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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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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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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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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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BROWN, William Walter Charles (1920–2001)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1969–70, 1971–78 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

BROWN, William Walter Charles (1920–2001)
Senator for Victoria, 1969–70, 1971–78 (Australian Labor Party)

Senator Bill Brown, cabinetmaker and trade union official, was a gracious and popular figure in the Senate, albeit an outspoken and passionate one. He was born William Walter Charles Brown in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, on 4 December 1920, the second child of William Samuel Brown, a French-polisher, and Eileen, née Ryder. After attending Catholic schools in inner-city Melbourne and studying at night

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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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BYRNE, Condon Bryan (1910–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1951–59, 1968–74 (Australian Labor Party, Queensland Labor Party, Democratic Labor Party)</span>

BYRNE, Condon Bryan (1910–1993)
Senator for Queensland, 1951–59, 1968–74 (Australian Labor Party, Queensland Labor Party, Democratic Labor Party)

Condon Bryan Byrne, lawyer, public servant and politician, was born at Yea, a pastoral town in central Victoria, on 25 May 1910. He was the son of Edward James Byrne, a soldier, born at Enniskillen, Ireland, and Mary Honorine, née Condon, born in Tasmania. Condon was educated at a primary school run by the Christian Brothers in West Melbourne, then at Marist Brothers’ College,

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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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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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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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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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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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CORMACK, Sir Magnus Cameron (1906–1994)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1951–53, 1962–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

CORMACK, Sir Magnus Cameron (1906–1994)
Senator for Victoria, 1951–53, 1962–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Magnus Cameron Cormack was born on 12 February 1906 at Wick, Scotland, eldest of five children of William Petrie Cormack, a medical practitioner, and his wife Violet, née Cameron. The family migrated to South Australia in about 1912, their destination influenced by Dr Cormack’s health, and by the presence in Adelaide of his cousin, Senator Sir Josiah Symon. The family first lived on the

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COTTON, Sir Robert Carrington (1915–2006)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1965–78 (Liberal Party of Australia) </span>

COTTON, Sir Robert Carrington (1915–2006)
Senator for New South Wales, 1965–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Robert Carrington (Bob) Cotton, accountant, timber producer and company director, was born in Broken Hill on 29 November 1915, the first of seven children of Hugh Leslie (Les) Carrington Cotton and Muriel Florence, née Pearce. Les Cotton had established a mercantile agency at Broken Hill, which included the supply of materials to the local mine. Bob Cotton was educated at Burke Ward Public School,

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DAVIDSON, Gordon Sinclair (1915–2002)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1961, 1962, 1965–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

DAVIDSON, Gordon Sinclair (1915–2002)
Senator for South Australia, 1961, 1962, 1965–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Gordon Sinclair Davidson, farmer and grazier, and prominent Presbyterian, was born at North Unley, Adelaide, on 17 January 1915. He was the first of two sons of Sinclair Davidson and his wife Elsie Eva, née McNeil, both native-born. Sinclair Davidson farmed Burnfoot, at Angas Plains, near Strathalbyn, South Australia, where many Scots had settled. Davidson, who saw his descent as ‘pure Scots’, was later

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DEVITT, Donald Michael (1921–2008)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1965–78 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

DEVITT, Donald Michael (1921–2008)
Senator for Tasmania, 1965–78 (Australian Labor Party)

Donald Michael Devitt was born on 11 July 1921 in Launceston, Tasmania, the son of William Francis Devitt and Kathleen Mary, née Maloney, both of Irish Catholic background. His father was a policeman who reached the rank of inspector. Devitt was educated at Smithton State High School from 1929 to 1937. In January 1942 he enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF), transferring to

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DRAKE-BROCKMAN, Sir Thomas Charles (1919–1992)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1958–78 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party) </span>

DRAKE-BROCKMAN, Sir Thomas Charles (1919–1992)
Senator for Western Australia, 1958–78 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

