Vincent Clair Gair (25 February 1901 – 11 November 1980) was an Australian politician. Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. A politician (from Greek " Polis " is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of Politics or a person He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957 when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Australian Labor Party. See Premiers of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Premier He was elected to the Australian Senate and led the Democratic Labor Party from 1964 to 1973. The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. The Democratic Labor Party (abbreviated as the DLP was an Australian Political party that existed from 1955 until 1978 In 1974 he was appointed Australian Ambassador to Ireland by the Whitlam government. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916 known as Gough Whitlam (ˈɡɒf goff is an Australian former politician and 21st
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Early life
Gair was born in Rockhampton, of mixed Scottish and Irish parentage, and raised Roman Catholic. Rockhampton is a regional city and Local Government Area located in Queensland, Australia. His parents were founding members of the Labor Party in Queensland in the 1890s. He began work with the Department of Railways upon the family's move to Brisbane and in 1916 he joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP). QR Limited is the company government-owned corporation responsible for the operation and maintenance of the railway system in the State of Queensland Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland He married Florence Glynn in 1924. She died in an accident five years later.
Parliamentary career
The state electorate of South Brisbane was held from 1929 to 1932 by Neil Macgroarty, Attorney-General in the government of Arthur Moore. South Brisbane is an electoral district of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Arthur Edward Moore, CMG (9 February 1876 &ndash 17 January 1963 was an Australian politician Macgroarty was influential in creating the Mungana Royal Commission to destroy the political career of Ted Theodore, and had thus incurred the displeasure of the influential James Duhig, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane. The Mungana Affair involved the selling of some mining properties in the Chillagoe - Mungana districts of northern Queensland, Australia to the Edward Granville Theodore ( 29 December, 1884 &ndash 9 February, 1950,) Australian politician was born in Adelaide, Sir James Duhig, KCMG ( 2 September 1873 – 10 April 1965) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane from It was rumoured to be the personal intervention of Duhig, wishing to find a Catholic candidate to unseat Macgroarty, that saw Gair win ALP preselection for the seat. The Moore government lost office in the elections of 1932 in which Gair unseated Macgroarty.
Gair worked at consolidating his hold on the marginal electorate, at which he was largely successful except in the elections of 1938, when a newly-formed Protestant Labor Party targeted his seat. He fended off the challenge and retained a low profile in Parliament. In 1941 Vince and Florence Gair's only daughter died, an event which affected him deeply. He remarried, to Ellen Sexton in 1944 and the two had two sons.
Gair was a backbencher for ten years during the William Forgan Smith government before being appointed as Secretary for Mines under the elderly Frank Cooper in 1942. William Forgan Smith (15 April 1887 - 23 September 1953 generally known as Forgan Smith, was Premier of the Australian state of Queensland from 1932 to There is also a musicologist named Frank Cooper Frank Arthur Cooper (1872-1949 was Premier of Queensland from 1942 to 1946 The same year he became Minister for Labour and Employment (later Labour and Industry), and in 1947 he was elected by his colleagues as Deputy Premier. In 1950 he also became Treasurer.
Unusually for a Labor minister, Gair had not previously held office in a trade union. Many Labor parliamentarians in Queensland in particular were closely aligned with the Australian Workers Union (AWU). Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> The Australian Workers' Union (AWU is one of Australia 's largest Premier Edward Hanlon was the first in a succession of Queensland premiers not to be linked with the AWU, a fact that had seen a reduction in its influence. Edward Michael "Ned" Hanlon (1887-1952 was Premier of Queensland from 1946 to 1952 Gair also was not associated with the AWU, and in fact had a strong personal dislike of the AWU's Queensland president, Joe Bukowski, dating back to their childhoods in Rockhampton when Bukowski bullied Gair. Gair was determined not to be beholden to AWU power, an important determining factor in many of his actions as Premier.
In 1948, the Industrial Groups associated with the Catholic Movement of B. A. Santamaria were introduced into Queensland to combat the influence of the Communist Party of Australia in the trade unions. The Industrial Groups were groups formed by the Australian Labor Party in the late 1940s to combat Communist Party influence in the trade unions Bartholomew Augustine "B A" Santamaria, otherwise 'Bob' ( 14 August 1915 - 25 February 1998) Australian political This article is about the historical Communist Party of Australia dissolved in 1991 The Industrial Groups (whose members were known as Groupers) were supported by Gair, who hoped to use them to cement his personal power base within the organisational wing, as well as by Bukowski and the AWU. When conflict with the Groupers precipitated a national split in the ALP, leading to the formation of the breakaway Democratic Labor Party (DLP), the national organisation of the AWU swung its support behind ALP leader Dr H.V. Evatt and disbanded the Groups. This article is about the current Australian political party founded after the dissolution of the original DLP Herbert Vere Evatt, QC MP ( April 30, 1894 - November 2, 1965) was an Australian Jurist, politician This would later deprive Gair of a potential source of support within the party organisation.
