John Arthur (politician)
The Honourable John Arthur |
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File:John Andrew Arthur.jpg | |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bendigo |
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In office 31 May 1913 – 9 December 1914 |
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Preceded by | John Quick |
Succeeded by | Alfred Hampson |
Personal details | |
Born | Castlemaine, Victoria |
15 August 1875
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Parkville, Victoria |
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Australian Labor Party |
Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
Occupation | Barrister |
John Andrew Arthur (15 August 1875 – 9 December 1914) was an Australian politician and briefly Minister for External Affairs.[1]
Arthur was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, son of a goldminer and spent his childhood in several Victorian goldmining towns. He won a state scholarship allowing him to attend Grenville College, Ballarat for three years. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts in 1895. He was a brilliant student and competed a Master of Arts in 1897, a Bachelor of Laws in 1898 and a Master of Laws in 1901. He became a tutor at Queen's College in logic and philosophy, political economy and history, and law and was admitted to the bar in 1903. He became a prominent lawyer in the new federal courts, especially the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration and represented the Agricultural Implement Makers' Union in the Harvester case which led to the basic wage concept that was the basis of wage setting in Australia until the 1990s.
Political career
In 1913 election he just beat the incumbent John Quick to win the Australian House of Representatives seat of Bendigo for the Australian Labor Party. He was noted for his contribution to parliamentary debates and continued his career as an industrial advocate, often travelling from the then seat of the parliament in Melbourne to Sydney to argue cases. Campaigning for the 1914 election, combined with his court work undermined his health and following the election of the Fisher government he was confined to bed. He attended caucus on 17 September and was elected to the ministry and sworn in as Minister for External Affairs on the same day. He was forced back to bed and died on 9 December 1914 of kidney disease at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons.
Notes
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by | Minister for External Affairs 1914 |
Succeeded by Hugh Mahon |
Parliament of Australia | ||
Preceded by | Member for Bendigo 1913–1914 |
Succeeded by Alfred Hampson |
- Use dmy dates from April 2011
- Pages with broken file links
- 1875 births
- 1914 deaths
- Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
- Australian ministers for Foreign Affairs
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bendigo
- Members of the Cabinet of Australia