| Election Name: | 1938 Queensland state election |
| Country: | Queensland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1935 Queensland state election |
| Previous Year: | 1935 |
| Next Election: | 1941 Queensland state election |
| Next Year: | 1941 |
| Elected Members: | Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1938–1941 |
| Outgoing Members: | Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1935–1938 |
| Registered: | 582,711 |
| Seats For Election: | All 62 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland |
| Election Date: | 2 April 1938 |
| Turnout: | 539,037 (92.51%) (0.20 pp) |
| Party1: | Labor |
| Colour1: | E13940 |
| Leader1: | William Forgan Smith |
| Leader Since1: | 27 May 1929 |
| Leaders Seat1: | Mackay |
| Last Election1: | 46 seats, 53.43% |
| Seats Before1: | 46 seats |
| Seats1: | 43 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Popular Vote1: | 250,943 |
| Percentage1: | 47.17% |
| Swing1: | 3.26pp |
| Party2: | Country |
| Colour2: | 006946 |
| Leader2: | Ted Maher |
| Leader Since2: | 15 July 1936 |
| Leaders Seat2: | West Moreton |
| Last Election2: | New party |
| Seats Before2: | 13 seats |
| Seats2: | 14 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 120,469 |
| Percentage2: | 22.65% |
| Swing2: | New party |
| Party3: | United Australia |
| Colour3: | 1C4F9C |
| Leader3: | Hugh Russell |
| Leader Since3: | July 1936 |
| Leaders Seat3: | Hamilton |
| Last Election3: | New party |
| Seats Before3: | 3 seats |
| Seats3: | 4 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 74,328 |
| Percentage3: | 13.97% |
| Swing3: | New party |
| Premier | |
| Before Election: | William Forgan Smith |
| Before Party: | Labor |
| After Election: | William Forgan Smith |
| After Party: | Labor |
| Map Size: | 250px |
Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 2 April 1938 to elect the 62 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government of Premier William Forgan Smith was seeking a third term in office. During the previous term, the Country and United Australia parties had emerged from the united Country and Progressive National Party, which had represented conservative forces for over a decade.
The most notable feature of the election campaign was the Protestant Labor Party, established in 1937, which claimed that the Forgan Smith Ministry was disproportionately Catholic and made extravagant claims that three-quarters of all police and public servants in the State were Catholic.[1] Despite the campaign, Labor only lost one seat, Kelvin Grove, to the party.
The unsuccessful Protestant Labor candidate for Ithaca, George Webb, lodged a petition against the return of Labor member Ned Hanlon. He was initially successful in the Supreme Court when the case was heard by Justice E.A. Douglas, who voided the election result on 12 October on the basis of a finding that two men who had acted improperly were Hanlon's agents, but Hanlon appealed to the Full Bench of the Supreme Court and on 16 December 1938, his appeal was allowed.[2] A further appeal by Webb to the High Court was refused leave on 31 March 1939.[3]
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 March 1938 | The Parliament was dissolved. | |
| 7 March 1938 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. | |
| 14 March 1938 | Close of nominations. | |
| 2 April 1938 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. | |
| 12 April 1938 | The Forgan Smith Ministry was re-sworn in. | |
| 16 April 1938 | The poll was retaken in Gregory.[4] | |
| 30 April 1938 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. | |
| 9 August 1938 | Parliament resumed for business. |
| Party | Primary vote | Seats | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||||
| Labor | 250,943 | 47.17 | –6.26 | 43 | 3 | |||
| bgcolor=006946 | Country | 120,469 | 22.65 | 14 | 1 | |||
| United Australia | 74,328 | 13.97 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| bgcolor=CD7F32 | Protestant Labour | 46,568 | 8.75 | +8.75 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Social Credit | 27,758 | 5.22 | –1.80 | 0 | ||||
| Communist | 8,510 | 1.60 | +0.28 | 0 | ||||
| 3,403 | 0.64 | –2.73 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 531,979 | 100.00 | 62 | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 7,058 | 1.31 | –0.43 | colspan=2 | ||||
| Turnout | 539,037 | 92.51 | –0.19 | colspan=2 | ||||
| Registered voters | 582,711 | colspan=2 | ||||||
606,559 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 3 seats were uncontested—2 Labor seats (4 less than in 1935) representing 15,007 enrolled voters and one Country seat (one less than in 1935) representing 8,841 enrolled voters.
This table lists changes in party representation at the 1938 election.
| Seat | Incumbent member | Party | New member | Party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalby | Godfrey Morgan | Country | Aubrey Slessar | Labor | ||||
| East Toowoomba | James Kane | Labor | Herbert Yeates | Country | ||||
| Kelvin Grove | Frank Waters | Labor | George Morris | Protestant Labor | ||||
| Toowong | James Maxwell | United Australia | Harry Massey | Independent UAP | ||||
| Wynnum | John Donnelly | Labor | Bill Dart | United Australia | ||||