A general election for the House of Assembly

Tasmanian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House...

 was held in the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n state

States and territories of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...

 of Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 on 9 May 1931.

Background

The Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

 had defeated Labor

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 by one seat at the 1928 election

Tasmanian state election, 1928

A general election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 30 May 1928 .-Background:The 1925 election had seen Labor win in a landslide, and the Nationalist Party lose five seats in the House of Assembly...

, and John McPhee

John McPhee (Australian politician)

Sir John Cameron McPhee, KCMG was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. He was Premier of Tasmania from 15 June 1928 to 15 March 1934.-Early life:...

 had been Premier of Tasmania since then. Joseph Lyons

Joseph Lyons

Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...

 had retired from state politics after his 1928 defeat and had entered federal politics, and the Labor Party was now led by Albert Ogilvie

Albert Ogilvie

Albert George Ogilvie was an Australian politician and Premier of Tasmania from 22 June 1934 until his death on 10 June 1939....

.

Results

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Distribution of Seats

EWLINE Electorate Seats won Bass Division of Bass (state) The Electoral Division of Bass is one of the 5 electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly, or lower house; it takes its name from the British Naval Surgeon and Explorer of Australia: George Bass. The division shares its name and boundaries with the federal division of Bass...             Darwin Division of Darwin The Division of Darwin was an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and abolished in 1955, when it was replaced by the Division of Braddon. It was named after Charles Darwin, who visited Australia in 1836. It was located in north-western Tasmania, including the...             Denison Division of Denison (state) The Electoral Division of Denison is one of the 5 electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The division is named after Sir William Denison, who was Lieutenant Governor of Van_Diemen's Land 1847-55, and Governor of New South Wales 1855-61. The division shares its name and boundaries with the...             Franklin Division of Franklin (state) The Electoral Division of Franklin is one of the five electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The division is named after Sir John Franklin, the arctic explorer who was Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1837-43...             Wilmot Division of Wilmot The Division of Wilmot was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Tasmania. It was located in central Tasmania, and was named after Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, the sixth Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania...

Nationalist   Labor   Independent

Aftermath

The Nationalist Party won the 1931 election in a landslide, with an over 22 per cent margin over Labor, and taking a nineteen seats in the House of Assembly. This was the largest victory over Labor in Tasmania since Hare-Clark elections began in 1909

Tasmanian state election, 1909

A general election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 30 April 1909...

, and was attributed to public endorsement of McPhee's expenditure cuts over Ogilvie's expansionist policies.

The high turnout of voting in the election was due to the implementation of compulsory voting

Compulsory voting

Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...

 clauses of the Electoral Act for the first time.

External links

• Assembly Election Results, 1931, Parliament of Tasmania
  Parliament of Tasmania
  The Parliament of Tasmania consists of the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Tasmanian House of Assembly and the Monarch represented by the Governor of Tasmania....
  
  .
• Report on General Election, 1931, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.