Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1914–1917

This is a list of members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly between the 1914 election and the 1917 election, together known as the Ninth Parliament. The re-election of Premier John Scaddan's Labor Government with a 26-24 majority in 1914 was tempered when, a year later, Labor member Joseph Gardiner's seat was declared vacant on account of his non-attendance and a Liberal was elected in his stead, and Labor became a minority government when on 18 December 1915, Edward Johnston resigned from the Labor Party and became an independent. On 27 July 1916, the Scaddan Ministry was defeated and the Liberals' Frank Wilson became the new premier.

In March 1917, the Labor Party split ahead of the 1917 federal election. The federal party had split a year earlier over military conscription, and in Western Australia, where conscription was widely supported, all of the Labor Senators up for election had joined Billy Hughes's Nationalist Party. A number of state Labor members, including former Premier John Scaddan, either resigned from the Party or were expelled for supporting them. By May 1917, they had formed a new National Labor Party with a base in the Goldfields region, historically the heart of the Labor vote in Western Australia. In June 1917, they formed a coalition with the new Nationalist Party (which replaced the former Liberal Party) and the Country Party to form a governing coalition. With these arrangements, another Ministry was formed under new Premier Henry Lefroy.

Name Party District Years in office
Eben Allen Liberal West Perth 1911–1917
Hon William Angwin[1] Labor North-East Fremantle 1904–1905; 1906–1927
Harry Bolton Labor/Nat. Lab. South Fremantle 1904–1917
William Butcher[2] Liberal Roebourne 1901–1911; 1915–1917
William Carpenter Labor/Nat. Lab. Fremantle 1911–1917
Thomas Chesson Labor Cue 1913–1930
Hon Philip Collier Labor Boulder 1905–1948
Sir James Connolly[9] Liberal Perth 1914–1917
John Cunningham Country Greenough 1914–1917
Samuel Elliott[7] Liberal Geraldton 1913–1914; 1917
George Foley Labor/Nat. Lab. Mount Leonora 1911–1920
Hon James Gardiner[8] Country Irwin 1901–1904; 1914–1921
Hon Joseph Gardiner[2] Labor Roebourne 1911–1915
Hon William James George[4] Liberal Murray-Wellington 1895–1902; 1909–1930
Archibald Gilchrist Liberal Gascoyne 1914–1917
Albert Green Labor Kalgoorlie 1911–1913; 1914–1921
Harry Griffiths Country York 1914–1921; 1924–1935
John Hardwick Liberal East Perth 1904–1911; 1914–1921
Tom Harrison Country Avon 1914–1924
Edward Heitmann[7] Labor/Nat. Lab. Geraldton 1904–1913; 1914–1917
Henry Hickmott Country Pingelly 1914–1924
John Holman Labor Murchison 1901–1921; 1923–1925
Hon Charles Hudson[10] Labor/Nat. Lab. Yilgarn 1905–1921
Hon William Johnson Labor Guildford 1901–1905; 1906–1917;
1924–1948
Edward Johnston[3] Labor/Independent/
Country
Williams-Narrogin 1911–1928
George Lambert[6] Labor Coolgardie 1916–1930; 1933–1941
Hon Sir Henry Lefroy[4] Liberal Moore 1892–1901; 1911–1921
John Lutey[5][8] Labor Brownhill-Ivanhoe 1916; 1917–1932
Arthur Male Liberal Kimberley 1905–1917
Charles McDowall[6] Labor Coolgardie 1908–1916
Hon James Mitchell[4] Liberal Northam 1905–1933
John Mullany Labor/Nat. Lib. Menzies 1911–1924
Selby Munsie Labor Hannans 1911–1938
William Ralph Nairn Liberal Swan 1914–1921
Peter O'Loghlen Labor Forrest 1908–1923
Alfred Piesse Country Toodyay 1911–1924
Robert Pilkington[9] Nat. Lib. Perth 1917–1921
William Price Labor/Nat. Lab. Albany 1909–1917
Hon Robert Robinson[4] Liberal Canning 1914–1921
Hon John Scaddan[5][8] Labor/Nat. Lab. Brownhill-Ivanhoe 1904–1917; 1919–1924;
1930–1933
James MacCallum Smith Liberal North Perth 1914–1939
Bartholomew James Stubbs Labor Subiaco 1911–1917
Sydney Stubbs Liberal/Country Wagin 1911–1947
George Taylor Labor/Nat. Lab. Mount Margaret 1901–1930
William Lemen Thomas Labor/Nat. Lab. Bunbury 1911–1917
Alec Thomson Liberal/Country Katanning 1914–1930
Hon Michael Troy Labor Mount Magnet 1904–1939
Hon Henry Underwood Labor/Nat. Lib. Pilbara 1906–1924
John Veryard Liberal Leederville 1905–1908; 1914–1921
Hon Thomas Walker Labor Kanowna 1905–1932
Charles Wansbrough Country Beverley 1914–1917; 1924–1930
Hon Francis Willmott Country Nelson 1914–1921
Arthur Wilson Labor Collie 1908–1947
Hon Frank Wilson[4] Liberal Sussex 1897–1901; 1904–1917
Evan Wisdom Liberal Claremont 1911–1917

