Candidates of the 1906 Australian federal election explained

This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1906 Australian federal election. The election was held on 12 December 1906.

By-elections, appointments and defections

By-elections and appointments

• On 26 February 1904, Norman Cameron (Free Trade) was elected to replace Sir Edward Braddon (Free Trade) as the member for Wilmot.
• On 30 March 1904, William Maloney (Labour) was elected to replace Sir Malcolm McEacharn (Protectionist) as the member for Melbourne. McEacharn's election in 1903 had been declared void.
• On 18 May 1904, John Chanter (Protectionist) was elected to replace Robert Blackwood (Free Trade) as the member for Riverina. Blackwood's election in 1903 had been declared void.
• On 12 October 1906, Isaac Isaacs (Protectionist) resigned as the member for Indi. H. B. Higgins (Protectionist) resigned as the member for Northern Melbourne the following day. Due to the proximity of the election, no by-elections were held.

Defections

• In 1904, Independent MP James Wilkinson (Moreton) joined the Labour Party.
• In 1904, the Free Trade Party under its leader George Reid took office from the Watson Labour Government. Protectionists Senator James Drake (Queensland), James McCay (Corinella), Allan McLean (Gippsland) and Sir George Turner (Balaclava) accepted office under Reid and effectively ended their connection with the Protectionist Party, becoming Free Trade MPs. They were joined by Richard Edwards (Oxley), Senator Simon Fraser (Victoria), Sir Philip Fysh (Denison) and James McColl (Echuca). Around this time the Revenue Tariff Party was dissolved, and its two parliamentarians, Senator Henry Dobson (Tasmania) and William McWilliams (Franklin), also became Free Traders. Protectionists Sir John Forrest (Swan) and Sir John Quick (Bendigo) also dissolved their relationship with Deakin's party, but stopped short of joining the Free Traders. They were the beginning of what became known as the "Corner" group of independent conservative protectionists.
• In 1906, the Free Trade Party was renamed the Anti-Socialist Party.
• In 1906, the Western Australian Party was formed. Sir John Forrest (Swan), formerly a Protectionist, ran as its endorsed candidate, but in reality remained a member of the "Corner" group.
• Anti-Socialist MP Norman Cameron (Wilmot) lost pre-selection and contested the election as an Independent.
• Labour Senator Anderson Dawson (Queensland) initially announced his intention to retire at this election. He ultimately decided to contest it, but as the Labour candidates had already been selected he ran as an Independent.
• Labour MP James Ronald (Southern Melbourne), whose seat was abolished, was unsuccessful seeking pre-selection for Melbourne Ports. He contested the election as an Independent.

Redistributions and seat changes

• Redistributions of electoral boundaries occurred in New South Wales and Victoria.
  • In New South Wales, Bland was abolished, Cook and Nepean were created, and Canobolas was renamed Calare.
    • The member for Bland, Chris Watson (Labour), contested South Sydney.
    • The member for Canobolas, Thomas Brown (Labour), contested Calare.
  • In Victoria, Corinella and Moira were abolished, Maribyrnong was created, and Northern Melbourne and Southern Melbourne were renamed Batman and Fawkner respectively.
    • The member for Corinella, James McCay (Anti-Socialist), contested Corio.
    • The member for Echuca, James McColl (Anti-Socialist), contested the Senate.
    • The member for Flinders, James Gibb (Anti-Socialist), contested the New South Wales seat of Hume.
    • The member for Grampians, Thomas Skene (Anti-Socialist), contested the Senate.
    • The member for Melbourne Ports, Samuel Mauger (Protectionist), contested Maribyrnong.
    • The member for Moira, Thomas Kennedy (Protectionist), contested Echuca.
    • The member for Southern Melbourne, James Ronald (Independent), contested Melbourne Ports.

Retiring Members and Senators

Protectionist

• Sir Langdon Bonython MP (Barker, SA)
• Pharez Phillips MP (Wimmera, Vic)
• Senator James Drake (Qld)
• Senator Sir William Zeal (Vic)

Free Trade

• George Edwards MP (South Sydney, NSW)
• Sir George Turner MP (Balaclava, Vic)  - elected as Protectionist
• Senator Sir Richard Baker (SA)
• Senator Alexander Matheson (WA)
• Senator Staniforth Smith (WA)

House of Representatives

Sitting members at the time of the election are shown in bold text.Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk (*) is also used.

