Elections were held in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

on 15 March 1947 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The result was a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...

—the four-term

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

government, led by Premier

Frank Wise Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO (30 May 1897 – 29 June 1986) was a Labor Party politician who was the 16th Premier of Western Australia. He took office on 31 July 1945 in the closing stages of the Second World War, following the resignation of ...

, was defeated with a swing of approximately 7%. The

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

Coalition won exactly half of the seats, one short of a majority, needed the support of the Independent members

Harry Shearn Harry Vivian Shearn (28 April 1892 – 21 January 1951) was an Australian politician who was an independent member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1936 until his death, representing the seat of Maylands. Shearn was born ...

and William Read to govern. The election was the Liberal Party's first major showing since its formation in 1944-1945 out of the former Nationalist Party. Coincidental with this, in 1944, was the significant change in the fortunes of the Country Party when the Primary Producers' Association, of which the Party had been the political wing, passed a motion during negotiations with the Wheatgrowers' Union deleting the rule which authorised the Party's existence and its use of PPA branches and funds for party purposes. A new organisation, was hastily set up by the

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Arthur Watts and the member for Pingelly, Harrie Seward, who were very active in setting up branches to endorse local candidates and obtaining donations on which to run the 1947 campaign. Despite leading the Opposition prior to the election Country Party leader Watts did not become Premier with the change of government. The Country Party had been the senior partner in the non-Labor Coalition for most of the 1930s and 1940s. However, the election saw the Country Party win one fewer seat than the Liberals. As a result, Liberal leader

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty ...

became Premier, with Watts as his deputy. It is one instance in which an Opposition leader did not become Premier with an election producing a change of government. This was the start of a significant decline in the Country Party's fortunes over the ensuing decades; the party, now the WA Nationals, has never won more than nine seats at an election since.

Results

: 297,089 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 20 seats (40% of the total) were uncontested—15 Labor seats (four more than 1943) representing 71,732 enrolled voters, 2 Liberal seats (one more than the Nationalists in 1943) representing 12,765 voters, 2 Country seats representing 8,678 voters, and one Independent Nationalist seat representing 9,644 voters. : The figure for the Independent Nationalist label is likely to be artificially low as the successful candidate for Maylands,

, won unopposed. He won the seat under the same label with 4,966 votes in 1939, 4,342 votes in 1943 and 5,060 votes in 1950.

References

{{Western Australian elections Elections in Western Australia 1947 elections in Australia 1940s in Western Australia March 1947 events in Australia

Results

See also

References