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ABBOTT, Macartney (1877–1960)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1935–41 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ABBOTT, Macartney (1877–1960)
Senator for New South Wales, 1935–41 (Australian Country Party)

Senator Macartney Abbott believed that ‘if you can raise a man’s thoughts you can raise his achievement’. He argued that by raising the thoughts of all nations ‘you can raise the whole level of humanity and place the feet of the world upon that path leading to peace’. Macartney Abbott was born at Murrurundi, New South Wales, on 3 July 1877, and was the

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ABBOTT, Percy Phipps (1869–1940)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1925–29 (Australian Country Party)</span>

ABBOTT, Percy Phipps (1869–1940)
Senator for New South Wales, 1925–29 (Australian Country Party)

Percy Phipps Abbott was the first Country Party candidate from New South Wales to be elected to the Senate. He served only three and a half years as a senator, but his career as a soldier, political activist and elected representative spanned five decades. Grandson of a pioneer Tasmanian, Abbott was born on 14 May 1869, the son of John William Abbott, auctioneer, and

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AMOUR, Stanley Kerin (1900–1979)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

AMOUR, Stanley Kerin (1900–1979)
Senator for New South Wales, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)

Stanley Kerin Amour, who came to be known as ‘the honorable Senator for Bankstown’, was born on 2 April 1900 at Newcastle, New South Wales, the fourth son of Richard Joseph Amour, a signalman, and his wife Elizabeth, née Thompson. Stan was educated at Sacred Heart School, Hamilton Park, and for a time lived at Murrurundi in the Hunter Valley. He was just fifteen

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ANDERSON, Sir Kenneth McColl (1909–1985)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

ANDERSON, Sir Kenneth McColl (1909–1985)
Senator for New South Wales, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Kenneth McColl Anderson was born at sea on board a German vessel, the SS Scharnhorst, causing his parents, David More Anderson and Florence, née McWhirter, returning from England, to cable their family that they were bringing home a ‘seagull’. Anderson believed his date of birth to have been 11 October 1909, but the Scharnhorst’s list of the passengers reveals that ‘Child Anderson’ was born

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ARCHER, Brian Roper (1929–2013)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1975–94 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

ARCHER, Brian Roper (1929–2013)
Senator for Tasmania, 1975–94 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Brian Roper Archer was born at Calder, North-West Tasmania on 21 August 1929, the youngest of four children of Clive Anton Archer and Ellen (Nellie) Archer, née Gilmour. Clive Archer, an artillery officer during WW1, had served at Gallipoli and in France and was awarded the Military Cross. Brian grew up at Calder on the family dairy farm, a sixteen hectare soldier settlement block

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ARKINS, James Guy Dalley (1887–1980)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1935–37 (United Australia Party)</span>

ARKINS, James Guy Dalley (1887–1980)
Senator for New South Wales, 1935–37 (United Australia Party)

James Guy Dalley Arkins was born at Millthorpe, New South Wales, on 14 October 1887, the son of William James Arkins, storekeeper, and Isabella Alice Grant, née Webb. He was educated at Millthorpe Public School, then worked as a flour miller, builder, clerk and country journalist. As a young man Guy, as he was known, became an active supporter of the Labor Party in

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ARMSTRONG, John Ignatius (1908–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1938–62 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ARMSTRONG, John Ignatius (1908–1977)
Senator for New South Wales, 1938–62 (Australian Labor Party)

John Ignatius Armstrong, ‘the golden barman’, was born on 10 July 1908 to Irish parents, William, and Ellen, née Hannan. His father had hailed from Tipperary and his mother from County Cork. At the time of John’s birth the Armstrong family, already numbering six children, were living in the ‘Butchers Arms’ (later the ‘Dunkirk’), the family hotel in the inner Sydney area of Pyrmont.

