1938 Queensland state election

{{Short description|Election held in Queensland, Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox election

| 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 {{increase}}{{small|6.2%}}

| seats_for_election = All 62 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
{{small|32 Assembly seats were needed for a majority}}

| election_date = 2 April 1938

| turnout = 539,037 (92.51%)
({{decrease}}0.20 pp)

| party1 = Labor

| colour1 = E13940

| image1 = 170x170px

| leader1 = William Forgan Smith

| leader_since1 = 27 May 1929

| leaders_seat1 = Mackay

| last_election1 = 46 seats, 53.43%

| seats_before1 = 46 seats

| seats_needed1 =

| seats1 = 43

| seats_after1 =

| seat_change1 = {{decrease}} 3

| popular_vote1 = 250,943

| percentage1 = 47.17%

| swing1 = {{decrease}} 3.26pp

| party2 = Country

| colour2 = 006946

| image2 = 170x170px

| leader2 = Ted Maher

| leader_since2 = 15 July 1936

| leaders_seat2 = West Moreton

| last_election2 = New party

| seats_before2 = 13 seats{{efn|name=CPNP|Seats previously held by members of the Country and Progressive National Party (CPNP).}}

| seats2 = 14

| seats_after2 =

| seat_change2 = {{increase}} 1

| popular_vote2 = 120,469

| percentage2 = 22.65%

| swing2 = New party

| party3 = United Australia

| colour3 = 1C4F9C

| image3 = 170x170px

| leader3 = Hugh Russell

| leader_since3 = July 1936

| leaders_seat3 = Hamilton

| last_election3 = New party

| seats_before3 = 3 seats{{efn|name=CPNP}}

| seats_needed3 =

| seats3 = 4

| seats_after3 =

| seat_change3 = {{increase}} 1

| popular_vote3 = 74,328

| percentage3 = 13.97%

| swing3 = New party

| title = Premier

| before_election = William Forgan Smith

| before_party = Labor

| after_election = William Forgan Smith

| after_party = Labor

| map_image = 1938 Qld parliament.svg

| map_size = 250px

| map_caption = Legislative Assembly after the election

}}

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.{{cite book|title=A History of Queensland|last=Evans|first=Raymond|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-521-87692-6|page=184}} 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.{{Gazette QLD|volume=150|page=2012–2013|title=In the Supreme Court of Queensland - The Election Acts 1915–1936|date=4 June 1938}} 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.The Ithaca Election Petition: Webb v Hanlon (1939) St. R. Qd. 90, heard by Blair CJ, Douglas J and Hart AJ (dissenting) [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/LawCite?cit=1939+St+R+Qd+90 LawCite records]. A further appeal by Webb to the High Court was refused leave on 31 March 1939.{{cite AustLII|HCA|8|1939|litigants=Webb v Hanlon |parallelcite=[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1939/8.pdf (1939) 61 {{abbr|CLR|Commonwealth Law Reports}} 313] |courtname=auto |date=31 March 1939}}.