Mal Colston
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2008) |
Mal Colston | |
---|---|
Deputy President of the Senate | |
In office 20 August 1996 – 6 May 1997 | |
President | Margaret Reid |
Preceded by | Margaret Reid |
Succeeded by | Sue West |
In office 21 August 1990 – 16 August 1993 | |
President | Kerry Sibraa |
Preceded by | David Hamer |
Succeeded by | Noel Crichton-Browne |
Father of the Senate | |
In office 1 July 1993 – 30 June 1999 Serving with Brian Harradine[a] | |
Preceded by | Peter Durack |
Succeeded by | Brian Harradine |
Senator for Queensland | |
In office 13 December 1975 – 30 June 1999 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | 5 April 1938
Died | 23 August 2003 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | (aged 65)
Political party |
|
Spouse | Dawn Patricia McMullen |
Children | 1 |
Alma mater | University of Queensland |
Occupation |
|
Malcolm Arthur Colston (5 April 1938 – 23 August 2003) was an Australian politician who served as a
Early life
Colston was born in Brisbane on 5 April 1938. He was the son of Myrtle Clorine Ruby, née Wenck)( and Douglas Thomas Colston. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a carpenter.[1]
Colston attended Mitchelton State School and
After completing his doctorate, Colston joined the
Early political involvement
Early candidacies
Colston joined the Australian Labor Party in 1958 at the age of 19, following his parents into the party. He unsuccessfully sought ALP preselection for the seat of Cooroora prior to the 1963 Queensland state election. He first stood for federal parliament at the 1970 Senate election, placed third on the ALP ticket.[1]
Colston unsuccessfully sought Senate preselection prior to the
Role in 1975 constitutional crisis
Colston indirectly played a role in the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
On 30 June 1975, Queensland ALP Senator Bert Milliner died suddenly. The Labor Party nominated Colston to fill the casual vacancy in the Senate. The Constitution provides that a Senate casual vacancy is filled by a person chosen by the relevant state parliament. Although not a constitutional requirement until 1977, it was long a convention for the state parliament to choose a person nominated by the departing Senator's political party. However, the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, claimed that Colston was a "dangerous socialist" and refused to appoint him. Officially, though, Bjelke-Petersen expressed doubts over Colston's integrity and instead appointed Albert Field, a member of the Labor Party who was staunchly opposed to the policies of the Gough Whitlam Labor government.[4]
The ALP challenged Field's appointment in the High Court, and Field was on leave from the Senate almost from the day of his appointment. That gave the Coalition a greater advantage and so was one of the crucial events that led to the dismissal of the Whitlam government.
Senator for Queensland (1975–1999)
Labor Senator
At the ensuing 1975 election, Colston was elected as a Labor senator. He continued to serve in that capacity until 1996.
From 1993 to his retirement, he was a joint
Resignation from Labor Party
After the
Travel allowances scandal
In 1997, Colston was charged by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions with 28 charges of defrauding the Commonwealth by allegedly misusing his parliamentary travel allowance. He then revealed that he was suffering from cancer. Prosecution was not pursued after medical opinion was provided that Colston was unlikely to live long enough for a trial to be completed. In the event, he survived for a further six years. He retired from the Senate at the end of his term.
Death and estate
Colston died of colon cancer in 2003. He had appointed his wife, Dawn Colston, as executor and trustee of his will, but she died eleven months later, before she could dispose of her husband's will. She had appointed her brother, Brian McMullen, as executor of her will.
The Colstons' son, Douglas Colston, claimed that he was entitled to half the income of his parents' estates, and initiated action against McMullen. The case was ongoing, as of September 2011.[6] As of 2022, the outcome of this case is unknown.
Notwithstanding the controversies that he generated after his defection from Labor, Colston requested that no condolence motion be moved in the Senate after his death.[1]
References
Notes
- ^ From 1 September 1998
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Saunders, Malcolm; Lloyd, Neil (2017). "COLSTON, Malcolm Arthur (1938–2003) – Senator for Queensland, 1976–99 (Australian Labor Party; Independent)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Colston, Mal (1970). Motivation in the elementary school: a study of the effects of variables in the classroom on the arousal of pupil's motives to achieve success and to avoid failure (Ph.D. thesis). University of Queensland Graduate School of Education.
- ^ Dickenson, Jacqueline (2007). "Mal Colston: The worst rat of the lot?". Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010.
- Sydney Morning Herald, 26-Aug-2003
- ^ The Age
- ^ Oberhardt, Mark (24 April 2012). "Court of Appeal grants son of Senator Mal Colston fresh rights to pursue control of estate". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Further reading
- Saunders, Malcolm; Lloyd, Neil (2010). "Holding Australia to Ransom: The Colston Affair, 1996–2003". Queensland Review. 17 (1): 59–74. S2CID 146497147.