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ARNOLD, James Jarvist (1902–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1941–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ARNOLD, James Jarvist (1902–1967)
Senator for New South Wales, 1941–65 (Australian Labor Party)

James Jarvist Arnold was born at Wallaroo Mines, South Australia, on 12 April 1902, the son of Robert George Arnold, a roper, and Julia Mary, née Broderick. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Adelaide. After working on the railways, Arnold joined the fire brigade in South Australia. It was as a fireman that he found employment when he subsequently moved to Newcastle in

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ASHLEY, William Patrick (1881–1958)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1937–58 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ASHLEY, William Patrick (1881–1958)
Senator for New South Wales, 1937–58 (Australian Labor Party)

William (later William Patrick) Ashley was born on 20 September 1881 at ‘Singorumba’, a property near Hay, in the Riverina, New South Wales, where his Adelaide-born father, James, worked as a station overseer. His mother, Julia Ann, née O’Connell, was born in Ireland. After attending primary school Bill Ashley worked in Hay, at a ‘cash store’, and at the Booligal Hotel for several years

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AULICH, Terrence Gordon (1945– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1985–93 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

AULICH, Terrence Gordon (1945– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1985–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Terrence (Terry) Gordon Aulich, teacher, politician, writer and lobbyist was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, on 5 October 1945, the eldest of four children of Tasmanians Gordon Joseph (Baron) Aulich, a linesman for the Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC), and his wife Beverley, née Gofton, assistant council clerk. He attended state schools at Scottsdale in north-eastern Tasmania, completing his secondary education at Scottsdale High

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AYLETT, William Edward (1900–1976)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

AYLETT, William Edward (1900–1976)
Senator for Tasmania, 1938–65 (Australian Labor Party)

William Edward (Bill) Aylett was of convict ancestry, his grandfather, William Aylett having been transported to Tasmania in 1845 for the theft of two beehives. Born at Wynyard in north-western Tasmania on 15 November 1900, Bill Aylett was the sixth of twelve children of Edward Aylett, a farmer and furrier, and Harriett Susanna, née Matthews. In 1914 the Aylett family moved to Waratah, the

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BAKER, Sir Richard Chaffey (1841–1911)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1901–06 (Free Trade)</span>

BAKER, Sir Richard Chaffey (1841–1911)
Senator for South Australia, 1901–06 (Free Trade)

Sir Richard Chaffey Baker, barrister, pastoralist and foundation President of the Australian Senate, considered the Senate ‘the pivot on which the whole Federal Constitution revolves’. Baker, the eldest son of twelve children, was born at Adelaide on 22 June 1841 to John Baker, and his wife Isabella, née Allan. John Baker was a pioneer settler who arrived in South Australia in 1839 becoming a

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BAKHAP, Thomas Jerome Kingston (1866–1923)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1913–23 (Liberal Party; Nationalist Party)</span>

BAKHAP, Thomas Jerome Kingston (1866–1923)
Senator for Tasmania, 1913–23 (Liberal Party; Nationalist Party)

Thomas Jerome Kingston Bakhap, tin miner, was born in the Benevolent Asylum, Ballarat, Victoria, on 29 October 1866, the son of Margaret Geneva Hogan, an eighteen-year-old Irish girl residing in Smythesdale. The identity of the father does not appear on Bakhap’s birth certificate, registered in the name Kingston. Subsequent claims by his mother (whose own birthplace is cited variously as Callao, Peru, and Limerick,

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BARNES, John (1868–1938)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1913–20, 1923–35 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BARNES, John (1868–1938)
Senator for Victoria, 1913–20, 1923–35 (Australian Labor Party)

‘The story of John Barnes’, said Albert Monk, ACTU president in 1938, ‘is also the history of the Australian Labor movement’. Barnes was born on 17 July 1868 at Hamilton, near Kapunda, South Australia, son of John Thomas Barnes, a labourer from Somerset, England, and his wife Mary, née Cummeford, from County Clare, Ireland. He acquired the basic elements of a primary education and

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BARWELL, Sir Henry Newman (1877–1959)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1925–28 (Nationalist Party)</span>

BARWELL, Sir Henry Newman (1877–1959)
Senator for South Australia, 1925–28 (Nationalist Party)

Henry Newman Barwell, lawyer and premier, was born in Adelaide on 26 February 1877, the son of an Adelaide merchant, Henry Charles Barwell, and his wife Clara, née Brooke. The young Henry was educated at Whinham College and St Peter’s College, going on to Adelaide University, where he graduated in law. Barwell was articled to the firm of Wilson and Toler-Rowley and called to

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BAUME, Michael Ehrenfried (1930– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1985–96 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BAUME, Michael Ehrenfried (1930– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1985–96 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Throughout his long career in both Houses of federal Parliament, Michael Baume was seldom far from controversy. Quick-witted and hard-working, with a flair for publicity, Baume was a relentless, effective and often ruthless opponent inside and outside the chambers. He was a close friend and ally of John Howard, for many years acting as his ‘numbers man’ in the Senate. Although he was amply

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BAUME, Peter Erne (1935– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1974–91 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BAUME, Peter Erne (1935– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1974–91 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Peter Baume, who served for seventeen years in the Senate, was a small ‘l’ Liberal in the Deakinite tradition, representing the ameliorative and interventionist strand of the Liberal Party. Baume was sometimes at odds with his party’s public position and was prepared to cross the floor on issues of principle. He enjoyed distinguished careers in three separate areas of endeavour (medicine, politics and academia).

