1950 Queensland state election

1950 Queensland state election

29 April 1950 (1950-04-29)
All 75 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 38 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered	688,309
Turnout	628,750 (91.35%)[a] (1.76 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Ned Hanlon Frank Nicklin Party Labor Country Leader since 7 March 1946 (1946-03-07) 21 May 1941 Leader's seat Ithaca Landsborough Last election 35 seats, 43.00% 14 seats, 20.40% Seats won 42 20 Seat change 7 6 Popular vote 295,138 121,199[a] Percentage 46.94% 19.28% Swing 3.94 1.12   Third party Fourth party   Leader Thomas Hiley Tom Aikens Party Liberal North Queensland Labor Leader since 9 July 1949 1942 Leader's seat Coorparoo (won seat) Mundingburra Last election 9 seats, 25.38%[b] 1 seat, 0.72%[c] Seats won 11 1 Seat change 2 Popular vote 188,331 7,689 Percentage 29.95% 1.22% Swing 0.57 0.50
Electoral boundaries following the election.
Premier before election Ned Hanlon Labor Elected Premier Ned Hanlon Labor

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 29 April 1950 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government was seeking its seventh continuous term in office since the 1932 election; it would be Premier Ned Hanlon's second election.

The Assembly had been increased in size prior to the election by the Electoral Districts Act 1949 from 62 to 75 seats.

Key dates

Date	Event
8 December 1949	The new electoral boundaries under the Electoral Districts Act 1949 were proclaimed.[1]
27 March 1950	The Parliament was dissolved.[2]
27 March 1950	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[3]
3 April 1950	Close of nominations.
29 April 1950	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
10 May 1950	The Hanlon Ministry was re-sworn in.[4]
13 May 1950	Polling day in the seat of Gregory.[5]
9 June 1950	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
1 August 1950	Parliament resumed for business.[6]

Results

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1950

Legislative Assembly (IRV) – Turnout: 91.35%^[7]

Party			Primary vote			Seats
			Votes	%	Swing (pp)	Seats	Change
	Labor		295,138	46.94	+3.94	42	7
	Country		121,199[a]	19.28	–1.12	20	6
	Liberal		188,331	29.95	+0.57	11	2
	North Queensland Labor		7,689	1.22	+0.5	1
	Frank Barnes Labor		2,759	0.44	–3.01	0	1
	Communist		2,351	0.37	–0.87	0	1
	Independent Labor		243	0.04	+0.04	0
	Independent		11,952	1.90	–0.90	1	1
Total			628,750[a]	100.00		75	13
Invalid/blank votes			7,088	1.13	–0.27	—
Turnout			628,750[a]	91.35	+0.6	—
Registered voters			688,309	—		—

Popular vote Labor   46.87% Liberal   29.91% Country   19.33% NQ Labor   1.22% Frank Barnes Labor   0.44% Communist   0.37% Independents   1.86%

Seats Labor   56.00% Country   26.67% Liberal   14.67% NQ Labor   1.33% Independents   1.33%

¹ 718,685 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 3 seats held by the Country Party representing 30,376 enrolled voters were unopposed.

Seats changing party representation

There was an extensive redistribution across Queensland prior to this election, increasing the amount of seats from 62 to 75. The seat changes are as follows.

Abolished seats

Seat	Incumbent member	Party
Albert	Tom Plunkett		Country
Bowen	Fred Paterson		Communist
Dalby*	vacant
East Toowoomba	Gordon Chalk		Liberal
Enoggera	Kenneth Morris		Liberal
Gympie	Thomas Dunstan		Labor
Hamilton	Harold Taylor		Liberal
Herbert	Stephen Theodore		Labor
Kennedy	Cecil Jesson		Labor
Logan	Thomas Hiley		Liberal
Maranoa	John Taylor		Labor
Maree	Louis Luckins		Liberal
Nanango	Joh Bjelke-Petersen		Country
Normanby	Tom Foley		Labor
Oxley	Tom Kerr		Liberal
Stanley	Duncan MacDonald		Country
The Tableland	Harry Bruce		Labor
West Moreton*	vacant
Wide Bay	James Heading		Country

• Members listed in italics resigned from politics at this election.
• The Country Party member for Dalby, Charles Russell resigned from the seat to contest and win the seat of Maranoa at the 1949 federal election. No by-election was held due to the proximity to the state election.
• The Country Party member for West Moreton, Ted Maher resigned from the seat to contest and win a seat in the Senate at the 1949 federal election. No by-election was held due to the proximity to the state election.

New seats

Seat	Party		Elected member
Balonne		Labor	John Taylor
Barambah		Country	Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Belyando		Labor	Tom Foley
Burdekin		Independent	Arthur Coburn
Callide		Country	Vince Jones
Chermside		Liberal	Alex Dewar
Clayfield		Liberal	Harold Taylor
Condamine		Country	Eric Allpass
Coorparoo		Liberal	Thomas Hiley
Darlington		Country	Tom Plunkett
Flinders		Labor	Ernest Riordan
Haughton		Labor	Colin McCathie
Hinchinbrook		Labor	Cecil Jesson
Kedron		Liberal	Bruce Pie
Landsborough		Country	Frank Nicklin
Lockyer		Liberal	Gordon Chalk
Mackenzie		Labor	Paddy Whyte
Marodian		Country	James Heading
Mount Coot-tha		Liberal	Kenneth Morris
Mount Gravatt		Labor	Felix Dittmer
Mourilyan		Labor	Peter Byrne
Mulgrave		Country	Bob Watson
Nash		Labor	Thomas Dunstan
Norman		Liberal	Louis Luckins
North Toowoomba		Labor	Les Wood
Roma		Country	William Ewan
Sherwood		Liberal	Tom Kerr
Somerset		Country	Duncan MacDonald
Southport		Country	Eric Gaven
Tablelands		Labor	Harold Collins
Whitsunday		Country	Lloyd Roberts
Yeronga		Liberal	Winston Noble

Seats changing hands

Seat	Incumbent member	Party		New member	Party
Bulimba	George Marriott		Independent Labor	Bob Gardner		Labor
Bundaberg	Frank Barnes		Frank Barnes Labor	Ted Walsh		Labor
Cook	Harold Collins		Labor	Carlisle Wordsworth		Country
Windsor	Bruce Pie		Liberal	Tom Rasey		Labor

• Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.

See also

• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1947–1950
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1950–1953
• Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1950
• Hanlon Ministry

Notes

1. The Country Party won the electorates of Cunningham, Darlington, and Landsborough unopposed.
2. Figures of the People's Party, the precursor to the Liberal Party.
3. Figures from Hermit Park Labor total.

References

1. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 8 December 1949. p. 173:2273.
2. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 27 March 1950. p. 174:1175.
3. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 27 March 1950. p. 174:1177.
4. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 May 1950. p. 174:1907–1908.
5. "Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette. 29 July 1950. p. 175:596.
6. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 29 June 1950. p. 174:3141.
7. Hughes, CA; Graham, BD (1974). Voting for the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1890–1964 (PDF). ANU Press (ANU).