Alexander Mair
New South Wales Parliament for Albury | |
---|---|
In office 11 June 1932 – 14 August 1946 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Fitzgerald |
Succeeded by | John Hurley |
Personal details | |
Born | Liberal Party | 25 August 1889
Spouse | Grace Lennox |
Children | 3 |
Profession | Politician |
Alexander Mair (25 August 1889 – 3 August 1969) was an Australian politician who served as
A staunch supporter of Stevens throughout his Premiership, Mair became his successor as Premier in August 1939 following Stevens' defeat in a
Remaining as Opposition Leader, with the UAP shattered, Mair became leader of the new
Early life
Alexander Mair was born on 25 August 1889 in the
When his father also died in that year, Mair took charge of the company, which expanded into hardware. He involved himself in every facet of the company, often visiting overseas suppliers. However, a bout of influenza in the
Early political career
Mair first entered politics at the
As the local member, Mair became interested in helping those affected by the Great Depression and fulfilled his election promise to give most of his parliamentary salary to the poor in his own electorate, a practice which he continued until 1938.[6] Serving on the backbench, Mair was noted for being a strong supporter of Premier Bertram Stevens at a time when party discipline within the UAP was non-existent. Mair soon built up a reputation for being a loyal, yet also strongly independent member of parliament, and a powerful debater in the House.[7]
At the
Minister of the Crown
At the
He served until 13 October, when Premier Stevens promoted him as Colonial Treasurer. Upon taking office, Mair immediately proposed drastic cuts in expenditure to bring the budget back into balance, and to find new sources of taxation income. As part of this, he issued a circular to all government Ministers to declare any expenditure over £3000 to Treasury for approval. All complied except Deputy Leader and Minister for Public Works and Local Government, Eric Spooner, who sought to undermine confidence in Stevens' leadership. In July 1939, Stevens and Mair attempted to prevent Spooner's disruptive tactics by creating a committee of four, consisting of Mair, Stevens, Spooner and Country Party Leader, Michael Bruxner, to approve all expenditure. Furious at this gesture, Spooner resigned on 21 July 1939 as Minister and Deputy Leader, citing a 'disagreement in government policy on relief works' as the reason.[11]
On 1 August 1939, Spooner carried a motion of no confidence in Stevens in the house, which unexpectedly passed by two votes, owing to the absence of several ministers. On 3 August Stevens tendered his resignation to the Governor, Lord Wakehurst, but was granted several days to remain until his successor was chosen.[12] Upon the resignation, Spooner was touted as Stevens' possible successor until Deputy Premier Bruxner refused to form a coalition government with Spooner, who was opposed to Country Party influence, while Stevens attempted to gather support for Mair. At a party meeting on 5 August, Spooner chose not to nominate and Mair defeated Athol Richardson 18 votes to 6, becoming Leader of the United Australia Party and was sworn in as Premier by Lord Wakehurst on the same day.[13]
Premier of New South Wales
Inheriting an increasingly dysfunctional government and a deteriorating financial situation, Mair moved swiftly to combat party disunity but re-establishing the backbench policy committees that had fallen into disuse under Stevens. Mair called regular party meetings and his conciliatory manner soon united his formerly dysfunctional party. It was this party discipline and unity that was to be the hallmark of Mair's premiership.[14] Identifying several key areas of reform, Mair moved to combat the economic situation by steeply raising taxation but also provided for a certain proportion of capital raised by wages and income tax to be spent on unemployment and social relief. Other areas included amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act, assistance for country racing clubs and the providing of health and safety measures in coal mines.[15] Despite this, Mair remained loyal to former leader Bertram Stevens. While speaking in Albury on 14 August, he commented: "What I learned under his capable leadership will be turned to the benefit of New South Wales."[16]
Mair extensively reshuffled his cabinet, announcing the new ministry on 16 August. Among the appointments included
Mair's choice in Justice Minister Vernon Treatt proved problematic when it was alleged that he had acted to reduce fines for certain companies that had sold low-quality bread to the Defence Department. Despite a Royal Commission clearing Treatt of any wrongdoing, public confidence in the Mair Government had plummeted. At the campaign for the 10 May 1941 election, Mair performed poorly, finding it difficult to distinguish himself from his predecessor and proposing policies but only promising action after the war. McKell's Labor Party did the opposite, leaving war matters to the federal government and promising current reforms. At the election, the Labor Party polled more than half the vote while Bruxner's Country Party lost nine seats and Mair's UAP lost twenty seats: twelve to Labor, seven to independents and one to redistribution.[18] Mair himself retained his seat with 52.47%.[19] The conservative political forces would not take government again until under Robert Askin in 1965.
Later career
Opposition
Mair now became
Following the electoral defeat, Mair played a central role in the negotiations to merge the conservative parties to form
He served as the second
After politics
Mair now retired from politics and returned to his property in Albury, but witnessed the loss of his former seat to the Labor Party at the 9 November by-election.[25] Mair, however, then assisted in returning his seat to the Liberal Party at the May 1947 election. In 1948, he sold 'Rockwood'.[15]
Returning to Melbourne in 1949, Mair took up various business and organisation positions, including as a board member of the Melbourne Dental Hospital, a national councillor for the
Almost a quarter of a century after he left Parliament, Mair died on 3 August 1969 in his St Kilda home, survived by his wife, two sons and daughter.[3]
References
- ^ a b "The Hon. Alexander Mair (1889–1969)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ Clune. p. 237.
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ a b c Clune. p. 238.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1932 Albury". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Mair's Money". Northern Standard. 30 July 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 3 January 2011 – via Trove.
- ^ Clune. p. 239.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1935 Albury". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1938 Albury". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Clune. p. 240.
- ^ "Mr. Spooner Resigns From Cabinet". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 July 1939. p. 11. Retrieved 3 January 2011 – via Trove.
- ^ "Mr. Stevens Resigns". The Mercury. 3 August 1939. p. 1. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Mr. A. Mair New Premier". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 August 1939. p. 11. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ a b Clune. p. 242.
- ^ a b c Clune. p. 243.
- ^ "Spreading the burden – Premier's policy", Sydney Morning Herald 14 August 1939 p13
- ^ Clune. p. 244.
- ^ Clune. pp. 245–246.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1941 Albury". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "New Party and Mr Menzies". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 January 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Mr Mair resigns". Sydney Morning Herald 10 February 1944 p4. Australian National Library. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1944 Albury". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Clune. p. 247.
- ^ "1946 Senate – New South Wales". Adam Carr. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
- ^ Green, Antony. "1946 Albury by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "No. 38539". The London Gazette. 12 January 1949. p. 817.
Bibliography
- Clune, David; Turner, Ken (2006). "Alexander Mair". The Premiers of New South Wales 1856–2005. Vol. 2, 1901–2005. Sydney: Federation Press. pp. 237–246. ISBN 9781862875494.