Swan by-election, 1918
Encyclopedia
The 1918 Swan by-election was a by-election
for the Division of Swan
in the Australian House of Representatives
, following the death of the sitting member Sir John Forrest
. Held on 26 October 1918, the by-election not only led to the election of, what was until 2010, the youngest person ever to be elected to the Parliament of Australia
, Edwin Corboy
, but also saw the conservative vote split by the Country Party
and the Nationalist Party
, directly prompting the introduction of instant-runoff voting
in Australia
.
, who had been the first Premier of Western Australia
, was elected to the Australian House of Representatives
for the Division of Swan
at the first federal election on 29 March 1901.
On 6 February 1918, Forrest was offered a place in the British peerage (he was to be created Baron Forrest of Bunbury
), though the relevant letters patent
had not at the time been issued. Forrest set out for England to accept the offer and take up his place in the House of Lords
, but he died en route on 2 September 1918, off the coast of Sierra Leone
, from cancer
. Thus, a by-election was called to replace Forrest as the representative for Swan.
at the federal level, with the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party
and the progressive Australian Labor Party
alternating terms in power. This system was upset in November 1916, when the Labor party split over the issue of conscription
; then Prime Minister
Billy Hughes
and his pro-conscription supporters leaving the Labor party and forming a minority government
as the "National Labor Party
", before merging with the Liberals in February 1917 to form the Nationalist Party of Australia
with Hughes as their leader.
However, Hughes was distrusted by some on the conservative side of politics for his past involvement in socialist
politics as Labor leader, and disaffected conservative farmers were moved to support the new Country Party, (renamed in 1976 the National Party of Australia
), which had been formed in Western Australia in 1913 (and would be formed federally in 1922 from an amalgamation of state-based parties).
At the time of the 1918 Swan by-election, Australia used a "first past the post
" voting system
, as was used in the United Kingdom
, in all elections at the federal level. Under this system, the winner was simply the candidate with the greatest number of votes.
from the Nationalist Party and Basil Murray from the Country Party — against Edwin Corboy
from Labor and independent
candidate William Watson
. Hedges was previously a member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Fremantle
, from 1906 to 1913. Forrest had won Swan in the previous election unopposed.
, until the 2010 election when 20-year-old Wyatt Roy
was elected as a member of the Liberal Nationals to the Queensland seat of Longman
.
Shocked by the loss of a previously safe Nationalist seat to Labor, the Nationalist government was moved to initiate electoral reform and replace the first past the post system with instant-runoff voting
(typically referred to as preferential voting in Australia), as part of a rewrite of the electoral legislation with the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
. While preferential voting had already been introduced at the state level
in Western Australia
(1907) and Victoria
(1911) and had been considered at the federal level by Sir Joseph Cook
's government (1913-1914), it was only these "considerations of partisan advantage [and not] the finer points of electoral theory" which provided the impetus for the change.
Preferential voting was first put to use in the Corangamite by-election for the Victorian seat of Corangamite
two months later, where Labor candidate and future Prime Minister James Scullin
topped the primary vote, only to be defeated after distribution of preferences by William Gibson of the Victorian Farmers Union. The preferential voting system remains in place to this day and has helped to support a fairly stable three-party system, albeit with the non-Labor parties (presently the Liberal Party of Australia
and the since-renamed National Party) regularly forming coalition governments.
At the 1919 election
, Corboy once again polled the highest percentage of the primary vote, with two conservative candidates again splitting the conservative vote; yet with the introduction of preferential voting, Corboy was easily defeated by John Prowse
of the Farmers and Settlers Association on preferences.
