Adair Blain
Adair Blain | |
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Member of the Australian Parliament for Northern Territory | |
In office 15 September 1934 – 10 December 1949 | |
Preceded by | H. G. Nelson |
Succeeded by | Jock Nelson |
Personal details | |
Born | Independent | 21 November 1894
Occupation | Surveyor |
Adair Macalister Blain (21 November 1894 – 28 April 1983) was an Australian politician and soldier. He represented the Division of Northern Territory in the House of Representatives from 1934 to 1949, albeit with limited voting rights. He enlisted in the army during World War II and was captured by the Japanese after the Fall of Singapore, the only serving member of parliament to become a prisoner of war.
Early life
Born in
Following the outbreak of World War I, Blain served as a corporal in the 32nd Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force in France from 1916 to 1919,[3] during which he was wounded twice.[4] Returning from Europe, Blain worked as a surveyor in Northern Queensland before moving to the Northern Territory in 1929 to become the Darwin area surveyor.[4]
Politics
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Adair_Blain_1936.jpg/220px-Adair_Blain_1936.jpg)
Blain's work took him throughout northern Australia, giving him the opportunity to gain a high profile, which he used at the
During the 1934 election campaign Blain promised to resign from parliament if the Northern Territory representative was not granted full voting rights in parliament.[2] He reneged on this promise but continued to campaign for greater Territory control of Northern Territory affairs.
After changing his year of birth to 1897,
Although officially an Independent, Blain worked closely with the Country Party[9] and while he was absent on wartime duties, Blain asked the Country Party member for Barker, Archie Cameron to act on his behalf.[6]
While serving as a POW, Blain was re-elected unopposed to his Northern Territory seat at the 1943 election,[6] and elected again in 1946 before losing his seat at the 1949 election to Labor challenger Jock Nelson (the son of Harold Nelson, who Blain defeated in 1934).
Later life
Following his defeat, Blain moved to New South Wales to work as a surveyor.
The Northern Territory Electoral division of Blain is named for him.
Actor Brian Blain is his nephew.[citation needed]
References
- ^ A Celebration of Contribution, Tales of the courage, commitment and creativity of Modernians 1911-1963, page 12.
- ^ a b c d e ed. Carment, D., Maynard, R. et al. (1990) Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography Vol. 1, Northern Territory University Press: Casuarina.
- ^ World War I Nominal Roll, [1] Accessed 21 November 2007.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-921008-35-1.
- ^ World War II Nominal Roll, [2] Archived 5 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 21 November 2007.
- ^ a b c d Lumb, M., Bennett, S. et al. (2007) Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war, Research Brief, Australian Government Department of Parliamentary Services. 26 March 2007, no. 10, 2006–07
- ^ Firkins, Peter (1985) "From Hell to Eternity", Panther, London.
- ISBN 1-74114-430-2.
- ISBN 0-522-84367-0.