Editing Arthur Fadden (section)

== Early political career ==

=== State politics ===
At the [[1932 Queensland state election]], Fadden was elected to the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]] as a member of the [[Country and Progressive National Party]] (CPNP). Aided by a favourable redistribution, he won the seat of [[Electoral district of Kennedy|Kennedy]] from the [[Australian Labor Party]] by just 62 votes. He was the only candidate from his party to win a seat from Labor, which won [[majority government]] on a swing of almost 10 points.{{sfn|Arklay|2010|p=58}} In parliament, Fadden came to notice as a critic of the new government's financial operations. He accused the government of lacking transparency and accountability, particularly in its use of trust funds which he said had been used to cover up revenue deficiencies. His speeches impressed both his party and political correspondents, and he was asked to write a series of articles for ''[[The Courier-Mail]]''.<ref>Arklay (2010), pp. 61–64.</ref>

Fadden was the CPNP's lead speaker in the 1934 budget debates, effectively making him the chief financial spokesman for the opposition (which would be considered today as Shadow Treasurer).<ref>Arklay (2010), p. 67.</ref> In the lead-up to the [[1935 Queensland state election|1935 state election]], a redistribution turned Kennedy into a safe Labor seat. It was alleged by the opposition that the government had specifically targeted Fadden's seat in order to remove him as a political threat. Faced with certain defeat, he chose to run in the neighbouring seat of [[Electoral district of Mirani|Mirani]]. However, he lost to Labor's [[Ted Walsh (politician)|Ted Walsh]] by 224 votes, as the government won a landslide victory. In his memoirs, he accused Labor of having [[pork barrel|pork-barreled]] Mirani in the lead-up to the election to ensure his defeat.<ref>Arklay (2010), p. 68.</ref>

=== Move to federal politics ===
[[File:Arthur Fadden 1938.jpg|thumb|upright|Fadden in 1938]]
After losing his seat in state parliament, Fadden moved to Brisbane,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Reminiscences of my life and of Toowong. In Chamberlain, Leigh. Toowong: Snapshots in time|last=Anning|first=Mavis|publisher=Toowong and District Historical Society Inc.|year=2005|isbn=0975798006|location=Toowong, Queensland|pages=87–93}}</ref> and initially returned to his accounting practice.<ref>Arklay (2010), p. 70.</ref> In early 1936, he joined the [[Queensland Country Party]], which had split from the CPNP in order to align with the federal [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]].<ref>Cribb (1988)</ref> Later that year, he was elected to the [[Australian House of Representatives]] at [[1936 Darling Downs by-election|a by-election]] for the [[Division of Darling Downs]]. It was caused by the death of the previous member, [[Littleton Groom]], who was a member of the [[United Australia Party]] (UAP). Fadden, who had no previous connection with the area, was the first member of his party to contest the seat; the UAP suffered a negative swing of over 40 points.<ref>Arklay (2010), pp. 71–76.</ref> He consolidated his hold on the seat at the [[1937 Australian federal election|1937 federal election]], held less than a year later.<ref>Arklay (2010), p. 81.</ref>