Hanlon died on 15 January 1952 and Gair, having been Acting Premier since the previous August, was elected by the ALP Caucus to succeed him on 17 January. Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca
Premiership
Gair came into conflict with Bukowski when the AWU in 1955 began making allegations that there was corruption in the process of granting and extending pastoral leases in the state. Pastoral Leases Exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdctions In July the AWU executive met with Gair, who according to them promised an inquiry, which Gair denied. Bukowski publicly expressed a desire to appear before the Bar of Parliament to detail his allegations, in which he was supported by Frank Nicklin, leader of the Opposition, but Gair defeated his motion in parliament. Sir George Francis Reuben Nicklin KCMG, MM ( 6 August 1895 - 29 January 1978) was Premier of the Australian In February 1956, Ian Wood, a Liberal Party Senator for Queensland, alleged that the government had demanded payments from pastoralists in order to ensure the extension of pastoral leases and that these payments had been diverted to Labor Party funds. Sir Ian Wood is the Scottish billionaire and chairman of the UK-based engineering company Wood Group. The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party. Gair immediately set up a royal commission which resulted in the laying of criminal charges against Lands Minister Tom Foley. The term Royal Commission may also be used in the United Kingdom to describe the group of Lords Commissioners who may act in the stead of the Thomas Stephen Foley (born March 26, 1929 in Spokane Washington) is an American politician of the Democratic Party Foley was acquitted of the charges but was found by the Royal Commission's report to be responsible for the improper solicitation of party donations, for which he was sacked as a Minister and expelled from the Labor Party.
Gair discovered that the AWU had gained its information about the scandal from a senior public official, Vivian Creighton. Vivian Rogers Creighton ( 19 November 1900 &mdash 12 October 1975) was the chairman of the Land Administration Board ( Queensland, Gair pressed for Creighton's resignation on the grounds of official misconduct. The parliamentary dismissal of Creighton raised claims that the government was acting out of vindictiveness, and was criticised by the AWU. Nevertheless, Gair easily won the elections of May 1956.
When the AWU uncharacteristically endorsed strike action by shearers, Gair raised the union movement's ire by negotiating with the federal government in order to secure the export of wool shorn by non-union labour. Gair was ultimately successful in a negotiated end to the strike, but the effect was to cement an unlikely alliance between the militants of the Queensland Trades and Labour Council (TLC) (represented by Boilermaker's Union secretary Jack Egerton) and the AWU. The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU is a representative body of Trade union organisations known as a Labour council, in the State of Queensland, Sir John (Jack Alfred Roy Egerton ( 11 March 1918 - December 1998 was an Australian Trade union organiser and member of the Australian Labor
Out of the several issues over which Gair and the union movement came into conflict, the most severe was to prove to be that over the introduction of three weeks' paid leave to workers under state industrial awards. This had been part of the party's election platform since 1953. Gair announced in 1955 that although the state's finances did not permit the extension of annual leave, the government would extend entitlements to long service leave. This compromise was regarded as insufficient by both the TLC and the AWU, and in November they moved in the Queensland Branch's Central Executive that legislation introducing the leave be introduced by the parliamentary party.
The majority of Gair's Cabinet refused to accept what it saw as direction from the Central Executive, and in February 1956, Bukowski and Egerton organised the numbers at the next Labor Party convention to vote in favour of a leave increase. After private discussions it was revealed that Gair would introduce the leave sometime over the course of the year. After the election, however, Treasurer Ted Walsh revealed that the state's budget was in deficit and Gair claimed that extending leave would be financially irresponsible. Ted Walsh is an amateur jockey turned racehorse trainer based in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland.
