Ted Theodore

The Honourable Ted Theodore
Treasurer of Australia
In office 29 January 1931 – 6 January 1932
Prime Minister	James Scullin
Preceded by	James Scullin
Succeeded by	Joseph Lyons
In office 22 October 1929 – 9 June 1930
Prime Minister	James Scullin
Preceded by	Earle Page
Succeeded by	James Scullin
Deputy Leader of the Labor Party
In office 5 February 1929 – 19 December 1931
Leader	James Scullin
Preceded by	Arthur Blakeley
Succeeded by	Frank Forde
Member of Parliament for Dalley
In office 26 February 1927 – 19 December 1931
Preceded by	William Mahony
Succeeded by	Sol Rosevear
20th Premier of Queensland
In office 22 October 1919 – 26 February 1925
Monarch	George V
Deputy	John Fihelly William Gillies
Governor	Hamilton Goold-Adams Matthew Nathan
Preceded by	T. J. Ryan
Succeeded by	William Gillies
4th Deputy Premier of Queensland
In office 1 June 1915 – 22 October 1919
Premier	T. J. Ryan
Preceded by	Thomas O'Sullivan
Succeeded by	John Fihelly
State cabinet posts Secretary for Public Works In office 8 February 1922 – 6 October 1922 Preceded by John Fihelly Succeeded by William Forgan Smith In office 1 June 1915 – 22 October 1919 Premier T. J. Ryan Preceded by T. J. Ryan Succeeded by Walter Barnes
State party positions Deputy Leader of the Labor Party in Queensland In office 7 September 1912 – 22 October 1919 Preceded by T. J. Ryan Succeeded by John Fihelly
State electorates Member of the Legislative Assembly for Chillagoe In office 2 October 1909 – 27 April 1912 Preceded by Michael Woods Succeeded by Seat abolished
Personal details
Born	Edward Granville Theodore[a] (1884-12-29)29 December 1884 Port Adelaide, Province of South Australia, British Empire
Died	9 February 1950(1950-02-09) (aged 65) Edgecliff, New South Wales, Australia
Resting place	South Head Cemetery, Bronte
Political party	Labor
Spouse	Esther Mahoney ​ (m. 1909)​
Relations	Stephen (brother)
Children	4

Edward Granville Theodore (29 December 1884 – 9 February 1950) was an Australian politician who served as

In 1929, Theodore was elected deputy leader to James Scullin. He became Treasurer and de facto Deputy Prime Minister after the 1929 election, but resigned after less than a year amid accusations of corruption. Theodore returned as a Treasurer in early 1931, and served until the government's landslide defeat at the 1931 election, where he lost his own seat. He had little success in combating the Great Depression, and disputes over economic policy led to a party split and several defections to Lang Labor and the United Australia Party. Theodore was only 47 when he left politics, and went on to have a successful business career as a partner of Frank Packer.

Theodore was born on 29 December 1884 in

Theodore founded the Amalgamated Workers' Association with Bill McCormack. This union used the process and principle of amalgamation to unify with other unions until it became Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union (AWU). Theodore became Queensland state president of the AWU in 1913. Meanwhile, he had been elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Woothakata from 1909 to 1912 for the Australian Labor Party and subsequently from 1912 to 1925 in Chillagoe (the seat of Woothakata renamed).^[5][6] His position in the AWU made him a power in the Parliamentary Labor Party, and when Labor won a majority in the Assembly for the first time in 1915, he became Treasurer and Secretary for Public Works in the government of T. J. Ryan.^[7]

In 1919, Ryan resigned and Theodore succeeded him as Premier of Queensland, then Australia's only Labor state government, following the great split in the Labor Party over the issue of

In 1925, Theodore resigned as Premier and stood for the Queensland seat of Herbert in the federal election, but was unexpectedly defeated by Lewis Nott by 268 votes.^[9]

