Victorian state election, 1917

15 November 1917 (1917-11-15)

51 (of the 65) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	John Bowser	George Elmslie	Alexander Peacock
Party	Nationalist	Labor	Ministerial
Leader since	November 1917	September 1913	June 1914
Leader's seat	Wangaratta	Albert Park	Allandale
Last election	0 seats	22 seats	43 seats
Seats won	27 seats	18 seats	13 seats
Seat change	27	4	30
Percentage	*	32.29%	*
Swing	*	7.29	*

Premier before election

Alexander Peacock
Nationalist

Elected Premier

John Bowser
Nationalist

The 1917 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday 15 November 1917 for the state's Legislative Assembly. 51 of the 65 Legislative Assembly seats were contested.^[1]

Background

By 1917, World War I was placing an enormous strain on the Victorian economy. While the Liberal party had won the 1914 election with a large majority, many in the party were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the government's actions on difficulties in the rural areas. The Victorian Farmers' Union emerged as a party, was gathering support and ran candidates for the first time.

The Labor Party had undergone a split in 1916 over the Conscription debate and some of its pro-conscription members led by Prime Minister Billy Hughes left the party and joined with the Liberals to form the Nationalist Party. At the state level, however, some of these members ran as National Labor candidates.

The breaking point for the Nationalist government was Premier Alexander Peacock's decision to increase rail fares to rural areas. The party split into a pro-Peacock Ministerial faction (mostly composed of city-based members), and an opposition faction led by John Bowser, composed mostly of country members. The two factions ran candidates against each other in most Nationalist seats. This did not effectively split the vote, as Victoria had introduced compulsory preferential voting for this election, and most of the preferences resulting from multiple Nationalist candidates were kept within the party. After the election, on 29 November, the rural faction of the Nationalist government led by Bowser won control of the party, ousting Peacock.

Results

Legislative Assembly

Victorian state election, 15 November 1917^[2] Legislative Assembly << 1914 — 1920 >>
Enrolled voters		658,488
Votes cast		356,999		Turnout	54.21	+0.29
Informal votes		11,245		Informal	3.15	+0.88
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Nationalist	197,036	56.99	+0.10	40	– 3
	Labor	111,637	32.29	–7.29	18	– 4
	Victorian Farmers	21,183	6.13	*	4	+ 4
	National Labor	7,747	2.24	*	3	+ 3
	Independent	8,161	2.36	*	0	± 0
Total		345,754			65

Notes:

While the Nationalist party was split into the Ministerialist Peacock and Opposition Bowser factions, statistical records show the Nationalist vote combined.
Fourteen seats were uncontested at this election, and were retained by the incumbent parties:
- Nationalist (7): Ballarat West, Castlemaine and Maldon, Gippsland West, Gunbower, Hawthorn, Lowan, Wangaratta
- Labor (6): Abbotsford, Carlton, Collingwood, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Richmond
- National Labor(1): Gippsland North

Aftermath

As the Bowser faction had won the most seats within the Nationalist party factions, Alexander Peacock resigned as Premier and John Bowser took his place. The previous government's increase on rail fares was reversed, but the issue of how the railways were to be financed remained unresolved. The opposition parties defeated a railway estimates bill in March 1918, and Bowser resigned as Premier in response, having little taste for the office. Bowser then eventually left the Nationalist party for the Victorian Farmers' Union. Peacock supporter Harry Lawson became Premier, after which the factions reunited and formed majority government with 40 of the 65 seats.

References

↑ Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 (ISBN 0708102700).
↑ Election held on 21 October 1917, Australian Politics and Elections Database (University of Western Australia).

Elections and referendums in Victoria

General elections	1856 1859 1861 1864 1866 1868 1871 1874 1877 1880 (Feb) 1880 (Jul) 1883 1886 1889 1892 1894 1897 1900 1902 1904 1907 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1921 1924 1927 1929 1932 1935 1937 1940 1943 1945 1947 1950 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1992 1996 1999 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 by-elections

Upper house elections	1851 1856 1858 1860 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1889 1890 1892 1894 1895 1896 1898 1900 1901 1902 1904 1907 1910 1913 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1940 1943 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958

Referendums	1898 1899

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