Notes

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1 William Angwin, member for North-East Fremantle, was appointed to the Scaddan Ministry as Minister for Works on 23 November 1914. Angwin was therefore required to resign and contest a ministerial by-election on 2 December 1914, at which he was returned unopposed.
2 On 30 September 1915, the seat of Roebourne was declared vacant due to Labor member Joseph Gardiner's extended absence from Parliament without explanation or leave. A by-election was held on 17 November 1915, and the Liberal candidate William Butcher, who had held the seat of Gascoyne in the previous Parliament, was elected. As a result, the Labor party lost its two-seat majority.
3 On 18 December 1915, the Labor member for Williams-Narrogin, Edward Johnston, resigned from the Labor Party and from Parliament. He was returned unopposed as an Independent at the close of nominations for the resulting by-election on 9 January 1916. In mid-1917, he joined the Country Party.
4 The Scaddan Ministry, following a successful want of confidence motion, was defeated and replaced on 27 July 1916 by a new six-member Ministry comprising Liberal and Country Party members led by Frank Wilson. These members were therefore required to resign and contest ministerial by-elections. Henry Lefroy (Moore), William James George (Murray-Wellington) and Frank Wilson (Sussex) were returned unopposed on 10 August 1916, while James Mitchell (Northam) and Robert Robinson (Canning) were elected on 19 August 1916, the latter being opposed unsuccessfully by the previous Labor premier John Scaddan.
5 The Labor member for Brownhill-Ivanhoe and former premier, John Scaddan, resigned from his seat on 8 August 1916 in order to contest the Canning ministerial by-election. On 19 August 1916, Labor candidate John Lutey was elected unopposed to fill the vacancy. However, upon Scaddan's narrow loss in Canning, Lutey resigned from the seat on 15 September 1916 before being sworn in to allow Scaddan to regain his seat, which he did at the resulting by-election on 7 October 1916 against two minor-party candidates.
6 The Labor member for Coolgardie, Charles McDowall, died on 13 July 1916. The Labor candidate, George Lambert, was elected to fill the vacancy at the resulting by-election held on 15 August 1916.
7 The National Labor (formerly Labor) member for Geraldton, Edward Heitmann, resigned his seat on 20 March 1917 in order to stand at the upcoming federal election on 5 May for the seat of Kalgoorlie. The Liberal candidate, Samuel Elliott, was elected on 14 April 1917 at the by-election to fill the vacancy.
8 On 28 June 1917, a new Ministry led by Nationalist Premier Sir Henry Lefroy was appointed. James Gardiner (Irwin), appointed Colonial Treasurer, and John Scaddan (Brownhill-Ivanhoe), appointed Minister for Railways, were required to resign and contest ministerial by-elections. While Gardiner was returned unopposed on 11 July 1917, Scaddan lost the by-election held on 21 July 1917 to Labour candidate John Lutey, who had held the seat for 27 days in 1916. This was only the second occasion in Western Australia's parliamentary history—the first having been the defeat of half of the Morgans Ministry in December 1901—that a Minister had failed to retain his seat at a ministerial by-election resulting from his appointment.
9 The Liberal member for Perth, Sir James Connolly, resigned in June 1917. The Nationalist (Liberal) candidate, Robert Pilkington, won the seat at the resulting by-election on 21 July 1917.
10 National Labor (formerly Labor) member Charles Hudson was appointed in Scaddan's stead as Minister for Railways on 27 July 1917, and resigned his seat in preparation for a ministerial by-election, but due to the state election being held two months later, one was never held and he retained the seat at the general election.

Sources

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  • Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth: Parliamentary History Project. ISBN 0-7309-8409-5.
  • Hughes, Colin A.; Graham, B. D. (1976). Voting for the South Australian, Western Australian and Tasmanian Lower Houses, 1890-1964. Canberra: Australian National University. ISBN 0-7081-1334-6.