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BEAHAN, Michael Eamon (1937–2022)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BEAHAN, Michael Eamon (1937–2022)
Senator for Western Australia, 1987–96 (Australian Labor Party)

Michael Beahan, electrician, teacher, and state secretary of the ALP in Western Australia (1981–87), rose to be the nineteenth President of the Senate, holding that post from 1 February 1994 to 20 August 1996, before his formidable parliamentary career was cut short by pre-selection party politics. Michael Eamon Beahan was born on 21 January 1937 in London, England, the son of Irish autoelectrician Francis

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BEERWORTH, Frederick Hubert (1886–1968)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1946–51 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BEERWORTH, Frederick Hubert (1886–1968)
Senator for South Australia, 1946–51 (Australian Labor Party)

Frederick Hubert Beerworth, farm worker, railwayman and union leader, was born on 17 May 1886 at Quorn near Carrieton, South Australia. He was one of the eleven children of William Carl Beerworth, a German-born farmer, and Mary, née McInerney. He was educated locally, probably at schools in Pametta and Carrieton. Following farm work in the Carrieton area, Fred, as he was known, became an

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BELL, Robert John (1950–2001)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1990–96 (Australian Democrats)</span>

BELL, Robert John (1950–2001)
Senator for Tasmania, 1990–96 (Australian Democrats)

Most knowledge of Robert John Bell’s early life derives from his highly personal first speech to the Senate in May 1990. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 22 July 1950. His parents were based at Bronte Park, his father employed on hydro-electricity works. Soon the couple separated, Robert remaining with his mother, Frances Ellen. While she qualified as a schoolteacher, the boy lived

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BENN, Archibald Malcolm (1897–1980)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1950–68 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BENN, Archibald Malcolm (1897–1980)
Senator for Queensland, 1950–68 (Australian Labor Party)

Archie Benn was not quite a maverick senator but he was a man of independent mind who survived three full terms in the Senate very much on his own terms, pursuing subjects that had occupied him through his earlier career as an industrial officer in the Queensland Public Service, and developing his interests in international relations. Though closely involved in the turbulent split of

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BENNY, Benjamin (1869–1935)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1920–26 (Nationalist Party)</span>

BENNY, Benjamin (1869–1935)
Senator for South Australia, 1920–26 (Nationalist Party)

Benjamin Benny, solicitor, was born on 21 October 1869 at Aldinga, South Australia. Benjamin was the eldest son of the seven children of George Benny, Free Presbyterian minister and schoolteacher, and his wife Susanna, née Anderson. Benjamin first attended Morphett Vale Public School. When his father died penniless in 1879, Benjamin’s uncle, William Steele Benny, paid for his education at Thomas Caterer’s Commercial College,

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BESSELL, Eric James (1923–1979)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1974–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BESSELL, Eric James (1923–1979)
Senator for Tasmania, 1974–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Eric James Bessell was a loyal party member and conscientious parliamentarian, whose political career ended when his view of the proper role of the Senate came into conflict with his party’s short-term political aims. He was born in Launceston to Harold Aubrey Bessell, a miner, and Robina Allen, née Dallas, on 6 June 1923. When he was five years old, the family moved from

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BISHOP, Reginald (1913–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BISHOP, Reginald (1913–1999)
Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Reginald (Reg) Bishop was born in Adelaide on 4 February 1913, ninth of ten surviving children of Enoch John Bishop, bootmaker, and Minnie, née Martlow. Reg was very proud of his status as a ‘west ender’, a term associated with the working-class area of central Adelaide where he grew up. He left school in 1927, having obtained what was then termed the qualifying certificate.