New South Wales

Electorate	Held by	Protectionist candidate	Anti-Socialist candidate	Labour candidate	Other candidates
			George Marshall		Josiah Thomas
					Thomas Brown
	Unknown
				Henry Lee	John O'Brien	Eugene Rudder (Ind)
				Bill Wilks
			Denis Acton		William Spence
				George Reid
			Austin Chapman	John Longmuir
			Thomas Cunningham		William Webster
			Sir William Lyne	James Gibb
				Frank Liddell
				George Fuller	George Holt
				Elliot Johnson	Edward Bennetts
			Sydney Smith
	Unknown				Charles Dyer	Thomas Taylor (Ind AS)
					David Watkins
			Edmund Lonsdale
				Dugald Thomson
				Bruce Smith		Hampton Slatyer (Ind AS)
				Joseph Cook
			Thomas Ewing	John Sutton
			John Chanter	John Jackson
				Henry Willis
					Chris Watson
				Willie Kelly	William Duncan
			Alfred Conroy
					Billy Hughes

Queensland

Electorate	Held by	Protectionist candidate	Anti-Socialist candidate	Labour candidate
					Millice Culpin
					David Thomson
			Littleton Groom		Horace Ransome
					Fred Bamford
			Frederick Johnson		Charles McDonald
			Joseph Little		Jim Page
					James Wilkinson
				Richard Edwards	Alfred Merry
			Jasper Harvey		Andrew Fisher

South Australia

Electorate	Held by	Protectionist candidate	Anti-Socialist candidate	Labour candidate	Independent candidate(s)
			Charles Kingston
				Paddy Glynn	Alexander Dey
					Roland Campbell
					Lee Batchelor
					Alexander Poynton
					James Hutchison
						Sir Frederick Holder

Tasmania

Electorate	Held by	Protectionist candidate	Anti-Socialist candidate	Labour candidate	Other candidates
			David Storrer	William Oldham
					King O'Malley	Henry Bannister (Ind AS)
				Sir Philip Fysh		William Brown (Ind Prot)
				William McWilliams
					Thomas Wilson	Norman Cameron (Ind AS)

Victoria

Electorate	Held by	Protectionist candidate	Anti-Socialist candidate	Labour candidate	Independent candidate(s)
		Edward Roberts				Joseph Hewison (Ind AS) Agar Wynne* (Ind Prot)
			Alfred Deakin
	Unknown					Samuel Painter (Ind) Roy Vernon (Ind Prot)
						Sir John Quick (Ind Prot)
			James Hume Cook	Joseph Molden
		Desmond Dunne		Gratton Wilson	Thomas Carey
			Richard Crouch	James McCay
		Thomas Kennedy
	Unknown	John Miller				George Fairbairn (Ind Prot)
				Allan McLean
					Daniel Turnbull
				William Knox	Edward Hodges
			Carty Salmon		William Rowe
	Unknown		Samuel Mauger		Clement Davidson
					William Maloney	William Lormer (Ind Prot)
		Edward Watts				Cyril James (Ind AS) James Ronald (Ind Lab)
			Robert Harper			Richard O'Neill (Ind Prot)
			Arthur Robinson
				Richard Taffe		Herman Brauer (Ind Prot) Max Hirsch (Ind AS) William Leslie (Ind AS) Sydney Sampson* (Ind Prot)
					Frank Tudor	George Roberts (Ind Lab) Richard Vale (Ind Prot)

Western Australia

Electorate	Held by	Labour candidate	WAP candidate
			Hugh Mahon	John Archibald
		William Carpenter		William Hedges
			Charlie Frazer	William Burton
			James Fowler	Edward Thurstan
				Sir John Forrest

Senate

Sitting senators are shown in bold text. Tickets that elected at least one Senator are highlighted in the relevant colour. Successful candidates are identified by an asterisk (*).

New South Wales

Three seats were up for election. The Anti-Socialist Party was defending three seats. Anti-Socialist Senators John Gray, John Neild and Edward Pulsford were not up for re-election.

Queensland

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party had held one seat. The Labour Party was defending two seats. Labour Senators Thomas Givens, James Stewart and Harry Turley were not up for re-election.

South Australia

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party was defending one seat. The Anti-Socialist Party was defending two seats. Labour Senators Robert Guthrie, Gregor McGregor and William Story were not up for re-election.

Tasmania

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party was defending one seat. The Anti-Socialist Party was defending one seat. The Labour Party was defending one seat. Protectionist Senator Edward Mulcahy and Anti-Socialist Senators Henry Dobson and James Macfarlane were not up for re-election.

Victoria

Three seats were up for election. The Protectionist Party was defending three seats. Protectionist Senator Robert Best, Labour Senator Edward Findley and Independent Senator William Trenwith were not up for re-election.

Western Australia

Three seats were up for election. The Anti-Socialist Party had held two seats. The Labour Party was defending one seat. Labour Senators John Croft, Hugh de Largie and George Henderson were not up for re-election.

See also

• 1906 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1903–1906
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1906–1910
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1904–1906
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1907–1910
• List of political parties in Australia

References

• Adam Carr's Election Archive - House of Representatives 1906
• Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1906