1939_Western_Australian_state_election

1939 Western Australian state election

1939 Western Australian state election

Australian election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 18 March 1939 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier John Willcock, won a third term in office against the Country and Nationalist parties, led by Opposition Leader Charles Latham and Robert Ross McDonald respectively.

Quick Facts All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, First party ...

This was the first election in Western Australia since the enactment of compulsory voting, which occurred in 1936. Western Australia was one of the last states to mandate voting.[1]

Results

See also: Results of the Western Australian state election, 1939 (Legislative Assembly)

The election was notable for the lack of change to the status quo. Only one member—former Speaker Michael Troy, who had been in the Assembly continuously since 1904—opted to retire, being replaced in his seat of Mount Magnet by fellow Labor member Lucien Triat. Labor's Bill Hegney gained the seat of Pilbara from two-term Nationalist MLA Frank Welsh, whilst the Nationalist member since 1914 for North Perth, James MacCallum Smith, was defeated by independent Nationalist Arthur Abbott (who joined the party some years later).

Elsewhere, the only change was the exit of one Independent member—Clarence Doust in Nelson, who was defeated by his Nationalist predecessor John Henry Smith after one term—and the entry of another from Irwin-Moore, Claude Barker, replacing Country member Percy Ferguson.

Western Australian state election, 18 March 1939
Legislative Assembly
<< 1936–1943 >>

Enrolled voters 228,563[lower-alpha 1]
Votes cast 209,331 Turnout 91.59% +21.46%
Informal votes 3,660 Informal 1.75% +0.63%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 92,585 45.02% +2.63% 27 + 1
  Nationalist 49,307 23.97% –8.39% 7 – 1
  Country 24,681 12.00% –2.60% 12 – 1
  Ind. Nat. 13,977 6.80% +4.26% 2 + 1
  Communist 308 0.15% +0.06% 0 ± 0
  Independent 24,813 12.06% +5.07% 2 ± 0
Total 205,671     50  
  1. 265,987 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 10 of the 50 seats were uncontested—4 Labor seats representing 9,414 enrolled voters, 2 Nationalist seats representing 11,396 voters and 4 Country seats representing 16,614 voters.

See also

References

  1. [1]
    CPA 2021, p. 112

Works cited

  • Parliament Buildings of the Commonwealth. London: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. 2021. ISBN 978-1-3999-0968-6.
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