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BJELKE-PETERSEN, Florence Isabel (1920–2017)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1981–1993 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)</span>

BJELKE-PETERSEN, Florence Isabel (1920–2017)
Senator for Queensland, 1981–1993 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)

Florence Bjelke-Petersen was born Florence Isabel Gilmour, in Brisbane on 11 August 1920, eldest of two daughters of James Pollock Gilmour, an accountant and company secretary, and his wife Florence Mabel, née Low. Growing up in the Brisbane riverside suburb of New Farm, her childhood was a secure and happy one, embedded in a contented family life. Florence began her schooling at the New

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BLACKMORE, Edwin Gordon (1837–1909)<br /> <span class=subheader>Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments, 1901–08</span>

BLACKMORE, Edwin Gordon (1837–1909)
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments, 1901–08

On the first of January 1901 at Centennial Park in Sydney, the first official business at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia was the Proclamation of the Commonwealth and Letters-Patent of the Governor-General. They were read to the gathering by the man said to have ‘the most sonorous voice in official Australia’, Edwin Gordon Blackmore, Clerk of the Legislative Council of South Australia

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BLAKEY, Albert Edward Howarth (1879–1935)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1910–17 (Labor Party)</span>

BLAKEY, Albert Edward Howarth (1879–1935)
Senator for Victoria, 1910–17 (Labor Party)

Albert Edward Howarth Blakey was born on 9 November 1879, at Balmoral, in the western district of Victoria, the son of William Henry, a fellmonger and later a wool-classer, and Louise, née Woodford. William appears to have emigrated to Australia from Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, marrying Louise at Balmoral in 1878. The young Blakey read widely and later lent his support to government increases to

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BOLTON, William Kinsey (1860–1941)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1917–23 (Nationalist Party)</span>

BOLTON, William Kinsey (1860–1941)
Senator for Victoria, 1917–23 (Nationalist Party)

William Kinsey Bolton, soldier and foundation president of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia, was born in Lostock Gralam, Cheshire, England, on 1 November 1860. The son of John Hammersley Bolton, corn dealer, and Hannah, née Kinsey, Bolton arrived in Australia with his parents in 1868. The family settled in the western district of Victoria, where his father became a storekeeper.

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BONNER, Neville Thomas (1922–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1971–83 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

BONNER, Neville Thomas (1922–1999)
Senator for Queensland, 1971–83 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Neville Thomas Bonner, born ‘under a lone palm tree’ on 28 March 1922, at Ukerebagh Island, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, was a stockman and Aboriginal activist who believed it was in the best interest of his people to work for the Aboriginal cause within the existing political institutions of Australian white society. He was the first Indigenous Australian to sit in federal Parliament.

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BOYDELL, Charles Broughton (1856–1919)<br /> <span class=subheader>Clerk of the Senate, 1908–16</span>

BOYDELL, Charles Broughton (1856–1919)
Clerk of the Senate, 1908–16

Although there is no evidence that Charles Broughton Boydell had strong religious convictions, or indeed that he was very religious at all, he had excellent family connections with the Church of England. His mother was Mary Phoebe Broughton, elder daughter of the Rt Rev. William Grant Broughton, DD, one-time East India Company official, and chaplain of the Tower of London. Charles’ father, William Barker Boydell,

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BRADSHAW, Keith Oscar (1923–2017)<br /> <span class=subheader>Clerk of the Senate, 1980–82</span>

BRADSHAW, Keith Oscar (1923–2017)
Clerk of the Senate, 1980–82

Like his predecessor Roy Bullock, Keith Bradshaw had a long and distinguished career in the Department of the Senate, assumed the office of Clerk at a relatively advanced age, and retired after approximately two years in office. Keith Oscar Bradshaw was born on 28 April 1923 in Broken Hill, New South Wales. He was the second child of Oscar Spelman Bradshaw, a railway car

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BRANSON, George Howard (1918–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1958–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BRANSON, George Howard (1918–1999)
Senator for Western Australia, 1958–71 (Liberal Party of Australia)

George Howard Branson, sales manager and farmer, was born in Perth on 23 February 1918, the third of five surviving children of South Australian-born Howard Henry Branson and Ethel May, née Carrett, from Victoria. At the turn of the century Howard had been a goldminer in Geraldton and went on to acquire interests from mining magnate Claude de Bernales. Faced with lung problems, Branson

