FAIRBAIRN, Sir George (1855–1943)
Senator for Victoria, 1917–23 (Nationalist Party)

‘Parliament’, said Senator George Fairbairn, ‘should exercise supreme control over the public purse’. With his regard for the principles of the Constitution, his keen business acumen and eye for detail, Fairbairn exemplified the Senate’s developing role as a house of review. Born at Newtown, Geelong, Victoria, on 23 March 1855, the eldest of six sons and a daughter, his father, also George Fairbairn, was