Thomas Charles Drake-Brockman, farmer, airman and grazier, was a member of a pioneering Western Australian family. His great-grandfather, Robert James Brockman, arrived at Fremantle from England in 1831. One of Robert’s grandchildren, Robert James Hastie Brockman, became a farmer at Toodyay, near Northam. In 1918 Robert married Rose Ita (Nora) Marrinan, who came from Kilkee, Ireland. Rose had arrived in Perth in 1911, aged

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DRURY, Arnold Joseph (1912–1995)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1959–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

DRURY, Arnold Joseph (1912–1995)
Senator for South Australia, 1959–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Arnold Joseph Drury, grocer, was born in Adelaide on 23 July 1912, the sixth of eight children of William, a labourer, and Mary Allen, also known as Green. A member of a close-knit Catholic family, he was educated at St Mary’s Dominican Convent in Franklin Street, Adelaide, selling newspapers as a lad and leaving school at the age of fourteen due to family financial

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DURACK, Peter Drew (1926–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

DURACK, Peter Drew (1926–2008)
Senator for Western Australia, 1971–93 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Peter Durack was described by his greatest adversary in the Senate, Gareth Evans, as ‘a man of genuinely Liberal reformist instincts’. Committed to the protection of individual rights through the limitation of executive power, and to preventing the erosion of the rights of the states by federal encroachment, as Attorney-General in the Fraser Government from 1977 to 1983, Durack oversaw a significant period of

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EVERETT, Mervyn George (1917–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1974–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

EVERETT, Mervyn George (1917–1988)
Senator for Tasmania, 1974–75 (Australian Labor Party)

It was said of Merv Everett that it was ‘difficult to think of any other Tasmanian who, with such distinction, served both his State and the Commonwealth of Australia in such a variety of fields, judicial, political, administrative and academic’. Mervyn George Everett was born in Sandy Bay, Hobart, on 7 October 1917, the third child of William George Everett, a clerk, and his

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FITZGERALD, Joseph Francis (1910–1985)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1962–74 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

FITZGERALD, Joseph Francis (1910–1985)
Senator for New South Wales, 1962–74 (Australian Labor Party)

Joseph Francis (Joe) Fitzgerald, anti-Grouper and loyal supporter of H. V. Evatt during the Labor Split of the 1950s, was born on 5 January 1910 at Randwick, NSW, the son of Kathleen Hosey. In 1913 Kathleen married Patrick Fitzgerald, a labourer, and in 1921, Joe formally became Fitzgerald’s foster child. He was educated by the Christian Brothers and, from 1924 to 1925, at the

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GAIR, Vincent Clare (1901–1980)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1965–74 (Democratic Labor Party)</span>

GAIR, Vincent Clare (1901–1980)
Senator for Queensland, 1965–74 (Democratic Labor Party)

Vincent Clare Gair was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, on 25 February 1901. He was the eighth of the ten children of John Alexander Gair, prison warder, and Catherine Mary, née Maguire. John Gair immigrated to Queensland from Scotland in 1885, where he had worked as a publican and hospital orderly. He was a ‘strict disciplinarian’ and ‘a life-long supporter of the Labour Party’, but

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GEORGES, George (1920–2002)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–87 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)</span>

GEORGES, George (1920–2002)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–87 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)

George Georgouras was born in Darwin on 15 April 1920, the fourth of seven children of Athanasios Georgouras and his wife Panayiota, née Stergoulis. Athanasios came from Castellorizo, an isolated island off the southeast coast of Greece with a ‘difficult and tragic history’ of political troubles that led many of its inhabitants to flee to Australia. He immigrated to Australia in 1912 and started

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GIETZELT, Arthur Thomas (1920–2014)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1971–89 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

GIETZELT, Arthur Thomas (1920–2014)
Senator for New South Wales, 1971–89 (Australian Labor Party)

Arthur Gietzelt was a senator for New South Wales from 1971 until his resignation on 27 February 1989. He was a member of the left faction of the Australian Labor Party with a reputation as a ‘legendary numbers man’ because of his success at organising votes within the New South Wales state branch and the federal parliamentary party. Arthur Thomas Gietzelt was born on

