This is the full list of members who served in the Fifteenth House of Representatives from 1937 until 1940.
The United Australia Party government led by Prime Minister Joe Lyons won its third term at the October 23, 1937 election. In a 74-member House, the UAP won 27 seats (-5) and its coalition partner, the Country Party, won 16 seats (+1). The Australian Labor Party won 29 seats (+11). The nine seats won by the NSW Lang Labor group in 1934 became ALP seats, after a reconciliation between the two factions. There were two independents, plus a member with limited voting rights from the Northern Territory.
The UAP-Country Party coalition governed with 43 seats, an overall majority of 8. The UAP polled 33.71% of the primary vote, down 0.73%. The ALP polled 43.17% (+16.36%). The Country Party secured 15.55% (+2.93%).
On a two-party-preferred basis, the UAP polled 50.60% (-2.90%) to the ALP’s 49.40%.
Prime Minister Joe Lyons died on April 7, 1939. For three weeks, the Country Party leader Earle Page was prime minister, until the UAP elected Robert Menzies as its leader. Menzies became prime minister on April 26, 1939.
Three UAP Cabinet ministers, all Victorians, were amongst ten people killed in the Canberra air disaster on August 13, 1940. They were: Geoffrey Street (Corangamite-Vic), Minister for the Army and Repatriation; James Fairbairn (Flinders-Vic), Minister for Air and Civil Aviation; and Sir Henry Gullett (Henty-Vic), Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister in charge of Scientific and Industrial Research. Rather than hold by-elections, Menzies opted to call a general election on September 21, 1940, thus bringing the Fifteenth Parliament to an end.
There were four by-elections in the Fifteenth Parliament, including in Prime Minister Joe Lyons’ seat. The ALP won all of the by-elections and took three seats from the UAP.
- 1938: Wakefield (NSW) – Charles Hawker (UAP) died in an aircraft crash; replaced by Sydney McHugh (ALP).
- 1939: Griffith (Qld) – Francis Baker (ALP) died; replaced by William Conelan (ALP).
- 1939: Wilmot (Tas) – Joe Lyons (UAP) died; replaced by Lancelot Spurr (ALP).
- 1940: Corio (Vic) – Richard Casey (UAP) resigned; replaced by John Dedman (ALP).
The first table shows the state-by-state breakdown of the House following the 1937 election.
The second table lists the 79 members who served in the 15th House of Representatives, 75 elected in 1937 and four who entered via by-elections. *The Northern Territory member (Adair Blain-Ind) had voting rights only for matters affecting the territory and is therefore excluded from the calculations of party strength in the House.
1937 Federal Election Results | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | NSW | VIC | QLD | SA | WA | TAS | NT | Totals |
Members of the 14th House of Representatives 1937-1940 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term Began | Term Ended |
Birth | Death | Age |
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY MEMBERS | ||||||||
Frank Baker | Griffith (Qld) |
15.09.1934 |
28.03.1939 |
|||||
Claude Barnard | MHA Bass (Tas) |
xx.xx.1950 |
06.12.1957 |
|||||
Jack Beasley | Lang (31-36) ALP (36-40) Lang (40-41) ALP (41-46) |
|||||||
Maurice Blackburn | Ind |
MLA Fitzroy (Vic) MLA Clifton Hill (Vic) Bourke (Vic) |
01.02.1925 01.04.1927 15.09.1934 |
01.03.1927 01.08.1934 21.08.1943 |
||||
Frank Brennan | 15.09.1934 |
31.10.1949 |
||||||
Joe Clark | ||||||||
William Conelan | ||||||||
John Curtin | 15.09.1934 |
05.07.1945 |
||||||
John Dedman | ||||||||
Arthur Drakeford | Maribyrnong (Vic) |
15.09.1934 |
10.12.1955 |
|||||
Frank Forde | Capricornia (Qld) MLA Flinders (Qld) |
16.12.1922 12.03.1955 |
28.09.1946 03.08.1957 |
|||||
Charles Frost | 15.09.1934 |
28.09.1946 |
||||||
