1932 Queensland state election
# 1932 Queensland state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 11 June 1932 to elect the 62 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

The election was the first electoral test of the Country and Progressive National Party government led by Arthur Edward Moore, and was held in the midst of the Great Depression. Labor had previously held office from 1915 until 1929.

The election resulted in the defeat of the one-term Moore government by the Labor Party, led by William Forgan Smith.

## Key dates

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 3 February 1932 | The new electoral boundaries under the Electoral Districts Act 1931 were proclaimed. |
| 19 April 1932 | The Parliament was dissolved. |
| 20 April 1932 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 28 April 1932 | Close of nominations. |
| 11 June 1932 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 18 June 1932 | The Moore Ministry resigned and the Forgan Smith Ministry was sworn in. |
| 2 July 1932 | Polling day in the seat of Hamilton, delayed due to the death of a candidate. |
| 16 July 1932 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
| 15 August 1932 | Parliament resumed for business. |

## Results

The election saw a major swing to Labor from the 1929 election. The election took place on modified boundaries — the Assembly had been reduced by the Electoral Districts Act 1931 from 72 to 62 seats, mainly accomplished by the abolition of sitting Labor members' seats. Despite this, Labor went from a deficit of 16 seats to a surplus of 5 seats.

Queensland state election, 11 June 1932 Legislative Assembly

<< 1929–1935 >> :

| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 492,036 | | | | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 456,706 | | Turnout | 92.82% | +3.67% |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 5,144 | | Informal | 1.13% | –0.43% |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 225,270 | 49.89% | +9.73% | 33 | +5 |
| | CPNP | 204,158 | 45.21% | –9.02% | 28 | -15 |
| | Queensland Party | 7,590 | 1.68% | +1.68% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Independent Labor | 1,831 | 0.41% | +0.41% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Communist | 1,057 | 0.23% | –0.45% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Lang Labor | 587 | 0.13% | +0.13% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Independent | 11,069 | 2.45% | –2.42% | 1 | – 1 |
| Total | Total | 451,562 | | | 62 | |

Popular vote

Labor

49.89%

CPNP

45.21%

Queensland Party

1.68%

Communist

0.23%

Lang Labor

0.13%

Independents

2.86% :

Seats

Labor

53.22%

CPNP

45.16%

Independents

1.61% :

    $^1$ 525,944 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 5 seats (8.1% of the total) were uncontested—4 Labor seats (two more than in 1929) representing 27,083 enrolled voters and one Independent seat (held by Arnold Wienholt) representing 6,825 enrolled voters.

## Seats changing party representation

There was an extensive redistribution across Queensland prior to this election, decreasing the amount of seats from 72 to 62. The seat changes are as follows.

### Abolished seats

Party :

| Balonne | Samuel Brassington | Labor |
| - | - | - |
| Burke | Arthur Jones | Labor |
| Burnett | Robert Boyd | CPNP |
| Burrum | William Brand | CPNP |
| Chillagoe | Ernest Atherton | CPNP |
| Eacham | George Duffy | CPNP |
| Flinders | John Mullan | Labor |
| Leichhardt | Tom Foley | Labor |
| Lockyer | Charles Jamieson | Independent |
| Mitchell | Richard Bow | Labor |
| Mount Morgan | James Stopford | Labor |
| Paddington | Alfred Jones | Labor |
| Queenton | Vernon Winstanley | Labor |
| Rosewood | Ted Maher | CPNP |
| Toombul | Hugh Russell | CPNP |

* Members listed in italics did not run for this election.

### New seats

Elected member :

| Carpentaria | Labor | John Mullan |
| - | - | - |
| Hamilton | CPNP | Hugh Russell |
| Isis | CPNP | William Brand |
| The Tableland | Labor | Harry Bruce |
| West Moreton | CPNP | Ted Maher |

### Seats changing hands

Party :

| Bulimba | Irene Longman | CPNP | William Copley | Labor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Enoggera | Jim Kerr | CPNP | George Taylor | Labor |
| Ipswich | James Walker | CPNP | David Gledson | Labor |
| Kelvin Grove | Richard Hill | CPNP | Frank Waters | Labor |
| Kennedy | Harry Bruce | Labor | Arthur Fadden | CPNP |
| Kurilpa | James Fry | CPNP | Kerry Copley | Labor |
| Maree | George Tedman | CPNP | William King | Labor |
| Maryborough | John Blackley* | CPNP | James Stopford | Labor |
| Merthyr | Patrick Kerwin | CPNP | James Keogh | Labor |
| Normanby | Jens Peterson | CPNP | Tom Foley | Labor |
| Nundah | William Kelso | CPNP | John Hayes | Labor |
| Port Curtis | Frank Butler | CPNP | Tommy Williams | Labor |
| Rockhampton | Thomas Dunlop | Independent | James Larcombe | Labor |
| South Brisbane | Neil MacGroarty | CPNP | Vince Gair | Labor |
| Toowoomba | James Annand | CPNP | Evan Llewelyn | Labor |

* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.
* In addition, Independent MP Arnold Wienholt held the seat of Fassifern, which he had won from the CPNP at the 1930 by-election.
* The sitting member for Maryborough, John Blackley won this seat from Labor at the 1929 by-election.

## Aftermath

Forgan Smith went on to be premier for over 10 years, and Labor held power continuously until the party's split in 1957.