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GREENWOOD, Ivor John (1926–1976)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1968–76 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

GREENWOOD, Ivor John (1926–1976)
Senator for Victoria, 1968–76 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Ivor John Greenwood, barrister, was born on 15 November 1926 in North Melbourne to Bartlett John Greenwood, a boilermaker with the Victorian Railways, and his wife Joy Olive, née Vickers, both born in Melbourne. The Greenwoods were worshippers at the Church of Christ, and Ivor later attributed the development of his political attitudes to the high sense of individual responsibility inculcated by the Church.

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GRIMES, Donald James (1937–2021)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

GRIMES, Donald James (1937–2021)
Senator for Tasmania, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Donald James (Don) Grimes was born in Albury, New South Wales, on 4 October 1937. He was the only son and eldest of two surviving children of Walter John Grimes, a fitter and turner with New South Wales Railways, and his wife Annie Mildred (Nancy), née O’Neill, who was a nurse before her marriage. Nancy Grimes died of bowel cancer when Don was in

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GUILFOYLE, Dame Margaret Georgina Constance (1926–2020)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

GUILFOYLE, Dame Margaret Georgina Constance (1926–2020)
Senator for Victoria, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Margaret Guilfoyle would have been an unusual candidate for any political party when she stood for election to the Senate in 1970. Decades before such arrangements became commonplace, flexible working hours allowed Guilfoyle to combine her career as an accountant with raising her three children. Her qualifications and experience later boosted Guilfoyle’s chances of obtaining a seat in Parliament, and gave her skills that

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HALL, Raymond Steele (1928– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1974–77 (Liberal Movement, Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

HALL, Raymond Steele (1928– )
Senator for South Australia, 1974–77 (Liberal Movement, Liberal Party of Australia)

Steele Hall is the only Australian to serve as premier of a state as well as the member of three legislatures. His parliamentary career exceeded thirty-three years; for over twenty of those years he sat on opposition or cross-benches. Raymond Steele Hall was born in Balaklava, South Australia, on 30 November 1928, to Sidney, a farmer, and Florence, née Fisher. He attended Owen Primary

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HANNAN, George Conrad (1910–2009)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1956–65, 1970–74 (Liberal Party of Australia; National Liberal Party)</span>

HANNAN, George Conrad (1910–2009)
Senator for Victoria, 1956–65, 1970–74 (Liberal Party of Australia; National Liberal Party)

George Conrad Hannan, unrelenting anti-communist and social conservative, had a ‘snakes and ladders’ career in politics from 1948 until his final defeat as a National Liberal Senate candidate in 1974. Hannan was born on 10 September 1910 at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He was the elder of the two sons of James Francis Hannan, a storekeeper, and his wife Theresa Caroline, née Reis.

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JESSOP, Donald Scott (1927–2018)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

JESSOP, Donald Scott (1927–2018)
Senator for South Australia, 1971–87 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Donald Scott Jessop was born at Unley Park, South Australia, on 21 June 1927 to Lindsay Newton Rennie Jessop and his wife Margaret Ada, née Scott. The first of three sons, Donald attended Mitcham Primary School and Unley High School. Colour blindness prevented him from pursuing studies in his chosen fields, medicine or pharmacy. On the advice of the school’s vocational officer, Jessop decided

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KANE, John Thomas (1908–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1970–74 (Democratic Labor Party)</span>

KANE, John Thomas (1908–1988)
Senator for New South Wales, 1970–74 (Democratic Labor Party)

John Thomas (Jack) Kane, militant anti-communist and founder of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), was born on 23 July 1908 in the small town of Burraga in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. He was the son of Cornelius Kane, an engine-driver, born in Melbourne, and Kate, née Williams. In 1911 the family moved to Lithgow. Jack attended St Patrick’s School, leaving at

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KEEFFE, James Bernard (1919–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

KEEFFE, James Bernard (1919–1988)
Senator for Queensland, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)