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BREEN, Dame Marie Freda (1902–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1962–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BREEN, Dame Marie Freda (1902–1993)
Senator for Victoria, 1962–68 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Although claiming to be a somewhat reluctant senator, Marie Freda Breen created her own opportunities for political advancement and was committed to the increased representation of women in all facets of public life. Marie was born on 3 November 1902 at St Kilda, Victoria, second child of Frederick William Chamberlin, town clerk of St Kilda, who was born in London, and his Australian-born wife,

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BRENNAN, Thomas Cornelius (1867–1944)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1931–38 (United Australia Party)</span>

BRENNAN, Thomas Cornelius (1867–1944)
Senator for Victoria, 1931–38 (United Australia Party)

Thomas Cornelius Brennan, the seventh of the eleven children of Michael Brennan and Mary, née Maher, was born in Sedgwick, Victoria, probably in 1867. His father, who was of Irish descent, was a farmer at Maryvale, Upper Emu Creek, near Bendigo; he was three times president, and then secretary, of Strathfieldsaye Shire. Thomas and his younger brother Frank would both enter the law and

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BROINOWSKI, Robert Arthur (1877–1959)<br /> <span class=subheader>Clerk of the Senate, 1939–42</span>

BROINOWSKI, Robert Arthur (1877–1959)
Clerk of the Senate, 1939–42

Born in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn on 1 December 1877, Robert Arthur Broinowski was the sixth of eight children of a Polish immigrant, Gracjusz (Gracius) Broinowski, and his wife, Jane, née Smith. Jane was the daughter of the captain of an English whaler, while Gracius, who at some time used the pseudonym Gracius Browne, was a salesman for the publisher, Hamel and Ferguson,

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BROWN, Gordon (1885–1967)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1932–65 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BROWN, Gordon (1885–1967)
Senator for Queensland, 1932–65 (Australian Labor Party)

Gordon Brown was a radical left-wing activist, who mellowed to become a colourful, audacious and popular Labor senator. He was born on 11 February 1885 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, son of William Brown and his wife Jane, née Woodcock. His father, a Methodist lay preacher, managed a bootshop. Gordon grew up in a large and devout household, which inspired ‘a Christian motivation’ that he would

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BULL, Thomas Louis (1905–1976)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1965–71 (Australian Country Party)</span>

BULL, Thomas Louis (1905–1976)
Senator for New South Wales, 1965–71 (Australian Country Party)

Thomas Louis Bull, grazier, was born at Wagga Wagga on 7 September 1905, the fourth of five sons of Henry James Bull, grazier, and his wife Charlotte Roberta, née Tresilian. Educated in a one-teacher school at Gobbagaula, near Narrandera, and at Wesley College, Melbourne, he became a partner in his family’s pastoral properties in the Narrandera district. In 1948 he bought Yarramundi, a 5000-acre

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BUNTON, Cleaver Ernest (1902–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1975 (Independent)</span>

BUNTON, Cleaver Ernest (1902–1999)
Senator for New South Wales, 1975 (Independent)

Cleaver Ernest Bunton’s service of less than nine months in the Senate was both a creation and a casualty of the Australian political crisis of 1975. Aged seventy-two when he entered the Senate, he told reporters, ‘I look 55 years old, feel 45 and am fit and well’. Youthful vigour, precocious achievement and an ability to rise above sectarian and partisan interests were by

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BUTTFIELD, Dame Nancy Eileen (1912–2005)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1955–65, 1968–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

BUTTFIELD, Dame Nancy Eileen (1912–2005)
Senator for South Australia, 1955–65, 1968–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Nancy Eileen Buttfield, the first South Australian woman to enter state or federal parliament, and a community worker and public figure in Adelaide, was born on 12 November 1912 in Kensington Gardens, Adelaide, to Edward Wheewall (later Sir Edward) Holden and Hilda May, née Lavis. Nancy’s great-grandfather, James Alexander Holden, arrived in Adelaide from the north of England in 1856, establishing a leather business

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BUTTON, John Norman (1932–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1974–93 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BUTTON, John Norman (1932–2008)
Senator for Victoria, 1974–93 (Australian Labor Party)

Variously described as ‘the best prime minister we never had’, ‘a small man of quick wit, crafty calculation and intellectual provocation’, as having ‘an unenviable reputation as a minister with an undisciplined tongue, a politician prone to gaffes’, ‘the first person since Shirley Temple to build a whole career out of whimsy’ and ‘a rare phenomenon in Australian politics: a genuine intellectual, a wit,