Theodore was elected to the House of Representatives for the seat of Dalley in Sydney at a 1927 by-election. His status as an outsider in Sydney Labor politics was a permanent problem for him, but he soon made his mark in federal Parliament. In 1929 he became Deputy Leader of the Labor Party and Deputy Opposition Leader under James Scullin. In October 1929 Scullin defeated the conservative government of Stanley Bruce and became Prime Minister, while Theodore became Treasurer and de facto Deputy Prime Minister.^{[citation needed]}

Two days after the Scullin government was sworn in,

During 1931 Theodore faced the greatest economic crisis in Australian history. The government imported an advisor from the

Theodore rejected both these alternatives and proposed instead an expansion of credit to farmers and small business, through the issue of "fiduciary notes" which could be redeemed after the Depression. His Fiduciary Notes Bill was denounced as financially unsound by orthodox economists and the banks. It was eventually defeated in the Senate, which was still controlled by the conservative opposition. Theodore has been described as a visionary proto-Keynesian for this proposal, although it cannot be known what effect his measures would have had on the Depression had the bill been passed.^{[citation needed]}

In March 1931, Lang's supporters in Parliament deserted the main body of Labor. Combined with the defection of Lyons and his supporters a few weeks earlier, this cost Scullin his majority. In November, the UAP and Langites rose to defeat the government on a non-confidence motion, and an election was held in December. Theodore had no base of support in Sydney and he lost his seat to Lang candidate Sol Rosevear. This ended Theodore's political career, although during the 1930s several offers were made to him to return.^{[citation needed]}

He was the only sitting treasurer to lose his seat until Josh Frydenberg in 2022.^{[citation needed]}

Theodore left politics entirely after his defeat.^[12] In 1932, Theodore began a business relationship with 25-year-old Frank Packer, the son of newspaper industry veteran R. C. Packer. The duo formed Sydney Newspapers Limited with the aim of acquiring The World, a daily newspaper published by the Australian Workers' Union that was known to be in financial difficulties. For £100, they acquired the rights to lease the masthead and plant for one year. It was subsequently announced that the newspaper would be re-branded as The Star and would be priced at 1d (one penny), compared with 1½d for its major rival The Sun, published by Associated Newspapers Limited. Hugh Denison, the managing director of Associated Newspapers, paid Theodore and Packer £86,500 in return for an agreement for them not to publish a daily or Sunday newspaper for three years.^{[13][page needed]}

Theodore invested most of his profits back into Associated Newspapers, buying shares at a low price and selling them later for a 500–600% return.

In 1933, Theodore learned that gold had been found in Fiji on the island of Viti Levu. The area of interest had been pegged by Bill Borthwick and leased by Pat Costello, both of whom had connections with Queensland. Theodore contacted Costello, an old acquaintance, about the find, and offered to finance further exploration of the area. He formed a syndicate with Frank Packer, John Wren, and Wren's associate Patrick Cody, with each of them holding a quarter stake.^[16] Geological findings were initially unfavourable. Eventually three mines were established – Emperor, Loloma and Dolphin – with Theodore as managing director of all three. Their success sparked a minor gold rush, but by the end of 1936 the three mines were the only ones remaining. By 1943 Loloma alone had yielded $10 million worth of gold and paid over $2 million in dividends.^[17]

Theodore took a keen interest in the welfare of the miners. He advised the government on the creation of medical benefits and workers' compensation schemes, while the company town had three schools, a golf course, a bowling green, tennis courts, a dispensary and a maternity hospital.^[18] Due to his success in Fiji, Theodore was approached by the British administrations in Borneo and the Solomon Islands to lead prospecting expeditions.^[18] Neither were successful, and he contracted malaria while in Borneo; upon his return, he was presented with a tabua (polished whale's tooth) and elevated to the chiefly rank of ratu. Theodore took up full-time residence in Fiji, returning to Australia only for business trips and trout-fishing. He had a residence 10 miles (16 km) outside of Suva, and while at the mines lived in a bure.^[19]