James Bernard Keeffe, champion of Indigenous Australians and the Deep North, was always proud of his Irish heritage. His great-grandfather had emigrated from County Tipperary in 1841 and settled in the Queanbeyan district of New South Wales. Jim’s father, also James Keeffe, moved to Sydney, and then to northern Queensland where he worked as a canecutter, coffee planter and tin miner. He married Augusta

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LAUCKE, Sir Condor Louis (1914–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1967–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

LAUCKE, Sir Condor Louis (1914–1993)
Senator for South Australia, 1967–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Condor Louis Laucke, wine maker, flour miller and company director, was born in Greenock, in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, on 9 November 1914, youngest of six children born to Friedrich and Anna Louise née Jungfer. Anna had been born at Neukirch near Greenock, and Friedrich arrived in Port Adelaide from Germany on 30 May 1895 on board the SS Gera. Condor, who was named

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LAWRIE, Alexander Greig Ellis (1907–1978)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1965–75 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)</span>

LAWRIE, Alexander Greig Ellis (1907–1978)
Senator for Queensland, 1965–75 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

Alexander Greig Ellis Lawrie (known as Ellis) was born at Lorn, near Maitland, New South Wales, on 19 June 1907, the son of Alexander Greig Lawrie, a grazier, and his wife Ilma, née Norrie. His great-grandparents, James and Jean Lawrie, had emigrated from Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1850, under the aegis of Reverend J. D. Lang. Establishing a tobacco farm and manufactory at Halton

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LILLICO, Alexander Elliot Davidson (1905–1994)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1959–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

LILLICO, Alexander Elliot Davidson (1905–1994)
Senator for Tasmania, 1959–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Alexander Elliot Davidson Lillico, who served with distinction at all three levels of government for almost forty years, was a forceful advocate for rural Tasmania, particularly for the North-West. He was born into a farming family of Scottish descent, at Ulverstone, Tasmania, on 5 September 1905, the son of Alexander Lillico (later Sir) and Frances Emma, née Vertigan. The Lillico family had arrived in

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LITTLE, John Albert (1914–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1968–74 (Democratic Labor Party)</span>

LITTLE, John Albert (1914–1988)
Senator for Victoria, 1968–74 (Democratic Labor Party)

John Albert (Jack) Little was born on 13 October 1914 in Maryborough, Victoria, the son of John Richard Little and Elizabeth Florence, née Terry. His father was in the boot retail business. After education at East Brunswick and Thornbury state schools, Jack entered the boot trade and became a ‘clicker’, that is, he cut pieces of leather from patterns to form the upper parts

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MARRIOTT, John Edward (1913–1994)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MARRIOTT, John Edward (1913–1994)
Senator for Tasmania, 1953–75 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Edward Marriott came from a Tasmanian family that maintained strong connections with England. His father, Francis (Frank), was born in London, left school at fourteen, worked in America and then went to sea. Overstaying his ship, Frank settled in Tasmania in 1903, became a farm labourer, and married English-born Alice Maud Harrison. Alice was the daughter of a Church of England clergyman who

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MAUNSELL, Charles Ronald (1922–2010)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)</span>

MAUNSELL, Charles Ronald (1922–2010)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party)

A stalwart of the Queensland division of the Australian (later National) Country Party, Charles Ronald (Ron) Maunsell, pilot, earthmoving contractor, grazier and fruit grower, came from pioneering stock, his great-grandparents, Samuel and Phoebe Maunsell, having immigrated to Australia from Ballybrood, County Limerick, in 1858. The only child of Charles George Maunsell and Evelyn Violet, née Evans, he was born in Cairns on 8 May

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McAULIFFE, Ronald Edward (1918–1988)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1971–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McAULIFFE, Ronald Edward (1918–1988)
Senator for Queensland, 1971–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Ronald Edward McAuliffe, rugby league administrator and politician, was born in Brisbane on 25 July 1918. He was adopted by Edward McAuliffe, a railway fettler, and Margaret Ann, née Fogarty. The McAuliffes were a large family, living in a small workman’s cottage in Rainbow Street that backed on to the Sandgate to Shorncliffe railway line. Ron was educated at Sandgate’s Sacred Heart convent school

