| Election Name: | 1928 Australian federal election |
| Country: | Australia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1925 Australian federal election |
| Previous Year: | 1925 |
| Next Election: | 1929 Australian federal election |
| Next Year: | 1929 |
| Outgoing Members: | Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1925–1928 |
| Elected Members: | Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1928–1929 |
| Registered: | 3,444,769 |
| Turnout: | 2,728,815 (93.64%) (2.25 pp) |
| Seats For Election: | All 76 seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats in the Senate |
| Leader1: | Stanley Bruce |
| Leader Since1: | 9 February 1923 |
| Party1: | Nationalist/Country coalition |
| Leaders Seat1: | Flinders (Vic.) |
| Percentage1: | 51.60% |
| Swing1: | 2.20% |
| Last Election1: | 51 seats |
| Seats1: | 42 |
| Seat Change1: | 9 |
| Leader2: | James Scullin |
| Leader Since2: | 26 April 1928 |
| Party2: | Australian Labor Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | Yarra (Vic.) |
| Percentage2: | 48.40% |
| Swing2: | 2.20 |
| Last Election2: | 23 seats |
| Seats2: | 31 + NT |
| Seat Change2: | 8 |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Subsequent Prime Minister |
| Before Election: | Stanley Bruce |
| Before Party: | Nationalist/Country coalition |
| After Election: | Stanley Bruce |
| After Party: | Nationalist/Country coalition |
The 1928 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist–Country coalition, led by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce won a record fifth consecutive election defeating the opposition Labor Party led by James Scullin.
The election was held in conjunction with a referendum on Commonwealth–State relations, which was carried.
Future Prime Ministers John Curtin and Ben Chifley both entered parliament at this election. Both then lost their seats in the 1931 election and did not re-enter parliament until 1934 and 1940 respectively.
In September 1928, federal treasurer Earle Page introduced the National Insurance Bill 1928 into the House of Representatives, which provided for the establishment of a National Insurance scheme inclusive of "sickness, old age, disability and maternity benefits, mainly paid for by compulsory contributions by workers and employers, along with smaller payments to parents of children under 16 and to orphans".[1] The bill failed to pass before the dissolution of the House, but the scheme was "strongly promoted" by the government during the election campaign.
See also: Results of the Australian federal election, 1928 (House of Representatives).
| Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationalist–Country coalition | 1,286,208 | 49.56 | –3.64 | 42 | –8 | ||||
| Nationalist | 1,014,522 | 39.09 | –3.37 | 29 | –8 | ||||
| Country | 271,686 | 10.47 | –0.27 | 13 | 0 | ||||
| Labor | 1,158,505 | 44.64 | –0.40 | 32 | +8 | ||||
| Country Progressive | 41,713 | 1.61 | +1.61 | 1 | +1 | ||||
| Protestant Labor | 20,212 | 0.78 | +0.78 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Independents | 88,447 | 3.41 | +1.65 | 1 | –1 | ||||
| Total | 2,595,085 | 76 | |||||||
| Nationalist–Country coalition | Win | 51.60 | −2.20 | 42 | –8 | ||||
| Labor | 48.40 | +2.20 | 31 | +8 | |||||
| Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationalist–Country coalition | 1,466,323 | 50.46 | –4.35 | 12 | 29 | +1 | |||
| Nationalist | 1,141,405 | 39.28 | –6.07 | 10 | 24 | 0 | |||
| Country | 324,918 | 11.18 | +1.73 | 2 | 5 | +1 | |||
| Labor | 1,422,418 | 48.95 | +3.93 | 7 | 7 | –1 | |||
| Independents | 17,092 | 0.59 | +0.42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 2,905,833 | 19 | 36 | ||||||
| Seat | Pre-1928 | Swing | Post-1928 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||||
| Barton, NSW | Nationalist | Thomas Ley | 1.0 | 7.3 | 6.3 | James Tully | Labor | ||||
| Boothby, SA | Nationalist | Jack Duncan-Hughes | 7.6 | 7.7 | 0.1 | John Price | Labor | ||||
| Denison, Tas | Nationalist | John Gellibrand | 2.2 | 2.5 | 0.3 | Charles Culley | Labor | ||||
| Franklin, Tas | Nationalist | Alfred Seabrook | N/A | 7.2 | 1.6 | William McWilliams | Independent | ||||
| Fremantle, WA | Independent | William Watson | 8.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | John Curtin | Labor | ||||
| Herbert, Qld | Nationalist | Lewis Nott | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | George Martens | Labor | ||||
| Indi, Vic | Country | Robert Cook | 6.7 | N/A | (Unopposed) | Paul Jones | Labor | ||||
| Lang, NSW | Nationalist | Elliot Johnson | 5.9 | 9.4 | 3.5 | William Long | Labor | ||||
| Macquarie, NSW | Nationalist | Arthur Manning | 1.3 | 6.2 | 4.9 | Ben Chifley | Labor | ||||
| Wakefield, SA | Nationalist | Richard Foster | 14.8 | 24.4 | 9.6 | Maurice Collins | Country | ||||
| Wilmot, Tas | Country | Llewellyn Atkinson | 7.0 | N/A | 4.6 | Llewellyn Atkinson | Nationalist | ||||
In the Division of Indi, the sitting candidate Robert Cook lost his seat after forgetting to file nomination papers, resulting in Labor candidate Paul Jones winning the seat unopposed.