# 1928 Australian federal election

The 1928 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist–Country coalition, led by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce won a record fifth consecutive election defeating the opposition Labor Party led by James Scullin.
The election was held in conjunction with a referendum on Commonwealth–State relations, which was carried.
Future Prime Ministers John Curtin and Ben Chifley both entered parliament at this election. Both then lost their seats in the 1931 election and did not re-enter parliament until 1934 and 1940 respectively.

## Issues

In September 1928, federal treasurer Earle Page introduced the National Insurance Bill 1928 into the House of Representatives, which provided for the establishment of a National Insurance scheme inclusive of "sickness, old age, disability and maternity benefits, mainly paid for by compulsory contributions by workers and employers, along with smaller payments to parents of children under 16 and to orphans". The bill failed to pass before the dissolution of the House, but the scheme was "strongly promoted" by the government during the election campaign.

## Results
### House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) — 1928–29—Turnout 93.64% (CV) — Informal 4.90% :
| Party | Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Nationalist–Country coalition | Nationalist–Country coalition | 1,286,208 | 49.56 | –3.64 | 42 | –8 |
| | | Nationalist | 1,014,522 | 39.09 | –3.37 | 29 | –8 |
| | | Country | 271,686 | 10.47 | –0.27 | 13 | 0 |
| | Labor | Labor | 1,158,505 | 44.64 | –0.40 | 32 | +8 |
| | Country Progressive | Country Progressive | 41,713 | 1.61 | +1.61 | 1 | +1 |
| | Protestant Labor | Protestant Labor | 20,212 | 0.78 | +0.78 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | Independents | 88,447 | 3.41 | +1.65 | 1 | –1 |
| | Total | Total | 2,595,085 | | | 76 | |
| Two-party-preferred (estimated) ||||||||
| | Nationalist–Country coalition | Nationalist–Country coalition | Win | 51.60 | −2.20 | 42 | –8 |
| | Labor | Labor | | 48.40 | +2.20 | 31 | +8 |

#### Notes

* Independent: William McWilliams (Franklin, Tas.).
* Twelve members were elected unopposed – three Labor, five Nationalist, and four Country.
Popular vote
Labor
44.64%
Nationalist
39.09%
Country
10.47%
Country Progressive
1.61%
Independent/Other
4.19% :
Two-party-preferred vote
Coalition
51.60%
Labor
48.40% :
Parliament seats
Coalition
56.00%
Labor
41.33%
Country Progressive
1.33%
Independent
1.33% :

### Senate

Senate (P BV) — 1928–31—Turnout 93.61% (CV) — Informal 9.88% :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change |
| Nationalist–Country coalition | Nationalist–Country coalition | 1,466,323 | 50.46 | –4.35 | 12 | 29 | +1 |
| | Nationalist | 1,141,405 | 39.28 | –6.07 | 10 | 24 | 0 |
| | Country | 324,918 | 11.18 | +1.73 | 2 | 5 | +1 |
| Labor | Labor | 1,422,418 | 48.95 | +3.93 | 7 | 7 | –1 |
| Independents | Independents | 17,092 | 0.59 | +0.42 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 2,905,833 | | | 19 | 36 | |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1928 | Pre-1928 | Pre-1928 | Pre-1928 | Swing | Post-1928 | Post-1928 | Post-1928 | Post-1928 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Barton, NSW | | Nationalist | Thomas Ley | 1.0 | 7.3 | 6.3 | James Tully | Labor | |
| Boothby, SA | | Nationalist | Jack Duncan-Hughes | 7.6 | 7.7 | 0.1 | John Price | Labor | |
| Denison, Tas | | Nationalist | John Gellibrand | 2.2 | 2.5 | 0.3 | Charles Culley | Labor | |
| Franklin, Tas | | Nationalist | Alfred Seabrook | N/A | 7.2 | 1.6 | William McWilliams | Independent | |
| Fremantle, WA | | Independent | William Watson | 8.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | John Curtin | Labor | |
| Herbert, Qld | | Nationalist | Lewis Nott | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | George Martens | Labor | |
| Indi, Vic | | Country | Robert Cook | 6.7 | N/A | (Unopposed) | Paul Jones | Labor | |
| Lang, NSW | | Nationalist | Elliot Johnson | 5.9 | 9.4 | 3.5 | William Long | Labor | |
| Macquarie, NSW | | Nationalist | Arthur Manning | 1.3 | 6.2 | 4.9 | Ben Chifley | Labor | |
| Wakefield, SA | | Nationalist | Richard Foster | 14.8 | 24.4 | 9.6 | Maurice Collins | Country | |
| Wilmot, Tas | | Country | Llewellyn Atkinson | 7.0 | N/A | 4.6 | Llewellyn Atkinson | Nationalist | |
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
In the Division of Indi, the sitting candidate Robert Cook lost his seat after forgetting to file nomination papers, resulting in Labor candidate Paul Jones winning the seat unopposed.