Magnus Cormack
Victoria | |
---|---|
In office 1 July 1962 – 30 June 1978 | |
In office 28 April 1951 – 30 June 1953 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Wick, Caithness, Scotland | 12 February 1906
Died | 26 November 1994 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | (aged 88)
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse |
Mavis Macmeikan (m. 1935) |
Sir Magnus Cameron Cormack
Cormack was born in the Scottish Highlands and came to Australia as a child. He grew up in
Early life
Cormack was born on 12 February 1906 in
During the Great Depression, Cormack went into dairy farming. In later life he observed "I had three dairy farms, and I lost money on every one of them, so I claim to know something about dairying". By 1934, he and his brothers John and William had acquired Koijak, a grazing property near Apsley, Victoria, close to the South Australian border. On 22 November 1935, Cormack married Mary Isabel Macmeikan (known as Mavis) at the registrar's office in Melbourne; she was a divorcee. The couple had four children together.[1]
Military service
Cormack enlisted in the
Early political involvement
Cormack was a member of the
Senator
At the
Cormack won first place on the Coalition ticket at the
After the disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt in 1967, Cormack played a role in John Gorton's ascension to the prime ministership. Their association dated back to the 1940s, when Cormack had helped recruit Gorton into the Liberal Party. According to Alan Reid, Liberal MPs "filed in and out of Cormack's room, some from other states, as votes for Gorton were lined up during the leadership struggle".[6] The Liberal Party senators formed Gorton's power base, and Cormack helped keep them on-side during William McMahon's leadership challenges. Reid described him as "a manoeuvrer who preferred to work in the shadows than in strong sunlight".[7]
President of the Senate
Following the retirement of Alister McMullin, Cormack was elected President of the Senate on 17 August 1971, defeating Labor's Justin O'Byrne by 31 votes to 26.[8] He had earlier defeated Reg Withers to become the Coalition's nominee for the position, despite Withers having the support of Prime Minister William McMahon.[9] As president, Cormack was known as a defender of parliamentary sovereignty over the executive. He strongly supported the expansion of the committee system, which was a relatively recent innovation, and believed the Senate should function "largely as a committee chamber" rather than simply mirroring the House of Representatives. Fearing it was "degenerating into a propaganda forum", Cormack introduced new conventions for question time, allowing government ministers to terminate questions without notice and refusing to allow questions to be directed to assistant ministers. He also allowed ministers to cut short debate on a bill by simply moving that it be considered "urgent".[1]
The Labor Party did not secure a majority in the Senate at the 1972 federal election, despite winning government. Cormack was re-elected to the presidency with the support of the Democratic Labor Party's five senators. While presiding over the chamber he was generally regarded as fair and impartial – Labor's John Wheeldon regarded him as "completely non-partisan".[1] In January 1973, he refused a request from the Liberal Party to unilaterally recall the Senate, stating he would only do so on the advice of the government.[10] Cormack played a role in the "Gair Affair" of 1974, which had implications for the Whitlam government's ability to pass legislation through the Senate. He refused to accept Vince Gair's purported resignation letter, instead judging it to be ambiguous and allowing the Senate to debate whether it should be accepted.[1]
After the 1974 election, the balance of power in the Senate was shared by
Later years
In August 1974, Cormack and
In March 1975, Cormack held a dinner party at his flat in
After leaving parliament, Cormack served as the chairman of
Cormack died in Melbourne on 26 November 1994, aged 88, after years of ill health. A memorial service was held at Old Parliament House.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Browne, Geoffrey. "CORMACK, Sir Magnus Cameron (1906–1994)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Church, Nathan; Gobbett, Hannah; Speldewinde, Simon (2016). "Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war: the Second World War". Australian Parliamentary Library: Research Papers 2016–17.
- ^ "Dutch N.G. Urged For Australia". The Herald. 18 April 1950.
- ^ Philip Ayres (1987). Malcolm Fraser: A Biography. William Heinemann Australia. pp. 54–56.
- ^ "No. 45000". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1970. p. 36.
- ^ Alan Reid (1971). The Gorton Experiment. Shakespeare Head Press. p. 189.
- ^ Reid (1971), p. 355.
- ^ "Sir Magnus Cormack President of Senate". The Canberra Times. 18 August 1971.
- ^ "Two setbacks for Mr McMahon". The Canberra Times. 17 August 1971.
- ^ "Request for recall of Senate refused". The Canberra Times. 11 January 1973.
- ^ "Senator Wood to Contest Presidency". The Canberra Times. 8 July 1974.
- ^ "ALP nominee gets Senate presidency". The Canberra Times. 10 July 1974.
- ^ "The lost art of crossing the floor". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 August 2006.
- ^ Ayres (1987), pp. 246–248.
- ^ Pamela Williams (24 July 2017). "Deal behind the treasure chest that's tearing the Liberals apart". The Australian. Retrieved 21 August 2018.