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CAMERON, Donald Newton (1914–1998)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1969–78 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CAMERON, Donald Newton (1914–1998)
Senator for South Australia, 1969–78 (Australian Labor Party)

One of seven members of the Commonwealth Parliament named ‘Donald Cameron’, including another Labor senator of that name, Donald Newton Cameron was distinguished superficially by his middle name (the first name of his maternal grandmother, said in family legend to have been descended from the English scientist, Sir Isaac Newton) but much more importantly by his industrial and life experience. Donald Newton Cameron was

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CAMERON, Martin Bruce (1935–)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1969 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CAMERON, Martin Bruce (1935–)
Senator for South Australia, 1969 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Martin Bruce Cameron, whose career in the Senate lasted a mere five months, from 23 May to 24 October 1969, was born in Millicent, South Australia, on 24 August 1935, the only son of the five children of Gordon Reece Cameron of pioneering Scots descent and his wife, Asta, née May. As his father farmed around the South-East, Martin received his primary schooling at

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CANT, Hartley Gordon James (1907–1977)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1959–74 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CANT, Hartley Gordon James (1907–1977)
Senator for Western Australia, 1959–74 (Australian Labor Party)

Hartley Gordon James Cant, miner, union official and industrial advocate, was born at Mount Magnet, Western Australia, on 19 November 1907, the beginning of a long association with remote areas of the state, which became central to his working life. Known as Harry to his friends and colleagues, he was one of nine surviving children of Arthur Edward Cant, a labourer, and Bridget, née

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CARRICK, Sir John Leslie (1918–2018)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CARRICK, Sir John Leslie (1918–2018)
Senator for New South Wales, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Leslie Carrick was born in Sydney on 4 September 1918, the fourth of six children of Arthur James Carrick, a clerk, and his wife, Emily Ellen Jane, née Terry. During the Depression years Arthur lost his job in the Government Printing Office. In hindsight John Carrick believed that straitened circumstances made the family more close-knit. Evicted from ‘a large rambling house’ at Woollahra,

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CARROLL, William (1872–1936)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1926–36 (Australian Country Party) </span>

CARROLL, William (1872–1936)
Senator for Western Australia, 1926–36 (Australian Country Party)

William Carroll, wheat farmer, was one of a number of rural activists who helped to create the Country Party and who, by entering the federal Parliament in the 1920s and 1930s, changed the Australian political landscape. Born in the Western District of Victoria, at Garvoc, in the Shire of Warrnambool, on 3 January 1872, he was the son of Scottish-born James Carroll, and his

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CAVANAGH, James Luke (1913–1990)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CAVANAGH, James Luke (1913–1990)
Senator for South Australia, 1962–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Jim Cavanagh was the most militant, and possibly the most effective, trade union official in South Australia during the decade and a half after World War II. Moreover, he was one of the most talented and energetic members of Labor’s contingent in the Senate, during the 1960s and 1970s. As a trade union secretary and Opposition senator, Cavanagh was in his element, but during

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CHAMARETTE, Christabel Marguerite Alain (1948– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1992–96, (Greens WA)</span>

CHAMARETTE, Christabel Marguerite Alain (1948– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1992–96, (Greens WA)

Christabel Chamarette represented Western Australia as a senator from 1992 to 1996. Her term, although short, was made noteworthy by the fact that between 1993 and 1996 she shared the balance of power with other minor party and independent senators, including her Greens (WA) colleague Dee Margetts. Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette was born on 1 May 1948 at Hyderabad, India, the daughter of Arthur

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CHAMBERLAIN, John Hartley (1884–1953)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1951–53 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CHAMBERLAIN, John Hartley (1884–1953)
Senator for Tasmania, 1951–53 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John (Jack) Hartley Chamberlain was born at Manchester, England, on 29 April 1884, the son of John, linen draper, and Alice, née Hartley. The family migrated to Tasmania the next year, arriving in Hobart on the Arawa in February 1886. In 1890 they moved to Latrobe, in the island’s north-west, where John Chamberlain served as a Baptist minister between 1890 and 1895 (he was

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CHANEY, Frederick Michael (1941– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CHANEY, Frederick Michael (1941– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Fred Chaney’s first speech to the Senate on 25 September 1974 was, for him, ‘a long awaited opportunity’, and he spoke with the assurance of one who had found his vocation. Chaney had visited Parliament many times as a schoolboy and as a law student with his father, Sir Frederick Chaney, who was the MHR for Perth from 1955 to 1969 and Minister for

