# 1910 Australian federal election

The 1910 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 13 April 1910. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party (formed by the fusion of the Protectionist Party and the Anti-Socialist Party in 1909) led by Prime Minister Alfred Deakin was defeated by the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by Andrew Fisher.
The election represented a number of landmarks: it was Australia's first elected federal majority government; Australia's first elected Senate majority; the world's first labour party majority government at a national level; after the 1904 Chris Watson minority and Fisher's former minority government the world's third labour party government at a national level; the first time it controlled both houses of a bicameral legislature; and the first time that a prime minister, in this case Deakin, was defeated at an election. It also remains the only election in Australia's federal history to have occurred following expiration of a full three-year parliamentary term by the "effluxion of time". This was the first time the Labor Party won a federal election.
Two referendums to approve proposed amendments to the Constitution were held on the same day. The State Debts referendum was carried, but the Surplus Revenue referendum was not carried.
Future Prime Minister James Scullin and future opposition leader Matthew Charlton both entered parliament at this election. Scullin lost his seat at the subsequent 1913 election and did not re-enter parliament until 1922.

## Background

After the 1906 election, the House of Representatives first met on 20 February 1907. Prime Minister Alfred Deakin allowed the parliament to run to its maximum permissible length under section 28 of the constitution (three years). Its final meeting ended on 8 December 1909, and it was then prorogued until 19 February 1910 at which point it expired by "effluxion of time". This remains the only occasion to date where the House has been allowed to expire, rather than being dissolved earlier by the Governor-General. The writs for the election were issued on 28 February, producing the longest gap between federal elections in Australian history.

## Results
### House of Representatives

House of Reps 1910–13 (FPTP) — Turnout 62.80% (Non-CV) — Informal 2.00% :
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| Labor | 649,538 | 49.12 | +12.48 | 42 | 16 |
| Liberal | 591,248 | 44.71 | −8.01 | 31 | 11 |
| Socialist Labor | 628 | 0.05 | +0.05 | 0 | |
| Young Australia | 590 | 0.04 | +0.04 | 0 | |
| Independent | 80,478 | 6.09 | −2.22 | 2 | 3 |
| Total | 1,322,482 | | | 75 | |
| Labor | Win | | | 42 | +16 |
| Liberal | | | | 31 | +31 |
Notes
* Independents: William Lyne (Hume, NSW), George Wise (Gippsland, Vic)
* Four members were elected unopposed: two Labor and two Liberal.
Popular vote
Labor
49.12%
Liberal
44.71%
Independent/Other
6.17% :
Parliament seats
Labor
56.00%
Liberal
41.33%
Independent
2.67% :

### Senate

Senate 1910–13 (FPTP BV) — Turnout 62.16% (Non-CV) — Informal N/A :
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change |
| Labor | 2,021,090 | 50.30 | +11.57 | 18 | 22 | +7 |
| Liberal | 1,830,353 | 45.55 | N/A | 0 | 14 | -6 |
| Independents | 134,976 | 3.36 | +2.46 | 0 | 0 | −1 |
| Other | 31,700 | 0.79 | | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 4,018,119 | | | 18 | 36 | |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1910 | Pre-1910 | Pre-1910 | Pre-1910 | Swing | Post-1910 | Post-1910 | Post-1910 | Post-1910 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Bass, Tas | | Liberal | David Storrer | 12.3 | 56.8 | 6.8 | Jens Jensen | Labor | |
| Batman, Vic | | Liberal | Jabez Coon | 1.3 | 15.3 | 13.6 | Henry Beard | Labor | |
| Bendigo, Vic | | Independent | John Quick | 1.7 | 0.4 | 1.3 | John Quick | Liberal | |
| Bourke, Vic | | Liberal | James Hume Cook | 2.2 | 15.3 | 8.6 | Frank Anstey | Labor | |
| Brisbane, Qld | | Liberal | Justin Foxton | 11.3 | 12.5 | 1.2 | William Finlayson | Labor | |
| Capricornia, Qld | | Liberal | Edward Archer | 5.6 | 12.4 | 6.8 | William Higgs | Labor | |
| Corangamite, Vic | | Liberal | Gratton Wilson | 24.7 | 29.4 | 4.7 | James Scullin | Labor | |
| Corio, Vic | | Liberal | Richard Crouch | 100.0 | 54.4 | 4.4 | Alfred Ozanne | Labor | |
| Dalley, NSW | | Liberal | William Wilks | 2.7 | 9.3 | 6.6 | Robert Howe | Labor | |
| Denison, Tas | | Liberal | Philip Fysh | 6.5 | 18.6 | 8.1 | William Laird Smith | Labor | |
| East Sydney, NSW | | Liberal | George Reid | 4.9 | 12.0 | 7.1 | John West | Labor | |
| Gippsland, Vic | | Liberal | George Wise | 100.0 | 62.1 | 12.1 | George Wise | Independent | |
| Hume, NSW | | Liberal | William Lyne | 100.0 | 66.4 | 16.4 | William Lyne | Independent | |
| Hunter, NSW | | Liberal | Frank Liddell | 0.8 | 11.7 | 0.9 | Matthew Charlton | Labor | |
| Indi, Vic | | Liberal | Joseph Brown | 11.0 | 14.1 | 3.1 | Parker Moloney | Labor | |
| Maribyrnong, Vic | | Liberal | Samuel Mauger | 6.9 | 17.7 | 10.8 | James Fenton | Labor | |
| Nepean, NSW | | Liberal | Eric Bowden | 10.6 | 14.8 | 1.5 | George Cann | Labor | |
| Perth, WA | | Labor | James Fowler | 2.7 | 13.4 | 10.7 | James Fowler | Liberal | |
| Riverina, NSW | | Liberal | John Chanter | 100.0 | 57.0 | 7.0 | John Chanter | Labor | |
| Robertson, NSW | | Liberal | Henry Willis | 7.0 | 7.9 | 0.9 | William Johnson | Labor | |
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
* Electorates listed as previously won by a margin of 100% were contested in 1906 as Anti-Socialists v Protectionists (Echuca and Hume) or by two Protectionists (Corio and Gippsland): these parties merged to form the Commonwealth Liberal Party on 26 May 1909.