1928 Tasmanian state election

The 1928 Tasmanian state election was held on Wednesday, 30 May 1928 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system^[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.

Labor had won the 1925 election in a landslide, with the Nationalist Party losing five seats in the House of Assembly. In 1928, leading up to the election, the Nationalists reverted to "hard politics", criticising Labor Premier Joseph Lyons for an increasing unemployment problem and economic stagnation. This shift was much to the chagrin of Lyons, who had encouraged cordial relations with the Nationalists, and referred to their leader John McPhee as a "colleague and mate".^[2]

The Labor Party won the largest portion of the vote in the 1928 election, but only fourteen seats. The Nationalist Party held 15 seats, half of the seats in the House of Assembly, and as well had the support of the one elected Independent member, so Nationalist leader McPhee became Premier of Tasmania. He praised Lyons for his statesmanship.^[2] The wrong-winner election was likely at least partly caused the use of districts that had an even number of seats. In 1928, the Labor party received either an absolute or relative majority over the Nationalist party in state-wide vote tallies and also in each of the five electorates, yet the Nationalists took more seats. According to Dr. George Howatt, this occurred because the Labor majorities were not large enough to gain the fourth seat in any electorate, and in most districts Nationalists also got three seats. In one electorate (Franklin), an Independent candidate Mr. B.J. Pearsall was elected, causing Labor to capture only two seats in that division. Despite Labor's lead over the Nationalists in popular votes, Labor lost to the Nationalists by 14 seats to 15. Plus Pearsall supported the Nationalists in Government. Howatt presented evidence in the 1950s that the use of districts with an odd number of seats, in particular 7, would be unlikely to produce wrong-winner elections. Tasmania switched to five-seat districts in 1959.^[3]

Lyons stood for the federal seat of Wilmot in 1929, and he became Prime Minister of Australia in 1932.^[2]

^a Prior to the 1925 election, the Nationalist Party had split with a number of candidates, including former Premier Walter Lee, contesting the election under a "Liberal" banner. The grouping subsequently reunited with the Nationalists.

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1928–1931
• Candidates of the 1928 Tasmanian state election

• Assembly Election Results, 1928, Parliament of Tasmania.
• Report on General Election, 1928, Tasmanian Electoral Commission, 24 September 1928.