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McCLELLAND, Douglas (1926– ) <br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1962–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McCLELLAND, Douglas (1926– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1962–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Douglas McClelland was born on 5 August 1926, in Wentworthville, NSW, the son of Alfred McClelland, union organiser and farmer, and his wife Gertrude Amy, née Cooksley. Alfred was a NSW Labor MLA for the seats of Northern Tablelands (1920–27) and Dubbo (1930–32). Douglas was educated at Wentworthville Public School, Parramatta High School and the Metropolitan Business College, Parramatta. After leaving school he worked

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McClelland, James Robert (1915–1999)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1971–78 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McClelland, James Robert (1915–1999)
Senator for New South Wales, 1971–78 (Australian Labor Party)

James Robert (Jim) McClelland was born on 3 June 1915 in Melbourne, the son of Robert William McClelland, painter, paperhanger and signwriter, who was of Ulster Protestant background, and Florence Ruby, née O’Connor, a Catholic. James’ early childhood was spent at Glen Iris, Melbourne, but in 1925 his father, who worked for the Victorian Railways, was transferred to Ballarat, where the family lived for

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McINTOSH, Gordon Douglas (1925–2019)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McINTOSH, Gordon Douglas (1925–2019)
Senator for Western Australia, 1974–87 (Australian Labor Party)

Gordon Douglas McIntosh was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 29 May 1925, the son of Gordon McIntosh, ship’s stoker and swimming pool attendant, and his wife Dorothy Robson, née Douglas. Attending Drumoyne Primary School and Govan High School, he was apprenticed in 1940 as a fitter and turner, starting work in the Glasgow shipyards before serving as a mechanic with the Royal Air Force

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McLAREN, Geoffrey Thomas (1921–1992)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1971–83 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

McLAREN, Geoffrey Thomas (1921–1992)
Senator for South Australia, 1971–83 (Australian Labor Party)

During his twelve years in the Senate, Geoff McLaren, an ‘old-fashioned’ Laborite, gained a reputation on both sides of politics as a very hard worker who took part in the Senate’s proceedings with great gusto. If not especially influential, he was never inconspicuous. Senator Watson once cited McLaren’s daily habit of reading the whole of the previous day’s Hansard, a practice, Watson considered, that

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McMANUS, Francis Patrick Vincent (1905–1983)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1956–62, 1965–74 (Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)</span>

McMANUS, Francis Patrick Vincent (1905–1983)
Senator for Victoria, 1956–62, 1965–74 (Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist); Democratic Labor Party)

Francis Patrick Vincent (Frank) McManus, civilised Cold War warrior and founding member of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), was born on 27 February 1905 at North Melbourne, a suburb he would come to describe as his native land. He was the son of Patrick McManus, born in Roscommon, Ireland, and Gertrude, née Beal, who was born in West Melbourne, and who changed her name

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MELZER, Jean Isabel (1926–2013)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1974–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MELZER, Jean Isabel (1926–2013)
Senator for Victoria, 1974–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Jean Isabel Melzer, the first woman in the Australian Labor Party to be elected to the Senate from Victoria, was born in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick, on 7 February 1926. She was the eldest of the three daughters of George Kenneth McLeod and Lilian Rosa, née Ford. Jean was educated at state schools at Ormond and Ormond East, Gardenvale Central School, and from

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MILLINER, Bertie Richard (1911–1975)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1968–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MILLINER, Bertie Richard (1911–1975)
Senator for Queensland, 1968–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Bertie Richard Milliner was born in Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, on 17 July 1911. He was the sixth son of Arthur, a glazier, and Ellen, née Batchelor. Educated at Kelvin Grove Boys’ State School from 1918 until 1925, Milliner spent his entire life in the inner west Brisbane suburbs of Kelvin Grove and Newmarket. On 26 March 1938 he married a schoolteacher, Thelma Elizabeth Voght,

