Candidates of the 1937 Australian federal election
# Candidates of the 1937 Australian federal election

This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1937 Australian federal election. The election was held on 23 October 1937.

In 1936, the Lang Labor group had been reabsorbed into the Australian Labor Party. Seats are still designated as being held by Lang Labor.

## By-elections, appointments and defections

### By-elections and appointments

* On 1 June 1935, David Oliver Watkins (Labor) was elected to succeed his father David Watkins (Labor) as the member for Newcastle.
* On 17 August 1935, Harold Holt (UAP) was elected to succeed George Maxwell (UAP) as the member for Fawkner.
* On 26 September 1935, Guy Arkins (UAP) was appointed a New South Wales Senator to replace Lionel Courtenay (UAP).
* On 19 August 1936, Thomas Marwick (Country) was appointed a Western Australian Senator replace William Carroll (Country).
* On 12 December 1936, Bill Riordan (Labor) was elected to succeed Darby Riordan (Labor) as the member for Kennedy.
* On 19 December 1936, Arthur Fadden (Country) was elected to succeed Sir Littleton Groom (UAP) as the member for Darling Downs.
* On 8 May 1937, William Scully (Labor) was elected to succeed Aubrey Abbott (Country) as the member for Gwydir.
* On 2 September 1937, Ben Courtice (Labor) was appointed a Queensland Senator to replace John MacDonald (Labor).
* On 21 October 1937, Philip McBride (UAP) was appointed a South Australian Senator to replace Oliver Badman (Country).

### Defections

* In 1936, the Australian Labor Party (NSW) was reabsorbed into the Australian Labor Party. NSW Labor members rejoined the federal party: Jack Beasley (West Sydney), Joe Clark (Darling), Joe Gander (Reid), Jock Garden (Cook), Rowley James (Hunter), Bert Lazzarini (Werriwa), Dan Mulcahy (Lang), Sol Rosevear (Dalley) and Eddie Ward (East Sydney).

## Redistributions and seat changes

* Redistributions of electoral boundaries occurred in Victoria and Western Australia.
   * In Victoria, the Country-held seat of Echuca was abolished. A new seat, Deakin (notionally UAP), was created.
      * The member for Echuca, John McEwen (Country), contested Indi.
      * The member for Indi, William Hutchinson (UAP), contested Deakin.
   * There were minimal changes in Western Australia.
* The member for Lilley (Qld), Sir Donald Cameron (UAP), contested the Senate.
* South Australian Senator Oliver Badman (Country) resigned from the Senate to contest Grey, as part of a Coalition deal that saw Philip McBride (UAP), the member for Grey, appointed to Badman's vacancy in the Senate.

## Retiring Members and Senators

### Labor

* Jock Garden MP (Cook, NSW)

### United Australia

* Archibald Fisken MP (Ballaarat, Vic)
* Eric Harrison MP (Bendigo, Vic)
* Senator Charles Cox (NSW)
* Senator Jack Duncan-Hughes (SA)
* Senator Sir Walter Massy-Greene (NSW)

## House of Representatives

Sitting members at the time of the election are shown in bold text. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk (*) is also used.

### New South Wales

| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | Coalition candidate | Other candidates |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Barton | United Australia | John Donovan | Albert Lane (UAP) | Stanley Allen (SC) |
| Calare | Country | William Folster | Harold Thorby (CP) | |
| Cook | Labor (NSW) | Tom Sheehan | | Cyril Glassop (Ind Lab) |
| Cowper | Country | Abraham Brindley | Earle Page (CP) | |
| Dalley | Labor (NSW) | Sol Rosevear | Arthur Brough (UAP) | |
| Darling | Labor (NSW) | Joe Clark | | Alexander Huie (Ind) |
| East Sydney | Labor (NSW) | Eddie Ward | Arthur Butterell (UAP) | Thomas Grant (Ind) Louis Phillips (Ind) |
| Eden-Monaro | United Australia | Claude Allen | John Perkins (UAP) | |
| Gwydir | Labor | William Scully | Ernest Batchelor (CP) | |
| Hume | Country | Essell Hoad | Thomas Collins (CP) | |
| Hunter | Labor (NSW) | Rowley James | | |
| Lang | Labor (NSW) | Dan Mulcahy | Matthew Calman (UAP) | Ernest Carr (SC) |
| Macquarie | United Australia | Tony Luchetti | John Lawson (UAP) | |
| Martin | United Australia | Stan Taylor | William McCall (UAP) | George Carruthers (SC) |
| New England | Country | Leigh Cuthbertson | Victor Thompson (CP) | |
| Newcastle | Labor | David Watkins | | Hilton Sykes (Ind) |
| North Sydney | United Australia | Henry Clayden | Billy Hughes (UAP) | Percival Minahan (SC) |
| Parkes | United Australia | Karl Guhl | Sir Charles Marr (UAP) | |
| Parramatta | United Australia | Albert Rowe | Sir Frederick Stewart (UAP) | Dick George (Ind) Harold Meggitt (Ind) |
| Reid | Labor (NSW) | Joe Gander | Reuben Jenner (UAP) | |
| Richmond | Country | Jim Fredericks | Larry Anthony* (CP) Robert Gibson (CP) Roland Green (CP) | |
| Riverina | Country | William Quirk | Horace Nock (CP) | Robert Ballantyne (Ind) |
| Robertson | United Australia | Gordon Cross | Sydney Gardner (UAP) | John Metcalfe (Ind) |
| Warringah | United Australia | Walter Salter | Sir Archdale Parkhill (UAP) | Joseph Hamlet (Ind UAP) Percy Spender* (Ind UAP) |
| Watson | United Australia | William Dignam | John Jennings (UAP) | |
| Wentworth | United Australia | Thomas Conway | Eric Harrison (UAP) | |
| Werriwa | Labor (NSW) | Bert Lazzarini | Henry Storey (UAP) | |
| West Sydney | Labor (NSW) | Jack Beasley | | |

