Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1925–1927
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council who served from 1925 to 1927 were appointed for life by the Governor on the advice of the Premier. This list includes members between the 1925 state election on 30 May 1925 and the 1927 state election on 8 October 1927.[1] The President was Fred Flowers.[6] The Labor platform included the abolition of the Legislative Council. At the opening of the new parliament on 24 June 1925 there were 75 members of the council, with just 23 Labor members and Premier Jack Lang had been seeking to appoint 25 new members, however the Governor Sir Dudley de Chair had declined to do so in September 1925. In December the Governor agreed to make the appointments in circumstances that are disputed. De Chair understood there was an agreement that the appointments would not be used to abolish the Legislative Council, while Lang said he gave no such undertaking.[7][3] All 25 appointees took the pledge to implement the Labor platform, "including the abolition of the Legislative Council",[8] similar to that signed by other Labor members.[9]
In January 1926 Albert Willis, the Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council sought leave to introduce the Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) that would abolish the Legislative Council, which was granted 45 votes to 43.[10] Parliament was prorogued to gain a tactical advantage by cancelling pair agreements while 3 opponents of abolition were out of the country, which caused the bill to lapse.[8] Willis sought leave to resume debate on the bill however this was defeated by 47 votes to 41.[11] Two Labor members had voted against the bill, Frank Bryant and John Percival. A further six Labor members were absent from the chamber, Carl Akhurst, Percy Hordern, William Kelly, James Lyons, Thomas Murray and Duncan Smith. Hordern had leave as he was seriously ill and died on 1 April 1926. Bryant and Percival immediately resigned from the Labor party however on 5 March 1926 the party executive refused to accept their resignations and expelled them instead. The five members who had been absent without cause were required to justify why they should not be expelled,[4] and the party conference held on 10 April 1926 voted to expel them.[5] 4 non Labor members were also absent, Alexander Brown was seriously ill and died on 28 March 1926, John Wetherspoon's wife died the previous day, while Sir Owen Cox and Norman Kater were out of the country.[12]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b John Nash died on 4 June 1925.
- ^ a b c Charles Oakes was appointed on 26 May 1925 and took his seat on 24 June 1925.
- ^ Albert Willis was appointed on 17 June 1925 and took his seat on 24 June 1925.
- ^ a b The seat of Charles Mackellar was declared vacant due to absence on 24 June 1925.[2]
- ^ a b Edward Magrath was appointed on 12 August 1925.
- ^ a b Charles Roberts died on 14 August 1925.
- ^ a b Thomas Tyrrell was appointed on 26 August 1925.
- ^ a b James Wilson died on 24 September 1925.
- ^ a b Jeffrey Dodd died on 16 October 1925.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 25 members were appointed on 21 December 1925 with 23 taking their seats the same day.[3]
- ^ a b William Ainsworth was appointed on 21 December 1925,[3] and took his seat on 22 December 1925.
- ^ a b William Dickson was appointed on 21 December 1925,[3] and took his seat on 23 December 1925.
- ^ a b c Frank Bryant and John Percival voted against the bill to abolish the Legislative Council and were expelled from the Labor party on 6 March 1926.[4]
- ^ a b c d e f Carl Akhurst, William Kelly, James Lyons, Thomas Murray and Duncan Smith were absent when the bill to abolish the Legislative Council was voted on and were expelled from the Labor party on 10 April 1926.[5]
- ^ a b Alexander Brown died on 28 March 1926.
- ^ a b Percy Hordern died on 1 April 1926.
- ^ a b James White died on 18 January 1927.
- ^ The changes to the composition of the council, in chronological order, were: Nash died,[a] Oakes appointed,[b] Willis appointed,[c] Mackellar vacant,[d] Magrath appointed,[e] Roberts died,[f] Tyrrell appointed,[g] Wilson died,[h] Dodd died,[i] 23 appointed,[j] Ainsworth appointed,[k] Dickson appointed,[l] 2 expelled,[m] 5 expelled,[n] Brown died,[o] Hordern died,[p] White died,[q]
- ^ There is some doubt about the party membership of Michael Connington and James Wilson as The Australian Worker does not include them in the 4 Labor members in the council in September 1921.[13] If Connington had left Labor, he had re-joined by 1926 as he voted to abolish the council,[11] despite personally opposing it.[14]
- ^ Thomas Holden had been appointed by the McGowen Labor government but was not recognised as a Labor member as he had voted against government proposals,[15] and voted against abolition of the council.[11]
- ^ James Malone voted for the abolition of the council.[11]
- ^ John Travers was a Labor member in January 1913,[15] however he resigned from the party some time prior to 1921.[9][13][16]
References
edit- ^ "Part 3 Members of the Legislative Council" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ^ "Seat vacated" (pdf). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Council. 24 June 1925. p. 1.
- ^ a b c d "Summoned to the Legislative Council (169)". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 21 December 1925. p. 5707. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ a b "Upper house abolition: two former Labor members expelled by executive". Barrier Miner. 6 March 1926. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ a b "Expelled from Labor ranks". The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ "Part 10 Officers of the Parliament" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 November 2020.[r]
- ^ Cunneen, Chris (1981). "de Chair, Sir Dudley Rawson Stratford (1864–1958)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ a b Twomey, Anne (2009). Clune, David & Turner, Ken (eds.). The Governors of New South Wales: 1788–2010. Sydney: Federation Press. p. 465. ISBN 9781862877436.
- ^ a b "Playing with fire". The Daily Telegraph. 19 January 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ "Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No. 2)" (pdf). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Council. 20 January 1926. pp. 4174–4200. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Constitution (Amendment) Bill (No. 2)" (pdf). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Council. 23 February 1926. pp. 319–321. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Defeated: council abolition bill". Glen Innes Examiner. 25 February 1926. p. 4. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ a b "Mr F. H. Bryant, M.L.C." The Australian Worker. 1 September 1921. p. 12. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ "Second chamber: retention urged, Labour member's plea". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 April 1926. p. 7. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ a b "The Labor conference". Singleton Argus. 30 January 1913. p. 4. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ "Mr. Travers' reply". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 January 1926. p. 11. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via Trove.