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MISSEN, Alan Joseph (1925–1986)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1974–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

MISSEN, Alan Joseph (1925–1986)
Senator for Victoria, 1974–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Alan Missen, law reformer and a champion of civil liberties at home and abroad, was an exemplary parliamentarian whose impact on political life was far out of proportion to his backbench status. Alan Joseph Missen was born in the Melbourne suburb of Kew on 22 July 1925, the only child of Clifford Athel Missen, a moulder, and (Ethel) Violet Maud Missen, née Bartley. Alan’s

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MULVIHILL, James Anthony (1917–2000)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MULVIHILL, James Anthony (1917–2000)
Senator for New South Wales, 1965–83 (Australian Labor Party)

James Anthony (Tony) Mulvihill, railwayman, party official, and environmentalist, was born in North Ryde, Sydney, on 27 April 1917. He was the only child of James Bernard (Jim) Mulvihill and Agnes Ellen, née McNamara. His father, Jim, worked for most of his life at the gasworks at Mortlake, at that time a community with many Irish and English gas and railway workers. He was

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MURPHY, Lionel Keith (1922–1986)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1962–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

MURPHY, Lionel Keith (1922–1986)
Senator for New South Wales, 1962–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Lionel Keith Murphy was the most divisive figure in the history of the Senate. His supporters saw him as inspirational: an enlightened and bold reformer whose unceasing mental and physical energy achieved much of permanent value. Opponents regarded him as dangerous, reckless and lacking in fundamental political nous. Doubts about Murphy’s judgment were also held privately by some members of his own party. Years

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NEGUS, Sydney Ambrose (1912–1986)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1971–74 (Independent)</span>

NEGUS, Sydney Ambrose (1912–1986)
Senator for Western Australia, 1971–74 (Independent)

Sydney Ambrose Negus, a somewhat quixotic figure, thus announced his intention to use membership of the Senate to further a campaign in the public interest. Standing as an independent on the single issue of death duties, he had easily won the fifth Senate seat for Western Australia at the elections of 21 November 1970. His election was as much a surprise to himself as

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O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)
Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Justin Hilary O’Byrne was a World War II fighter pilot and prisoner of war, and President of the Senate during the 1975 constitutional crisis. He was born on 1 June 1912 in Launceston, Tasmania, the seventh of ten children. His father, Patrick Augustus O’Byrne, a wine and spirit merchant in Launceston, was the son of Irish migrants who had settled at Westbury. His mother,

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POKE, Albert George (1906–1989)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1956–74 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

POKE, Albert George (1906–1989)
Senator for Tasmania, 1956–74 (Australian Labor Party)

‘I was reared where it was tough. I was reared in the mud in the bush, brother. I can take it’. So Bob Poke (as he was always known) told a Senate opponent in 1969. There was little hyperbole in Poke’s invocation of his own hard times. He was born at Somerset, Tasmania, on 16 February 1906, second of nine children of Alfred John

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POYSER, Arthur George (1915–1986)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1966–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

POYSER, Arthur George (1915–1986)
Senator for Victoria, 1966–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Arthur George Poyser, labourer, tram conductor and ALP organiser, was born on 13 February 1915 at Ballarat, Victoria, the son of Arthur George Poyser, a carpenter, and his wife, Mary Jane, née Andrew. George, as he was known, grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet. He attended Ashby State School in Geelong, going on to work in the textile industry.

