Arthur William Coles (August 7, 1892 - June 14, 1982), later Sir Arthur Coles, was a prominent Australian businessman and philanthropist. Events 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. A businessperson (also businessman or businesswoman) is someone who is employed at usually a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically someone Philanthropy is the act of donating money goods services time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause with a defined objective and with no financial or material He was born in Geelong, Victoria and educated at the elite private school Geelong College. MCite/Citephp.--> Geelong (dʒəˈlɔŋ is the second largest city in the state The Geelong College is an independent, Co-educational, day and Boarding school, located in Newtown, an inner-western suburb of When World War I began, Coles enlisted as a private, fighting at Gallipoli and on the Western Front in France, and was wounded on three separate occasions before being commissioned as a lieutenant. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Gallipoli peninsula (Gelibolu Yarımadası is located in Turkish Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Coles returned to Australia in 1919 and married Lillian Knight. He joined with two brothers and an uncle to open a variety store in Collingwood, a working-class suburb of Melbourne. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Working on the slogan "Nothing over 2/6", the business grew rapidly. The family opened a series of new Coles Variety Stores around the country, Arthur moving to Sydney in 1928 to open and manage the first one in New South Wales. In 1931, at the height of the Great Depression, he returned to Melbourne to become managing director, a post he held until 1944. GJ Coles & Co became the largest retailer in Australia. (Today, the merged Coles-Myer retail empire has around 20% of the entire Australian market. )
Coles became Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 1938, remaining in that position until 1940 when he resigned to stand for the federal seat of Henty as an independent. The Division of Henty was an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. Coles was one of the two independents (the other was Alexander Wilson) who held the balance of power through the early years of the Second World War, and crossed the floor in 1941 to remove the hapless UAP-Country Party government of Arthur Fadden and install John Curtin of the Australian Labor Party as Prime Minister of Australia. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Robert Menzies 1930sjpg|right|150px|thumb| Robert Menzies, UAP Prime Minister of Australia 1939-1941]]The United Australia Party or UAP was an Australian The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party. Sir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG (13 April 1894&ndash21 April 1973 Australian politician and 13th Prime Minister of Australia, born in Ingham Queensland John Joseph Curtin (8 January 1885 &ndash 5 July 1945 Australian politician and 14th Prime Minister of Australia, led Australia when the Australian mainland came under direct The Prime Minister of Australia is the Head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia, holding office on commission from the Governor-General.
In 1944, Coles retired from business and devoted himself to public works, becoming the chair of both the Commonwealth Rationing Commission and the War Damage Commission. With the end of the war he resigned from Parliament and became chair of British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) and the Australian National Airlines Commission (see TAA). British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines or BCPA, was registered in New South Wales, Australia in June 1946 with headquarters in Sydney Trans Australia Airlines or TAA, (renamed Australian Airlines in 1986 was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception He was appointed chair of the Melbourne Olympic Games Committee in 1952, and a member of the CSIRO Advisory Council in 1956. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO) is the national government body for scientific research in Australia. He was knighted in 1960, and retired in 1965. Sir Arthur Coles died in 1982, leaving three sons and three daughters.
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| Parliament of Australia | ||
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| Preceded by Henry Somer Gullett | Member for Henty 1940–1946 | Succeeded by Jo Gullett |
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