In March 1939, Prime Minister Joseph Lyons cabled Theodore in Fiji, asking him to return to Australia and co-ordinate the country's national resources for defence purposes. However, due to Lyons' defection from Labor being a key contributor to Theodore's political demise, Theodore therefore declined, stating that "in the absence of some emergency involving the national safety, I would like to keep out of politics".^[20] In the event however Lyons' offer became moot when he died the following month April before anything could be arranged.^[21] In May 1940, the Loan Council offered him the position of coordinator of works. This proved highly controversial among members of the government, and Prime Minister Robert Menzies issued a statement explaining that the offer had been made entirely by the Loan Council and would have to be ratified by cabinet.^[22] Theodore eventually agreed in February 1942 to oversee the creation of the Allied Works Council, with himself as Director-General of Allied Works. He subsequently established the Civil Constructional Corps (CCC) to undertake construction work requested by the military.^[23]

Theodore faced criticism and political interference from his former opponents in the ALP, particularly Jack Lang and Eddie Ward, the Minister for Labour and National Service. He requested that the Department of Labour and National Service provide the CCC with lists of men available for work, but Ward refused to allow the information to be issued. The corps had to resort to telephone directories and electoral rolls in order to recruit sufficient workers. Ward then attacked Theodore for calling up elderly and deceased men.^[24] In September 1942, Theodore tendered his resignation to Curtin, citing Ward's lack of cooperation.^[25] Curtin relaxed political controls and gave him additional powers, including the ability to prosecute men who refused to work. He rescinded his resignation and eventually left the position in October 1944.^[26]

Theodore was a delegate to the Imperial Press Conference in London in 1946. He resumed his work in Fiji and considered moving there permanently. However, the following year he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. His health declined rapidly and he began handing business responsibilities to his children; he resigned from ACP in January 1949.^[26]

After several days in a coma, Theodore died at his flat in

Theodore married Esther Mahoney on 20 December 1909. She worked as a photographic tinter and was the daughter of a cabinetmaker from Toowoomba.^[30] The couple had two sons and two daughters.^[7] She was eleven years his senior. The couple were estranged at the time of Theodore's death in 1950.^[31] After Ted's death his son John assumed charge of the family's joint business interests with Frank Packer and he became the first managing director of Channel 9.^{[citation needed]}

The Mungana affair likely cost Theodore a chance to become prime minister, and would "irreparably taint his reputation during his lifetime and beyond". Historian Ross Fitzgerald has called him "the most talented Labor politician never to be prime minister of Australia", and noted that his admirers include Paul Keating, Bob Katter, and Jack Lang (his former opponent).^[32]

The following things were named after Theodore:

• Theodore, a town in the Shire of Banana^[33]
• Queensland Legislative Assembly created in the 2017 Queensland state electoral redistribution^[34]
• Theodore, suburb of Canberra^[35]

Sources

• ISBN 0702226491
  .
• Young, Irwin (1971). Theodore: His Life and Times. Alpha Books.
  ISBN 0855530642
  .

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ted Theodore.

• Kennedy, Kett (1978). The Mungana Affair: State Mining and Political Corruption in the 1920s (PDF). University of Queensland Press.
  ISBN 0702210285
  .

Political offices
Preceded by T. J. Ryan	Premier of Queensland 1919–1925	Succeeded by William Gillies
Preceded by Dr Earle Page	Treasurer of Australia 1929–1930	Succeeded by James Scullin
Preceded by James Scullin	Treasurer of Australia 1931–1932	Succeeded by Joseph Lyons
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by Michael Woods	Member for Woothakata 1909–1912	Succeeded by Abolished
Preceded by New Division	Member for Chillagoe 1912–1925	Succeeded by John O'Keefe
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by William Mahony	Member for Dalley 1927–1931	Succeeded by Sol Rosevear
Party political offices
Preceded by T. J. Ryan	Leader of the Labor Party in Queensland 1919–1925	Succeeded by William Gillies
Preceded by Arthur Blakeley	Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party 1929–1931	Succeeded by Frank Forde