Sir Archie Reuben Louis Michaelis (19 December 1889 – 22 April 1975) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

from 1932 to 1952, representing the electorate of St Kilda for the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

and its successor. the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Early life

Michaelis was born in St Kilda into a wealthy Jewish family who owned the successful leather tannery Michaelis, Hallenstein & Co. The family home was the historic mansion Linden on Acland Street, now a contemporary arts centre. He attended Wesley College and Cumloden School in St Kilda, until 1903 when his family took him to England to be educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

.Levi, J. S.
'Michaelis, Sir Archie Reuben Louis (1889–1975)'
''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 23 February 2012. In 1908, Michaelis returned to Melbourne, where he began working for the family business, and in 1912 he returned to England to work in the company's London office. He was in England when World War I broke out, and he immediately enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, serving with the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

in the Middle East and in 1916 was commissioned in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

in which he served in Ireland and Greece.

Political career

At the 1932 Victorian election, Michaelis was elected to the

representing the seat of St Kilda for the

(later to become the

). He was made a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

Ian MacFarlan Ian Macfarlan (born John Robert Macfarlan; 21 November 1881 – 19 March 1964) was the Deputy Leader of the Australian Liberal Party in the Australian state of Victoria during 1945. He was briefly commissioned as the 35th Premier of Victor ...

's "stop-gap" ministry from October to November 1945. In June 1950, Michaelis was elected

Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria. The presiding officer of the upper house of the Parliament of Vict ...

. He was knighted in the 1952 New Year Honours. In October 1952, he was one of six members of the Victorian parliament who made

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...

s to

Liberal and Country Party The Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), branded as Liberal Victoria, and commonly known as the Victorian Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1949 as ...

leader Les Norman that they had been offered financial and political incentives by representatives of

Thomas Hollway Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lead ...

, a disaffected MP and former

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

, who needed parliamentary support for a planned

motion of no-confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

against the governing Country Party led by John McDonald. Michaelis stated that he had been approached by a man named Raymond Ellinson, who offered him the position of Agent-General, another term as Speaker, and immunity from opposition in the next election. A Royal Commission was established to investigate the charges against Hollway, but it was postponed indefinitely on a legal technicality and never reconvened. In the subsequent state election in December 1952, Michaelis was defeated by the Labor Party candidate John Bourke, and retired from politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaelis, Archie 1889 births 1975 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Speakers of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian Knights Bachelor People educated at Harrow School British Army personnel of World War I Honourable Artillery Company soldiers Royal Field Artillery officers Jewish Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians People from St Kilda, Victoria Australian expatriates in England Military personnel from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne