Andrew William Lacey (19 October 1887 – 24 August 1946) was the 22nd

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...

from 1933 to 1938, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Lacey was previously the Labor member for the seat of

Grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

from 1922 to 1931.

Early life

Irish Protestant Protestantism is a Christian minority on the island of Ireland. In the 2011 census of Northern Ireland, 48% (883,768) described themselves as Protestant, which was a decline of approximately 5% from the 2001 census. In the 2011 census of the ...

heritage, Lacey was born in

Terowie, South Australia Terowie (formerly Gottliebs Well and Shebbear) is a small town in the Mid North region of South Australia located north of the state capital of Adelaide. It is located in the Regional Council of Goyder. Terowie retains a number of authentic and ...

to labourer George Lacey and his wife Mary Ellen, attended the local public school and became one of the area's leading sprinters before commencing work in the

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

smelters.

Politics

Following his marriage to Helene Clara Welke on 13 October 1908, Lacey became increasingly involved in the trade union movement and was employed as the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

organiser at the smelter from 1916 to 1922. His high profile in the smelters led to his election to Port Pirie Municipal Council in 1920, a position he held until 1922 when he successfully stood as the Labor candidate for the Federal

Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir George Grey, who wa ...

against the incumbent

Alexander Poynton Alexander Poynton OBE (8 August 1853 – 9 January 1935) was an Australian politician. He held ministerial office under Prime Minister Billy Hughes, serving as Treasurer (1916–1917), Minister for Home and Territories (1920–1921), and Postm ...

, a former Labor member who left the party over

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

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 ...

. As a member of the opposition, Lacey was appointed in 1924 to the select committee investigating the operation of the Navigation Act, and served as a member of the Public Works Committee from 1925. Following the ALP victory at the 1929 election, Lacey was made Chair of the Public Works Committee. Lacey was unlucky enough to be in government when the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

affected Australia. He was swept out in Labor's heavy defeat at the 1931 election, but remained involved in politics, being re-elected to Port Pirie Municipal Council in 1932 and elected to the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

Electoral district of Port Pirie Port Pirie was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia from 1915 to 1970. Port Pirie was abolished after a boundary redistribution in 1970 when the Electoral district of Pirie was created. The ...

at the 1933 state election. At this time, the Labor Party was split into three factions; Official Labor, Premiers' Plan Labor and

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. Following the expulsion of the N ...

, who all had different plans on combating the Depression. Lacey was leader of Official Labor, the largest Labor faction following the election, and became

. As leader, Lacey advocated nationalising the banks and greater support for the unemployed. Regarded as "an affable people's man", he also played a leading role in reuniting the three factions in 1934 and remained Labor leader until 1938 when he stepped aside to become deputy leader under Robert Richards.

Death

Lacey died of heart disease in 1946. Survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter, Lacey was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Andrew Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grey 1887 births 1946 deaths People from Port Pirie Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians