Members of the Australian Senate, 1929–1932

Senate composition at 1 July 1929
Coalition (28) - (10 seat majority)[i]
  Nationalist (24)[ii][iii]
  Country Party (4)

  Labor (8) - (10 seat minority)[i] [iv]
 
Changes in composition

  1. ^ a b The Coalition government was defeated by Labor at the October 1929 House of Representatives election
  2. ^ In May 1931 the Nationalist party merged with pro-Joseph Lyons Labor defectors to form the United Australia Party.
  3. ^ UAP Senator Walter Duncan resigned on 1 December 1931 and was replaced by Lang Labor member Patrick Mooney.
  4. ^ In 1931 2 NSW Senators walked out of the Labor party to join Lang Labor

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1929 to 1932.[1] Half of its members were elected at the 14 November 1925 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1926 and finishing on 30 June 1932; the other half were elected at the 17 November 1928 election and had terms starting on 1 July 1929 and finishing on 30 June 1935. The process for filling casual vacancies was complex. While senators were elected for a six-year term, people appointed to a casual vacancy only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.[2]

The government changed during the Senate term as the Coalition of the Nationalist Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Stanley Bruce and the Country Party led by Earle Page lost the confidence of the House of Representatives and called an election for October 1929. The Labor Party, led by James Scullin, won the election with a large majority. This was the first time in which an election for the House of Representatives was held without an election for the Senate. Section 13 of the Constitution requires an election to occur within one year of the expiry of senate terms and the terms of senators elected in 1925 were not due to expire until 1932.[3]

In 1931 five Labor members in the House of Representatives split from the Scullin government in opposition to its economic policies on the Great Depression and joined the Nationalist Party and three conservative independents in the House to form the United Australia Party (UAP). Subsequently, some New South Wales members and senators were expelled from the Labor Party for their support of New South Wales Premier Jack Lang's policy of repudiating foreign debt and formed the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales)—known as Lang Labor—and later voted with the UAP to defeat the Scullin government, leading to the 1931 election.

Senator Party State Term ending Years in office
John Barnes   Labor Victoria 1935 1913–1920, 1923–1935
Tom Brennan [a]   United Australia Victoria 1932[b] 1931–1938
William Carroll   Country Western Australia 1932 1926–1936
John Chapman [c]   Nationalist /United Australia South Australia 1932 1926–1931
Hal Colebatch   Nationalist /United Australia Western Australia 1935 1929–1933
Walter Cooper   Country Queensland 1932 1928–1932, 1935–1968
Charles Cox   Nationalist /United Australia New South Wales 1932 1920–1938
Thomas Crawford   Nationalist /United Australia Queensland 1935 1917–1947
John Daly   Labor South Australia 1935 1928–1935
John Dooley   Labor New South Wales 1935 1928–1935
Walter Duncan [d]   Nationalist/United Australia New South Wales 1932 1920–1931
Jack Duncan-Hughes [c]   United Australia South Australia 1932 1931–38
James Dunn   Labor/Lang Labor New South Wales 1935 1929–1935
Harold Elliott [a]   Nationalist Victoria 1932 1920–1931
Robert Elliott   Country Victoria 1935 1929–1935
Harry Foll   Nationalist /United Australia Queensland 1935 1917–1947
William Glasgow   Nationalist /United Australia Queensland 1932 1920–1932
Charles Grant [e]   United Australia Tasmania 1934[b] 1925, 1932–1941
James Guthrie   Nationalist /United Australia Victoria 1932 1920–1938
John Hayes   Nationalist /United Australia Tasmania 1935 1923–1947
Herbert Hays   Nationalist /United Australia Tasmania 1935 1923–1947
Bert Hoare   Labor South Australia 1935 1922–1935
Bertie Johnston   Country Western Australia 1935 1929–1942
Walter Kingsmill   Nationalist /United Australia Western Australia 1935 1923–1935
Harry Kneebone [c]   Labor South Australia 1931[b] 1931
Harry Lawson   Nationalist /United Australia Victoria 1935 1929–1935
Patrick Lynch   Nationalist /United Australia Western Australia 1932 1907–1938
Walter Massy-Greene   Nationalist /United Australia New South Wales 1932 1923–1925, 1926–1938
Alexander McLachlan   Nationalist /United Australia South Australia 1932 1926–1944
John Millen   Nationalist /United Australia Tasmania 1932 1920–1938
Patrick Mooney [d]   Lang Labor New South Wales 1932[b] 1931–1932
John Newlands   Nationalist /United Australia South Australia 1932 1913–1932
James Ogden [e]   United Australia Tasmania 1935 1923–1932
Mick O'Halloran   Labor South Australia 1935 1928–1935
Herbert Payne   Nationalist /United Australia Tasmania 1932 1920–1938
Sir George Pearce [f]   Nationalist /United Australia Western Australia 1932 1901–1938
William Plain   Nationalist /United Australia Victoria 1932 1917–1923, 1925–1938
Arthur Rae   Labor/Lang Labor New South Wales 1935 1910–1914, 1929–1935
Matthew Reid   Nationalist /United Australia Queensland 1935 1917–1935
Burford Sampson   Nationalist /United Australia Tasmania 1932 1925–1938, 1941–1947
William Thompson   Nationalist /United Australia Queensland 1932 1922–1932

Notes

  1. ^ a b Nationalist Senator Harold Edward Elliott died on 23 March 1931; UAP member Tom Brennan was appointed on 12 May to replace him for the remainder of his term finishing on 30 June 1932.
  2. ^ a b c d Appointed to a casual vacancy and only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.[2]
  3. ^ a b c Labor Senator John Chapman died on 14 March 1931; Labor member Harry Kneebone was appointed on 1 April to replace him until the 19 December 1931 election when he was defeated by UAP candidate Jack Duncan-Hughes for the remainder of his term finishing on 30 June 1932.
  4. ^ a b UAP Senator Walter Duncan resigned on 1 December 1931; Lang Labor member Patrick Mooney was appointed on 23 December to replace him for the remainder of his term finishing on 30 June 1932.
  5. ^ a b UAP Senator James Ogden died on 5 February 1932; UAP member and former Senator Charles Grant was appointed on 3 March to replace him with his term expiring at the September 1934 election, when he was re-elected for the balance of the term expiring on 30 June 1935 and a six year term expiring on 30 June 1941.
  6. ^ Father of the Senate

References

  1. ^ "The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate 1929". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b Evans, H. "Filling Casual Vacancies before 1977" (PDF). The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, Volume 3. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  3. ^ Constitution (Cth) s 13 Rotation of senators.