 12 April 1929. p. 132:1003.
  3. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 21 May 1929. p. 132:1461–1463.
  4. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 25 July 1929. p. 133:201.
  5. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 11 May 1929". Retrieved 13 January 2009.
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