In a twist of fate William Watson
, who finished a distant fourth in this by-election with just 4.6% of the vote, was elected to the House of Representatives for the Division of Fremantle
at the 1922 election
on the back of preferences from Nationalist candidate William Hedges, the same man who had also contested this by-election, and who had previously been the member for Fremantle.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the Division of Swan
Division of Swan
The Division of Swan is an Australian Electoral Division located in Western Australia. The division is named after the Swan River.For several decades, it has been a marginal seat, extending along the Swan and Canning Rivers from the affluent suburbs in the City of South Perth to the west, which...
in the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
, following the death of the sitting member Sir John Forrest
John Forrest
Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
. Held on 26 October 1918, the by-election not only led to the election of, what was until 2010, the youngest person ever to be elected to the Parliament of Australia
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
, Edwin Corboy
Edwin Corboy
Edwin Wilkie "Ted" Corboy was an Australian politician. From 1918 until 2010 Corboy held the record as the youngest ever Australian Member of Parliament.-Early life:...
, but also saw the conservative vote split by the Country Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
and 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...
, directly prompting the introduction of instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
in 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...
.
Background
Sir John ForrestJohn Forrest
Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
, who had been the first Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, was elected to the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
for the Division of Swan
Division of Swan
The Division of Swan is an Australian Electoral Division located in Western Australia. The division is named after the Swan River.For several decades, it has been a marginal seat, extending along the Swan and Canning Rivers from the affluent suburbs in the City of South Perth to the west, which...
at the first federal election on 29 March 1901.
On 6 February 1918, Forrest was offered a place in the British peerage (he was to be created Baron Forrest of Bunbury
Bunbury, Western Australia
The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...
), though the relevant letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
had not at the time been issued. Forrest set out for England to accept the offer and take up his place in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, but he died en route on 2 September 1918, off the coast of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Thus, a by-election was called to replace Forrest as the representative for Swan.
Electoral system and political parties in Australia
By 1909, Australia had a stable two-party systemTwo-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
at the federal level, with the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party
Commonwealth Liberal Party
The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation....
and the progressive Australian Labor Party
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...
alternating terms in power. This system was upset in November 1916, when the Labor party split over the issue of conscription
Conscription in Australia
Conscription in Australia, or mandatory military service also known as National Service, has a controversial history dating back to the first years of nationhood...
; then Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
and his pro-conscription supporters leaving the Labor party and forming a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
as the "National Labor Party
National Labor Party
The National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I...
", before merging with the Liberals in February 1917 to form the Nationalist Party of Australia
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...
with Hughes as their leader.
However, Hughes was distrusted by some on the conservative side of politics for his past involvement in socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
politics as Labor leader, and disaffected conservative farmers were moved to support the new Country Party, (renamed in 1976 the National Party of Australia
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
), which had been formed in Western Australia in 1913 (and would be formed federally in 1922 from an amalgamation of state-based parties).
At the time of the 1918 Swan by-election, Australia used a "first past the post
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
" voting system
Voting system
A voting system or electoral system is a method by which voters make a choice between options, often in an election or on a policy referendum....
, as was used in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, in all elections at the federal level. Under this system, the winner was simply the candidate with the greatest number of votes.
Election
Candidates from both the conservative parties contested the election — William HedgesWilliam Hedges (Australian politician)
William Noah Hedges was an Australian politician. Born in Hertfordshire in England, he received a primary education before his migration to Australia in 1878, where he became a public works contractor. He moved to Western Australia in 1893, where he became a company director...
from the Nationalist Party and Basil Murray from the Country Party — against Edwin Corboy
Edwin Corboy
Edwin Wilkie "Ted" Corboy was an Australian politician. From 1918 until 2010 Corboy held the record as the youngest ever Australian Member of Parliament.-Early life:...
from Labor and independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
candidate William Watson
William Watson (Australian politician)
William Watson was an Australian politician. Born in Campbells Creek, Victoria, he was educated at public schools before becoming a miner, bricklayer and farmer. In 1893, he left Victoria for Western Australia, where he became a bacon manufacturer in Fremantle, and became known as a local benefactor...
. Hedges was previously a member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Fremantle
Division of Fremantle
The Division of Fremantle is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia.The division was created at Federation in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
, from 1906 to 1913. Forrest had won Swan in the previous election unopposed.