Joe Gander | ||||||||
Albert Green | MLA Kalgoorlie (WA) Kalgoorlie (WA) |
xx.10.1914 16.12.1922 |
xx.03.1921 02.10.1940 |
|||||
Jack Holloway | Melbourne Ports (Vic) |
19.12.1931 |
19.03.1951 |
|||||
Rowley James | ||||||||
George Lawson | Brisbane (Qld) |
19.12.1931 |
02.11.1961 |
|||||
Bert Lazzarini | 15.09.1934 |
01.10.1952 |
||||||
Gerald Mahoney | Denison (Tas) |
15.09.1934 |
21.09.1940 |
|||||
Norman Makin | Sturt (SA) Bonython (SA) |
29.05.1954 10.12.1955 |
10.12.1955 01.11.1963 |
|||||
Dr William Maloney | ||||||||
George Martens | ||||||||
Sydney McHugh | MHS Burra Burra (SA) Wakefield (SA) MHA Light (SA) |
xx.xx.1930 10.12.1938 xx.xx.1941 |
xx.xx.1930 21.09.1940 xx.xx.1944 |
|||||
Dan Mulcahy | ||||||||
Reg Pollard | Lalor (Vic) |
10.12.1949 |
26.11.1966 |
|||||
Bill Riordan | ||||||||
Sol Rosevear | ||||||||
James Scullin | Yarra (Vic) |
18.02.1922 |
31.10.1949 |
|||||
William Scully | Gwydir (NSW) |
08.05.1937 |
10.12.1949 |
|||||
Tom Sheehan | Lang (40-41) ALP (41-55) |
|||||||
Lancelot Spurr | MHA (Tas) |
xx.xx.1941 |
xx.xx.1956 |
|||||
Eddie Ward | ALP (36-63) |
06.02.1932 |
31.07.1963 |
|||||
David Oliver Watkins | ||||||||
UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY MEMBERS | ||||||||
George Bell | UAP |
14.11.1925 |
07.07.1943 |
|||||
Richard Casey | La Trobe (Vic) |
10.12.1949 |
10.02.1960 |
|||||
James Fairbairn | Flinders (Vic) |
11.11.1933 |
13.08.1940 |
|||||
(Sir) Josiah Francis | ||||||||
Sydney Gardner | ||||||||
Henry Gullett | ||||||||
(Sir) Eric Harrison | ||||||||
Charles Hawker | ||||||||
Harold Holt | Higgins (Vic) |
10.12.1949 |
17.12.1967 |
|||||
William Morris Hughes | ALP Nat UAP Lib |
West Sydney (NSW) Bendigo (Vic) North Sydney (NSW) Bradfield (NSW) |
29.03.1901 05.05.1917 16.12.1922 10.12.1949 |
05.05.1917 16.12.1922 10.12.1949 28.10.1952 |
||||
William Hutchinson | Lib |
Deakin (Vic) |
23.10.1937 |
31.10.1949 |
||||
John Jennings | Watson (NSW) |
15.09.1934 |
21.09.1940 |
|||||
William Jolly | ||||||||
Albert Lane | Barton (NSW) |
19.12.1931 |
21.09.1940 |
|||||
John Lawson | ||||||||
Joe Lyons | UAP |
Wilmot (Tas) |
12.10.1929 |
07.04.1939 |
||||
Charles Marr | UAP |
31.01.1931 |
21.08.1943 |
|||||
William McCall | ||||||||
(Sir) Robert Menzies | Nationalist UAP/Liberal |
MLA Nunawading (Vic) Kooyong (Vic) |
30.11.1929 15.09.1934 |
31.08.1934 16.02.1966 |
||||
Walter Nairn | ||||||||
John Perkins | UAP |
Eden-Monaro (NSW) Eden-Monaro (NSW) |
06.03.1926 19.12.1931 |
12.12.1929 21.08.1943 |
||||
John Price | UAP |
Boothby (SA) |
17.11.1928 |
23.04.1941 |
||||
Thomas Scholfield | ||||||||
Fred Stacey | ||||||||
(Sir) Frederick Stewart | ||||||||
Geoffrey Street | ||||||||
Thomas White | Liberal |
|||||||
COUNTRY PARTY MEMBERS | ||||||||
Larry Anthony | ||||||||
Oliver Badman | UAP |
Grey (SA) |
23.10.1937 |
21.08.1943 |
||||
Archie Cameron | Liberal |
|||||||
Thomas Collins | ||||||||
Bernard Corser | Wide Bay (Qld) |
03.09.1928 |
21.04.1954 |
|||||
Arthur Fadden | Darling Downs (Qld) McPherson (Qld) |
06.11.1936 10.12.1949 |
10.12.1949 22.11.1958 |
|||||
Henry Gregory | Nat Country |
MLA Menzies (WA) Dampier (WA) Swan (WA) |
xx.xx.1901 31.05.1913 16.11.1922 |
xx.xx.1911 16.11.1922 15.11.1940 |
||||
James Hunter | ||||||||
John McEwen | Indi (Vic) Murray (Vic) |
23.10.1937 10.12.1949 |
10.12.1949 20.03.1971 |
|||||
Horace Nock | ||||||||
Dr (Sir) Earle Page | Country |
|||||||
Thomas Paterson | ||||||||
Jack Prowse | Country |
Forrest (WA) |
16.12.1922 |
21.08.1943 |
||||
George Rankin | Senate (Vic) |
22.02.1950 |
30.06.1956 |
|||||
Victor Thompson | ||||||||
Harold Thorby | MLA Castlereagh (NSW) Calare (NSW) |
08.10.1927 19.12.1931 |
18.09.1930 21.09.1940 |
|||||
INDEPENDENT MEMBERS | ||||||||
Adair Blain | ||||||||
Percy Spender | ||||||||
Alexander Wilson |