1915 Queensland state election
22 May 1915 (1915-05-22)
All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered302,061
Turnout88.14 (Increase12.62 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
FU
Leader T. J. Ryan Digby Denham No leader
Party Labor Liberal Farmers' Union
Leader since 6 September 1912 (1912-09-06) 7 February 1911 N/A
Leader's seat Barcoo Oxley (lost seat) N/A
Last election 25 seats, 46.70% 46 seats, 51.37% Did not contest
Seats won 45 21 5
Seat change Increase 20 Decrease 25 Increase 5
Popular vote 136,419 109,985 13,233
Percentage 52.06% 41.97% 5.05%
Swing Increase 5.36 Decrease 4.73 Increase 5.05
Legislative Assembly after the election
Premier before election

Digby Denham
Liberal

 Elected Premier

T. J. Ryan
Labor

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 22 May 1915 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

The election was the second for the Liberal government of Digby Denham, who had been premier since 7 February 1911. The opposition Labor Party, led by T. J. Ryan, had two previous Premiers — Anderson Dawson in 1899 and William Kidston in 1906 — but the former did not command a majority of parliamentary support, while the latter maintained it by splitting the Labor Party. Labor had never before held majority government.

The election was the first in Australia to be conducted using compulsory voting due to Denham's concern that Trade Unions were effectively mobilising the ALP vote; he felt that compulsory voting would ensure a more level playing field. However, it turned out that the change to compulsory voting was not enough to save Denham's premiership.[1]

The election resulted in the defeat of the government, and Queensland's first majority Labor government. All except two members of the Ministry up for election, including Denham himself, lost their seats.

Key dates

Date Event
15 April 1915 The Parliament was dissolved.[2]
15 April 1915 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[3]
28 April 1915 Close of nominations.
22 May 1915 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
1 June 1915 The Denham Ministry resigned and the Ryan Ministry was sworn in.[4]
21 June 1915 The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
13 July 1915 Parliament resumed for business.[5]

Results

The election saw a landslide to Labor from the 1912 election.

Queensland state election, 22 May 1915[6]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1912–1918 >>

Enrolled voters 302,061[1]
Votes cast 266,240 Turnout 88.14 +12.62
Informal votes 4,188 Informal 1.57 +0.38
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 136,419 52.06 +5.36 45 +20
  Liberals 109,985 41.97 –4.73 21 –25
  Farmers' Union 13,233 5.05 +5.05 5 + 5
  Independent 2,415 0.92 –0.82 1 ± 0
Total 262,052     72  
1 335,195 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 8 seats (11.1% of the total) were uncontested—6 Labor seats representing 24,564 enrolled voters, one Liberal seat representing 3,999 voters, and one Farmers' Union seat representing 4,571 voters.

Seats changing party representation

This table lists changes in party representation at the 1915 election.

SeatIncumbent memberPartyNew memberParty
Albert John Appel   Liberal John Appel   Farmers' Union
Aubigny Alfred Luke   Liberal Arthur Moore   Farmers' Union
Bowen Edwin Caine   Liberal Charles Collins   Labor
Bremer James Cribb   Liberal Frank Cooper   Labor
Bulimba Walter Barnes   Liberal Hugh McMinn   Labor
Charters Towers Robert Williams   Liberal William Wellington   Labor
Cook Henry Douglas   Liberal Henry Ryan   Labor
Drayton William Bebbington   Liberal William Bebbington   Farmers' Union
Enoggera Richard Trout   Liberal William Lloyd   Labor
Fitzroy Kenneth Grant   Liberal Harry Hartley   Labor
Gympie George Mackay   Liberal Thomas Dunstan   Labor
Ipswich James Blair   Liberal David Gledson   Labor
Kurilpa James Allan   Liberal William Hartley   Labor
Mackay Walter Paget   Liberal William Smith   Labor
Maryborough Edward Corser   Liberal Alfred Jones   Labor
Merthyr Thomas Welsby   Liberal Peter McLachlan   Labor
Mount Morgan James Crawford   Liberal James Stopford   Labor
Musgrave John White   Liberal Thomas Armfield   Labor
Nanango Robert Hodge   Liberal Robert Hodge   Farmers' Union
Normanby Edward Archer   Liberal Jens Peterson   Labor
Oxley Digby Denham   Liberal Thomas Jones   Labor
Pittsworth Donald Mackintosh   Liberal Percy Bayley   Farmers' Union
Port Curtis John Kessell   Liberal George Carter   Labor
South Brisbane Thomas Bouchard   Liberal Edgar Free   Labor
Townsville Robert Philp   Liberal Daniel Ryan   Labor
Windsor Hugh Macrossan   Liberal Herbert McPhail   Labor
  • Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.

Aftermath

This was the start of a period of Labor hegemony over the Assembly which lasted until 1957; the only breach was the Moore ministry of the 1929–1932 period.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Compulsory voting in Australia". Australian Electoral Commission. January 2006. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 15 April 1915. p. 104:1101.
  3. ↑ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 15 April 1915. p. 104:1103.
  4. ↑ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 1 June 1915. p. 104:1513–1514.
  5. ↑ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 13 July 1915. p. 105:141.
  6. ↑ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 22 May 1915". Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
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