Electioneering - 1930s style

In the recent federal election campaign Anthony Albanese made this appeal: “If you want to change this country, you need to change the government”. This photo from 90 years ago, held in the North Queensland Photographic Collection, shows campaigners making a similar appeal for change. In this case they were seeking to overturn Queensland’s Country and Progressive National Party government, led by Premier Arthur Moore, at the upcoming state election on 11 June 1932.

State Government election campaign, Carine Williams Album, North Queensland Photographic Collection, NQID 5027.

The placards reveal the names of those candidates vying for the three electorates which between them encompassed the Townsville area. There was no Thuringowa electorate in the 1930s but the northern part of the city was covered by the Kennedy electorate – not to be confused by what is now the large Federal electorate of that name. Mundingburra covered the southern parts, and Townsville presumably took in the area between the two.  These two have also changed their names and boundaries over the decades, and it is coincidental that they now match the names of current electorates.

At the time of the election all three seats were in Labor hands, just as they are today. In Townsville and Mundingburra the incumbents, Maurice (“Mossy”) Hynes and John Dash respectively, held their seats comfortably, Hynes securing 73% of the vote and Dash nearly 67%.

Maurice Hynes became Minister for Labour and Industry in the new government. Known as a moderate but capable reformer, who worked hard but kept his speeches short, he introduced the Industrial and Arbitration Act, and other measures which significantly improved working conditions and wages, before his death in 1939, aged only 53. After similar success in Mundingburra, John Dash became Minister for Transport, but serious injuries suffered in a railway accident just three months later, impacted his health and shortened his career.

Fortunes were reversed in Kennedy where the Labor incumbent, Patrick Hayes, saw the CPNP candidate creep past the winning post with 50.6% of the vote, claiming the seat with a majority of just 62 votes. The victor’s name was Arthur Fadden, a successful accountant in the city and an alderman on the Council, whose victory here marked a step up in what was to be a significant political career. Four years later Fadden entered the national parliament as the member for Darling Downs, rising to become Treasurer and, for a very brief period in 1941, Australia’s 13th Prime Minister.

But Fadden’s success in Kennedy went very much against the trend in this Depression era poll. His was the only seat gained by the CPNP – small compensation for the thirteen that they lost. Voters heeded the appeal for change, with Labor achieving a swing of almost 10%, defeating Arthur Moore’s CPNP after just one term. Under William Forgan-Smith, who became the new Premier, Labor captured 53.22% of the vote to the CPNP’s 45.16% and remained in power for the next twenty-five years. Unlike our recent federal experience, independent candidates had little impact, attracting a tiny 1.61% of the vote and losing one of only two sitting members.

If any reader can identify the Labor candidates or other individuals in the photograph, or the building behind them, we would be most interested to hear from you. Please email special.collections@jcu.edu.au

 

Liz Downes, Special Collections Volunteer