The parliamentary party found itself in deadlock with the organisational wing and the trade unions, with the TLC and the Central Executive maintaining pressure on Gair throughout early 1957. Gair still refused to budge, thinking that the executive would not dare to expel him. For its part, the QCE did not believe that Gair would take many of his caucus with him. The QCE finally expelled Gair on 24 April. Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to He took a total of 25 defectors from the ALP Caucus with him, including all the Cabinet except Deputy Premier Jack Duggan, to form the Queensland Labor Party (QLP). Jack Duggan (born December 17, 1898 in Ottawa, Ontario) was a retired professional Ice hockey player who played 27 games in the The Queensland Labor Party (QLP was a political party of Queensland, Australia formed in 1957 by a breakaway group of the then ruling Australian Labor Party Government Gair tried but failed to gain Country Party support for his continuation as Premier. The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party. On 12 June, the ALP, now led by Duggan, crossed the floor of Parliament and voted with the Country Party and the Liberal Party to deny supply (that is, the money needed to govern) to what was left of the Gair government. Events 1381 - Peasants' Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath.
An election was called for 3 August, in which both the QLP and the ALP lost ground, although Gair was re-elected at South Brisbane as a QLP candidate. Events 8 - Roman Empire General Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus. Nicklin became Premier and for the first time in 25 years, a Labor Government was out of office in Queensland. The ALP would not return to power in Queensland until 1989.
DLP leadership and the "Gair Affair"
Although he was no longer Premier, Gair continued to lead the QLP, which was reduced to 11 members after the 1957 election. However, he was defeated at South Brisbane at the 1960 state election. In 1962 the QLP merged with the Democratic Labor Party, which had previously been largely inactive in Queensland, and Gair contested the Senate elections of 1961 for the DLP unsuccessfully. The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. In 1964 he was elected to the Senate, where he became the DLP's leader, a post he held until 1973. During his time in the Senate he advocated a strong defence and foreign policy based on anti-Communism. The DLP generally sought the middle ground on domestic issues. Gradually his anti-Communist views became outdated but he stubbornly refused to modify them in the face of developments like Richard Nixon's detente with China and Russia in the early 1970s. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970.
Gair subsequently became disillusioned with the DLP, who forced him to resign as leader in October 1973. In 1974, when the Labor government of Gough Whitlam was desperately attempting to gain a majority in the Senate, Whitlam tried to create an extra vacancy in Queensland for the upcoming Senate elections so as to gain the ALP an increased chance of winning an extra Senate seat. Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916 known as Gough Whitlam (ˈɡɒf goff is an Australian former politician and 21st Whitlam approached Gair with the offer of the position of Ambassador to Ireland. Subsequently, when knowledge of the appointment had become public, there was an outcry from the conservatives. The Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen decided to thwart Whitlam by causing the issue of writs early for five, rather than six, Senate vacancies. Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen KCMG (13 January 1911 &ndash 23 April 2005] New Zealand -born Australian Politician, was the longest-serving
A group of Country Party Senators kept Gair occupied in their office, drinking beer and eating prawns, while Bjelke-Petersen saw the Governor of Queensland (Air Marshal Sir Colin Hannah), to have the writs issued; and as a result, Gair failed to resign his Senate position in time. The Governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. Air Marshal Sir Colin Thomas Hannah KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB (22 December 1914 - 22 May 1978 was a senior officer within the Royal (This delaying tactic was later known as "the Night of the long prawns": Gair later said that he was perfectly aware of why he was being feted by his colleagues, some of whom were former enemies. ) Gair's actions helped to precipitate a double dissolution. This article deals with elections to the Australian Parliament. After the election, held on 18 May 1974, the ALP remained without control of the Senate. Events 1152 - Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. Whitlam was later dismissed when the Senate refused to pass supply bills (see Australian constitutional crisis of 1975). The 1974 election marked the electoral demise of the DLP, which lost all four of its remaining seats, largely as a backlash against Gair's actions.
Gair took up his post in Ireland, but when the Fraser government took office after the 1975 elections, Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock had Gair recalled. John Malcolm Fraser, AC, CH (born 21 May 1930 is an Australian Liberal politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. Andrew Sharp Peacock AC (born 13 February 1939 is a former Australian Liberal politician Gair died in November 1980 in Brisbane, aged 79, on the fifth anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government.
Further reading
- Costar, Brian. "Vincent Clair Gair: Labor's Loser". In Murphy D, Joyce R, Cribb M, and Wear, R (Ed. ), The Premiers of Queensland pp. 268-285. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3173-8.
| Preceded by Edward Hanlon |
Premier of Queensland 1952-1957 |
Succeeded by Frank Nicklin |
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