Results
In the end, the Nationalist and Country candidates split the conservative vote, Hedges achieving 29.6% and Murray gathering 31.4% of the total; however, both were beaten by the Labor candidate Corboy, who received 34.4% of the total vote. Corboy was duly elected as the member for Swan.Consequences
Corboy, who at the time of the by-election was just twenty-two years and two months old, remained the youngest person ever to be elected to either house of the Parliament of AustraliaParliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
, until the 2010 election when 20-year-old Wyatt Roy
Wyatt Roy
Wyatt Beau Roy is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal National Party of Queensland member of the Australian House of Representatives since August 2010, representing the electorate of Longman. At 20 years of age, he was the youngest person ever to be elected to an Australian parliament...
was elected as a member of the Liberal Nationals to the Queensland seat of Longman
Division of Longman
The Division of Longman is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was first proclaimed in 1994. The division is named after Irene Longman, the first female Member of the Queensland State Parliament and the third woman elected to a parliament in Australia.-Boundaries:Longman...
.
Shocked by the loss of a previously safe Nationalist seat to Labor, the Nationalist government was moved to initiate electoral reform and replace the first past the post system with instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
(typically referred to as preferential voting in Australia), as part of a rewrite of the electoral legislation with the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 replaced the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 which defined who was allowed to vote in Australian federal elections. The Commonwealth Electoral Act comprehensively rewrote the Franchise Act and introduced instant-runoff voting, known in Australia as Preferential...
. While preferential voting had already been introduced at the state level
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...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
(1907) and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
(1911) and had been considered at the federal level by Sir Joseph Cook
Joseph Cook
Sir Joseph Cook, GCMG was an Australian politician and the sixth Prime Minister of Australia. Born as Joseph Cooke and working in the coal mines of Silverdale, Staffordshire during his early life, he emigrated to Lithgow, New South Wales during the late 1880s, and became General-Secretary of the...
's government (1913-1914), it was only these "considerations of partisan advantage [and not] the finer points of electoral theory" which provided the impetus for the change.
Preferential voting was first put to use in the Corangamite by-election for the Victorian seat of Corangamite
Division of Corangamite
The Division of Corangamite is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
two months later, where Labor candidate and future Prime Minister James Scullin
James Scullin
James Henry Scullin , Australian Labor politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Two days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, marking the beginning of the Great Depression and subsequent Great Depression in Australia.-Early life:Scullin was...
topped the primary vote, only to be defeated after distribution of preferences by William Gibson of the Victorian Farmers Union. The preferential voting system remains in place to this day and has helped to support a fairly stable three-party system, albeit with the non-Labor parties (presently the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
and the since-renamed National Party) regularly forming coalition governments.
At the 1919 election
Australian federal election, 1919
Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1919. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Australian...
, Corboy once again polled the highest percentage of the primary vote, with two conservative candidates again splitting the conservative vote; yet with the introduction of preferential voting, Corboy was easily defeated by John Prowse
John Prowse
John Henry Prowse was an Australian politician. Born in Adelong, New South Wales, he was educated at public schools and then at Kings College, Melbourne. He became an insurance agent and then a station owner in Western Australia, where he eventually became a Perth City Councillor, serving as Mayor...
of the Farmers and Settlers Association on preferences.
In a twist of fate William Watson
William Watson (Australian politician)
William Watson was an Australian politician. Born in Campbells Creek, Victoria, he was educated at public schools before becoming a miner, bricklayer and farmer. In 1893, he left Victoria for Western Australia, where he became a bacon manufacturer in Fremantle, and became known as a local benefactor...
, who finished a distant fourth in this by-election with just 4.6% of the vote, was elected to the House of Representatives for the Division of Fremantle
Division of Fremantle
The Division of Fremantle is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia.The division was created at Federation in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
at the 1922 election
Australian federal election, 1922
Federal elections were held in Australia on 16 December 1922. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes lost its majority...
on the back of preferences from Nationalist candidate William Hedges, the same man who had also contested this by-election, and who had previously been the member for Fremantle.