Jim Houghton (politician)

Queensland Legislative Assembly for Redcliffe
In office 28 May 1960 – 7 Aug 1979
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Terry White
Personal details
Born	James Edward Hiram Houghton (1911-09-13)13 September 1911 Liberal Party
Spouse	Mary Auld Shinnie (m.1938 d.1989)
Occupation	Real estate agent

James Edward Hiram Houghton (13 September 1911 – 21 January 1985) was a member of the

Biography

Houghton was born in

At the outbreak of

On 24 February 1938 Houghton married Mary Auld Shinnie (died 1989)[4] and together had two sons and two daughters. He died in January 1985^[1] and was buried in the Redcliffe Cemetery.^[4]

Public career

From 1955 to 1964, Houghton was the mayor of the

in 1961 but was only a member of the party for a few months before again becoming an Independent and in 1962 he re-joined the Country Party whom he represented for the rest of his political career.

He went on to represent the electorate until his resignation from politics in August 1979. He was the Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1974 until 1979.^[1] He had only been speaker for 55 minutes^[2] before ejecting the Labor member for Mourilyan Peter Moore for continual interjections.^[5] As Speaker, Houghton particularly rejected members who used parliamentary privilege to make unfounded allegations. In his maiden speech, Mr Houghton gave notice of his interest in keeping debate within the bounds of parliamentary dignity. In the speech he castigated members who used the Chamber as a place where, under parliamentary privilege, they could denigrate a person or organisation. He was particularly critical of members who, having made allegations, refused to make information available outside the House to assist police investigations.^[2]

Houghton worked hard to have the toll on the

References

Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by Bill Longeran	Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 1974–1979	Succeeded by Selwyn Muller
New seat	Member for Redcliffe 1960–1979	Succeeded by Terry White