### Northern Territory

| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | Independent candidates |
| - | - | - | - |
| Northern Territory | Independent | Robert Toupein | Adair Blain* Ronald Hughes-Jones Harold Nelson |

### Queensland

| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | Coalition candidate | Social Credit candidate | Communist candidate |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Brisbane | Labor | George Lawson | Graham Hart (UAP) | Ambrose Sawtell | |
| Capricornia | Labor | Frank Forde | Edwin Hiskens (CP) | John Harding | |
| Darling Downs | Country | Leslie Bailey | Arthur Fadden (CP) | Arthur Rushton | |
| Griffith | Labor | Francis Baker | Dugald Clark (UAP) | William Moore | |
| Herbert | Labor | George Martens | James Wilkie (CP) | Henry Beck | Fred Paterson |
| Kennedy | Labor | Bill Riordan | Alex Kippen (CP) | Herbert Price | |
| Lilley | United Australia | Edmund Taylor | William Jolly (UAP) | Harry Cash | |
| Maranoa | Country | Randolph Bedford | James Hunter (CP) | Henry Madden | |
| Moreton | United Australia | John McCoy | Josiah Francis (UAP) | Henry Hogg | |
| Wide Bay | Country | George Watson | Bernard Corser (CP) | Geoffrey Nichols |

### South Australia

| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | Coalition candidate | Other candidates |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Adelaide | United Australia | Ken Bardolph Herbert George George Edwin Yates | Fred Stacey (UAP) | |
| Barker | Country | | Archie Cameron (CP) | Charles Lloyd (Ind) |
| Boothby | United Australia | Kevin McEntee Leonard Pilton | John Price (UAP) | William Hardy (Ind) |
| Grey | United Australia | James Marner | Oliver Badman (CP) | Alfred Parker (Ind) |
| Hindmarsh | Labor | Norman Makin | Harry Hatwell (UAP) | |
| Wakefield | United Australia | Raymond Davis | Charles Hawker (UAP) | |

### Tasmania

| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | UAP candidate | Other candidates |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Bass | Labor | Claude Barnard | Allan Guy | John Watson (Ind) |
| Darwin | United Australia | Edwin Brown | George Bell | |
| Denison | Labor | Gerald Mahoney | Sir John McPhee | Maxwell Hickman (Ind Lab) Athol Smith (SC) |
| Franklin | Labor | Charles Frost | Hugh Warner | |
| Wilmot | United Australia | Lancelot Spurr Maurice Weston | Joseph Lyons | |

