Adair Macalister Blain (21 November 1894 – 28 April 1983) was an Australian politician and soldier. He represented the

Division of Northern Territory The Division of Northern Territory was an Australian Electoral Division in the Northern Territory for the Parliament of Australia. Throughout its existence, it was the only Division in the Northern Territory. At the redistribution of 21 Decembe ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1934 to 1949, albeit with limited voting rights. He enlisted in the army during World War II and was captured by the Japanese after the

Fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire o ...

, the only serving member of parliament to become a prisoner of war.

Early life

Born in

Inverell, New South Wales Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the ...

, Blain was educated in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

(he was a foundation student at

Perth Modern School , motto_translation = Knowledge is Power , location = Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , coordinates = , mapframe-stroke-colour = #C60C30 , mapframe-marker-co ...

when it opened in 1911) and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and worked as a surveyor in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

.ed. Carment, D., Maynard, R. et al. (1990) ''Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography'' Vol. 1, Northern Territory University Press: Casuarina. Following the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Blain served as a corporal in the 32nd Battalion of the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Au ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

from 1916 to 1919, during which he was wounded twice. Returning from Europe, Blain worked as a surveyor in Northern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

before moving to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

in 1929 to become the Darwin area surveyor.

Politics

Blain's work took him throughout northern Australia, giving him the opportunity to gain a high profile, which he used at the 1934 federal election, when, standing as an independent for the

, Blain defeated the incumbent

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member Harold Nelson. During the 1934 election campaign Blain promised to resign from parliament if the Northern Territory representative was not granted full voting rights in parliament. He reneged on this promise but continued to campaign for greater Territory control of Northern Territory affairs. After changing his year of birth to 1897, Blain enrolled in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and served as a sergeant in the 2/12 Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers (part of the ill-fated 8th Division, AIF) and sent to Malaya. Captured by the Japanese following the

in 1942, Blain was a

Prisoner of War A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

, first in Singapore and later in Sandakan,

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

, until his release in September 1945.Lumb, M., Bennett, S. et al. (2007) ''Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war'', Research Brief, Australian Government Department of Parliamentary Services. 26 March 2007, no. 10, 2006–07 During his time as a POW in Borneo he was tortured by the Japanese military police for planning to escape and sentenced to eighteen months in prison. Blain remains the only serving member of the House of Representatives to have been a Prisoner of War. Blain returned to Australia, and upon re-entering the House, wearing his uniform, was the subject of a standing ovation from his fellow members. He was then ordered to return to hospital where he spent the next two months recovering before returning to parliament. Although officially an Independent, Blain worked closely with the Country PartySouter, G. (1988) ''Acts of Parliament: A Narrative History of the Senate and House of Representatives'', Melbourne University Press: Melbourne. . and while he was absent on wartime duties, Blain asked the Country Party member for Barker,

Archie Cameron Archie Galbraith Cameron (22 March 18959 August 1956) was an Australian politician. He was a government minister under Joseph Lyons and Robert Menzies, leader of the Country Party from 1939 to 1940, and finally Speaker of the House of Represe ...

to act on his behalf. While serving as a POW, Blain was re-elected unopposed to his Northern Territory seat at the 1943 election, and elected again in 1946 before losing his seat at the 1949 election to Labor challenger

Jock Nelson John Norman Nelson (28 May 1908 – 20 June 1991) was an Australian politician. Born in Bundaberg, Queensland, he was the son of politician Harold Nelson. Jock Nelson was educated at state schools in Darwin before becoming a jackeroo an ...

(the son of Harold Nelson, who Blain defeated in 1934).

Later life

Following his defeat, Blain moved to New South Wales to work as a surveyor. The Northern Territory

Electoral division of Blain Blain is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1997 and is named after Adair Blain, the second member for the federal Northern Territory electorate, and the only Australian ...

is named for him. Actor

Brian Blain Brian Donald Blain (13 September 1936 – July 1994) was an Australian actor, best known for his roles in numerous TV series and films starting from the early 1970's. Career Blain is best remembered for his role in the Seven Network soap opera ...

is his nephew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blain, Adair 1894 births 1983 deaths Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Northern Territory Australian Army officers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian prisoners of war People educated at Perth Modern School World War II prisoners of war held by Japan 20th-century Australian politicians