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PRIMMER, Cyril Graham (1924–2003)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1971–85 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

PRIMMER, Cyril Graham (1924–2003)
Senator for Victoria, 1971–85 (Australian Labor Party)

Cyril Graham Primmer was born on 19 April 1924, at Warrnambool, Victoria, the eldest of eight children of James Primmer, a shearer, and his wife Annie Florence, née Duncan. The family lived at Mailors Flat, ten kilometres from Warrnambool. When Cyril was six his parents purchased a sheep and dairy farm at Kirkstall, a small town twenty kilometres west of Mailors Flat. Cyril received

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RAE, Peter Elliot (1934– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1968–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

RAE, Peter Elliot (1934– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1968–86 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Peter Rae’s eighteen-year Senate career was characterised by an independent spirit of inquiry and an energetic application to committee work. First elected in 1967 as the second candidate on Tasmania’s Liberal Party ticket, he commenced his term in the Senate on 1 July 1968 as the youngest senator in what was at that time a chamber of elders. He was re-elected in 1974, 1975,

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REID, David Donald (1933– )<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1974 (Australian Country Party)</span>

REID, David Donald (1933– )
Senator for Western Australia, 1974 (Australian Country Party)

David Donald Reid, farmer and landcare practitioner, was born on 10 May 1933 at Bridgetown, Western Australia, the only son of Donald Phillip Reid, primary producer, and his wife Marion Fraser, née Davies. He was educated at Bridgetown Primary School and Denmark Agricultural College from which he graduated with a Diploma of Agriculture in 1949 (in later years he completed part of a postgraduate

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SCOTT, Douglas Barr (1920–2012)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1970, 1974–85 (Australian Country Party/National Country Party/National Party of Australia)</span>

SCOTT, Douglas Barr (1920–2012)
Senator for New South Wales, 1970, 1974–85 (Australian Country Party/National Country Party/National Party of Australia)

Douglas Barr Scott was born in the northern Adelaide suburb of Prospect on 12 May 1920 to James Barr Scott and his wife Clara Josephine, née White. At the time of his birth Scott’s maternal grandparents lived in Adelaide, but the family home was on their wheat and sheep property, ‘Glenview’, near Grenfell, New South Wales. As the property was relatively isolated, his early

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SHEIL, Glenister (1929–2008)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1974–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party); 1984–90 (National Party of Australia)</span>

SHEIL, Glenister (1929–2008)
Senator for Queensland, 1974–81 (Australian Country Party; National Country Party); 1984–90 (National Party of Australia)

Glenister (Glen) Sheil is remembered in Australian political history as the shortest-serving federal minister, although his appointment as Minister for Veterans’ Affairs was never gazetted. Sworn in as a member of the Executive Council on 20 December 1977, his appointment was terminated by Prime Minister Malcom Fraser two days later. Responding to a phone call from a journalist, and in a subsequent radio interview,

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SIM, John Peter (1917–2015) <br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1964–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SIM, John Peter (1917–2015)
Senator for Western Australia, 1964–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Peter Sim was born at Colac, Victoria, on 21 January 1917, one of twin sons born to John Percy Sim, farmer and grazier of Ondit, and his wife Grace Maria, formerly Plowman, born in Melbourne. Immigrants to Victoria from Scotland in the mid-19th century, the Sim family had been primary producers for many years, specialising in cattle and fat lambs. Peter, as he

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SULLIVAN, Kathryn Jean Martin (1942– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1974–84 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

SULLIVAN, Kathryn Jean Martin (1942– )
Senator for Queensland, 1974–84 (Liberal Party of Australia)

In her youth Kathy Martin aspired to be a lawyer or a police officer. Despite her best efforts the inherent gender discrimination of the 1950s and 1960s proved insurmountable and she would move into the more ‘acceptable’ field of education. Only a few decades later, her entry into Australia’s federal Parliament proved to be the ultimate irony. Instead of practising or enforcing the law,

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TOWNLEY, Michael (1934– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1971–87 (Independent; Liberal; Independent)</span>

TOWNLEY, Michael (1934– )
Senator for Tasmania, 1971–87 (Independent; Liberal; Independent)

Michael (Mike) Townley was born on 4 November 1934 at Hobart, the third of four children of Reginald Colin (Rex) Townley and his wife Irene Winifred, née Jones. His father represented the Hobart electorate of Denison in the Tasmanian House of Assembly between 1946 and 1965, first as an Independent and later as a Liberal; he was Leader of the Opposition from 1950 to

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