### Victoria

| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | Coalition candidate | Other candidates |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Balaclava | United Australia | Phillip Nash | Thomas White (UAP) | John Atkinson (Ind) |
| Ballaarat | United Australia | Reg Pollard | Stanley Walker (UAP) | |
| Batman | Labor | Frank Brennan | Albert Peters (UAP) | |
| Bendigo | United Australia | Ernest Duus | Walter Pearce (UAP) George Rankin* (CP) | |
| Bourke | Labor | Maurice Blackburn | Richard Griffiths (UAP) | |
| Corangamite | United Australia | Arthur Haywood | Geoffrey Street (UAP) | |
| Corio | United Australia | Leo Carmody | Richard Casey (UAP) | |
| Deakin | United Australia | Paul Jones | William Hutchinson (UAP) | |
| Fawkner | United Australia | William Doran | Harold Holt (UAP) | William Bottomley (Ind) |
| Flinders | United Australia | | James Fairbairn* (UAP) Reginald Skeat (CP) | Alexander Amess (SC) Ralph Gibson (CPA) |
| Gippsland | Country | James McKenna | Thomas Paterson (CP) | |
| Henty | United Australia | Sydney Walker | Sir Henry Gullett (UAP) | Rupert Hornabrook (Ind) |
| Indi | Country | William Hartshorne | John McEwen (CP) |
| Kooyong | United Australia | Thomas Brennan | Robert Menzies (UAP) | Leslie Hollins (Ind) |
| Maribyrnong | Labor | Arthur Drakeford | Malcolm Fenton (UAP) | Edward Turner (Ind) |
| Melbourne | Labor | William Maloney | | |
| Melbourne Ports | Labor | Jack Holloway | | |
| Wannon | United Australia | Don McLeod | Robert Rankin (CP) Thomas Scholfield* (UAP) | |
| Wimmera | Country | | Hugh McClelland (CP) | Alexander Wilson (Ind) |
| Yarra | Labor | James Scullin | Douglas Knight (UAP) | |

### Western Australia

| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | Coalition candidate | Independent candidates |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Forrest | Country | Ernest Hoar | John Prowse (CP) | |
| Fremantle | Labor | John Curtin | Eric Isaachsen (UAP) | Henry Wright |
| Kalgoorlie | Labor | Albert Green | Stephen Kellow (UAP) | |
| Perth | United Australia | Tom Burke | Walter Nairn* (UAP) Jack Simons (UAP) | Viv James |
| Swan | Country | John Steele | Henry Gregory (CP) | |

## Senate

Sitting Senators are shown in bold text.

### New South Wales

Four seats were up for election. One of these was a short-term vacancy caused by United Australia Party Senator Lionel Courtenay's death; this had been filled in the interim by Guy Arkins. The United Australia Party-Country Party Coalition was defending four seats. United Australia Party Senator Dick Dein and Country Party Senator Mac Abbott were not up for re-election.

| Labor candidates | Coalition candidates | Other candidates |
| - | - | - |
| Stan Amour* John Armstrong* Tom Arthur* Bill Ashley* | Guy Arkins (UAP David Hall (UAP) Charles Hardy (CP) Basil Helmore (UAP) | Peter Pollack (Ind) |

### Queensland

Three seats were up for election. The Labor Party was defending three seats. United Australia Party Senators Thomas Crawford and Harry Foll and Country Party Senator Walter Cooper were not up for re-election.

| Labor candidates | Coalition candidates | Social Credit candidates |
| - | - | - |
| Gordon Brown* Joe Collings* Ben Courtice* | Frederick Annand (UAP) Sir Donald Cameron (UAP) James Heading (CP) | John Aird Bertram Allen William Argaet |

### South Australia

Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party was defending three seats. United Australia Party Senators James McLachlan, George McLeay and Oliver Uppill were not up for re-election.

| Labor candidates | UAP candidates | Group A candidates | Other candidates |
| - | - | - | - |
| John Daly Edgar Dawes Bert Hoare Mick O'Halloran Frederick Ward Michael Woods | Philip McBride* Alexander McLachlan* Keith Wilson* | Thomas Dunsford Ernest Evans Frederick James | Jeanne Young (Ind) |

### Tasmania

Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party was defending three seats. United Australia Party Senators Charles Grant, John Hayes and Herbert Hays were not up for re-election.

| Labor candidates | UAP candidates |
| - | - |
| Bill Aylett* Richard Darcey* Charles Lamp* Herbert McKay | Donald Cameron Ernest Freeland Henry McFie John Millen Herbert Payne Burford Sampson |

### Victoria

Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party was defending three seats. United Australia Party Senators Charles Brand and John Leckie and Country Party Senator William Gibson were not up for re-election.

| Labor candidates | UAP candidates | Country candidates | Other candidates |
| - | - | - | - |
| John Barnes* Don Cameron* Richard Keane* | Tom Brennan James Guthrie William Plain | George Budge Samuel Geddes James Marchbank | Marcus Wettenhall (Ind) |

### Western Australia

Three seats were up for election. The United Australia Party-Country Party Coalition was defending three seats. United Australia Party Senators Herbert Collett and Allan MacDonald and Country Party Senator Bertie Johnston were not up for re-election.

| Labor candidates | Coalition candidates | Other candidates |
| - | - | - |
| Robert Clothier* James Cunningham* James Fraser* | Patrick Lynch (UAP) Thomas Marwick (CP) Sir George Pearce (UAP) | Carlyle Ferguson (Ind) |