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CHAPMAN, John Hedley (1879–1931)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1926–31 (Australian Country Party)</span>

CHAPMAN, John Hedley (1879–1931)
Senator for South Australia, 1926–31 (Australian Country Party)

John Hedley Chapman was born at Jamestown, a small town north of Adelaide, on 16 December 1879. He was the only son of Sarah Jane, née Williams, and John Chapman, a farmer, whose grandfather, also John Chapman, had emigrated from Cornwall in 1845. John Hedley’s schooling commenced at the local Jamestown school (now Jamestown Community School) and was continued at Prince Alfred College in

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CHARLESTON, David Morley (1848-1934)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1901-03 (Free Trade)</span>

CHARLESTON, David Morley (1848-1934)
Senator for South Australia, 1901-03 (Free Trade)

The son of John Charleston, blacksmith, and Elizabeth, née Williams, David Morley Charleston, craft unionist and engineer, was born at St Erth, Cornwall on 27 May 1848. He was educated at the national schools and with a private tutor, and became an engineering apprentice at the ironworks of Harvey and Company in Hayle. By 1870, he was a member of the Amalgamated Society of

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CHATAWAY, Thomas Drinkwater (1864–1925)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)</span>

CHATAWAY, Thomas Drinkwater (1864–1925)
Senator for Queensland, 1907–13 (Anti-Socialist Party)

Thomas Drinkwater Chataway, journalist, protectionist and tireless spokesman for the Queensland sugar industry, was born in Wartling, Sussex, England on 6 April 1864, the fifth son of the Reverend James Chataway of Rotherwick, Hampshire. Thomas was educated at Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey. In 1881, he followed his older brother, James, to Australia, initially working on the land on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales.

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CHILDS, Bruce Kenneth (1934–2023)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CHILDS, Bruce Kenneth (1934–2023)
Senator for New South Wales, 1981–97 (Australian Labor Party)

Within two years of entering the Senate in 1981, Bruce Childs was a co-convener of the left-wing of Labor’s federal parliamentary party and the ALP throughout Australia, retaining that role throughout the period of Hawke and Keating Labor governments. Acknowledged as a unifier by his left-wing colleagues, he was recognised by senators from all sides of politics for his courteous, patient and unpretentious manner,

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CHIPP, Donald Leslie (1925–2006)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1978–86 (Australian Democrats)</span>

CHIPP, Donald Leslie (1925–2006)
Senator for Victoria, 1978–86 (Australian Democrats)

Don Chipp’s Senate career almost never happened. Dropped from Malcolm Fraser’s Liberal Party ministry in December 1975, he turned this career blow into an opportunity to fight for the causes in which he believed. The result of Chipp’s personal and political upheaval was the creation of a third force in Australian politics, the Australian Democrats.[1] Donald Leslie Chipp was born in Melbourne on 21

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CLEMONS, John Singleton (1862–1944)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1901–14 (Free Trade; Anti-Socialist Party; Liberal Party)</span>

CLEMONS, John Singleton (1862–1944)
Senator for Tasmania, 1901–14 (Free Trade; Anti-Socialist Party; Liberal Party)

John Singleton Clemons, lawyer and businessman, was born in Launceston on 24 March 1862, son of John Nicholas and Anne Alicia, née Tucker. John Nicholas was one of eight schoolteachers brought from England to Tasmania in 1855, following the reorganisation of the Tasmanian school system and the establishment of a centralised department of education. Born in Tiverton, Devonshire, and trained as a teacher at

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CLOTHIER, Robert Ernest (1877–1964)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1938–50 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

CLOTHIER, Robert Ernest (1877–1964)
Senator for Western Australia, 1938–50 (Australian Labor Party)

Robert Ernest Clothier was ‘one of the most loyal members the Australian Labour Party ever had’. He was, according to Senator McKenna, ever about the party’s business. R. G. Menzies observed that Clothier was ‘tremendously popular’ with a considerable genius ‘for a warm and friendly human approach’, adding that he found himself ‘wondering occasionally whether he was on my side or not’. Clothier was socially conservative:

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COATES, John (1944– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COATES, John (1944– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1981–96 (Australian Labor Party)

John Coates’ long political career, first as a Member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Denison (1972–75) and then as a Tasmanian senator (1981–96), mirrored the fortunes of federal Labor over three decades. John Coates was born in Melbourne on 23 March 1944, the son of Graeme Coates and his wife Catherine, née Croker. Both his parents were primary school teachers

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COHEN, Samuel Herbert (1918–1969)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1962–69 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COHEN, Samuel Herbert (1918–1969)
Senator for Victoria, 1962–69 (Australian Labor Party)

Samuel Herbert Cohen, barrister and politician, was born at Bankstown, New South Wales, on 26 October 1918, eldest son of Max Lazarus Cohen, a tailor’s cutter, and Fanny Dinah, née Fagelman, of Sydney. Sam’s parents were Russian Jews who had migrated to Australia as children. His father worked briefly as a tailor and draper in the country town of Griffith, and then joined Beaurepaire

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COLE, George Ronald (1908–1969)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1950–65 (Australian Labor Party; Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)</span>

COLE, George Ronald (1908–1969)
Senator for Tasmania, 1950–65 (Australian Labor Party; Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)

George Ronald Cole, first national leader of the Democratic Labor Party, was born on 9 February 1908 at Don, near Devonport, Tasmania. He was one of five children of Tasmanian-born parents, George Cole, a labourer, and Alice, née Rutter. George Ronald was educated at Devonport High School, gaining matriculation to the University of Tasmania. In 1925 he became a probationary student teacher, in 1927

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COLEBATCH, Sir Hal Pateshall (1872–1953)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1929–33 (Nationalist Party)</span>

COLEBATCH, Sir Hal Pateshall (1872–1953)
Senator for Western Australia, 1929–33 (Nationalist Party)

Harry (Hal) Pateshall Colebatch was born at Wolferlow, Hertfordshire, England, on 29 March 1872, migrating with his parents to South Australia at the age of six. Educated at Goolwa, he left school at fourteen and entered journalism, working from 1889 to 1895 on the Silver Age at Broken Hill. Moving to Western Australia in 1895, he worked briefly on the Golden Age and the

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COLEMAN, Ruth Nancy (1931–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

COLEMAN, Ruth Nancy (1931–2008)
Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Ruth Nancy Huckstep (later Coleman), was born on 27 September 1931 at Collie, a small coal mining town in the south-west of Western Australia. She was the second surviving child of Vincent Huckstep, railway ganger, and his wife Alice Beatrice, née Boulden. A child of the Great Depression, whose father moved from place to place in the course of his job, Ruth was educated

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COLLARD, Stanley James (1936– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1975–87 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)</span>

COLLARD, Stanley James (1936– )
Senator for Queensland, 1975–87 (National Country Party; National Party of Australia)

Immediately before entering the Commonwealth Parliament, Stan Collard was a locomotive engine driver hauling six-header diesel coal trains, two kilometres long and 10 000 tonnes gross weight, from central Queensland to export facilities near Sarina. Earlier in his career with Queensland Railways, in the early 1960s, he had been based at Cloncurry, where he became secretary of the local branches of the Australian Federated

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COLLETT, Herbert Brayley (1877–1947)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1933–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

COLLETT, Herbert Brayley (1877–1947)
Senator for Western Australia, 1933–47 (Nationalist Party; United Australia Party; Liberal Party of Australia)

Herbert Brayley Collett, librarian and distinguished soldier, was born on 12 November 1877 at St Peter Port, at Guernsey in the Channel Islands. He was the son of Frank Collett, auctioneer, and his wife, Laura Augusta, née Wedlake. Herbert was nearly seven when his family emigrated on the SS Glen Goil to Western Australia, disembarking at Fremantle on 11 October 1884. Educated privately and

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COLLINGS, Joseph Silver (1865–1955)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1932–50 (Federal Labor Party; Australian Labor Party)</span>

COLLINGS, Joseph Silver (1865–1955)
Senator for Queensland, 1932–50 (Federal Labor Party; Australian Labor Party)

Democratic socialist, union organiser, Labor troubleshooter and administrator, Joseph Silver Collings was born on 11 May 1865 at Brighton, England, the son of free thinker, Joseph Silver Collings, storekeeper, and his wife, Mary Ann, née Dyke, a Quaker. Educated at Brighton Board School, Collings became an apprentice journalist on the Sussex Daily News but emigrated to Brisbane with his parents in 1883 on the

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