Major Clarence Edward Martin (2 February 1900 – 5 September 1953) was an Australian politician and a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1930 until 1932 and from 1939 until his death in 1953. He was variously a member of the

Australian Labor Party (NSW) 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 ...

, the

Industrial Labor Party The Industrial Labor Party or Heffron Labor Party was a short-lived but influential political party active in New South Wales between 1936 and 1939. It was a splinter group of the Labor Party (ALP) and was formed by Bob Heffron after he and Carl ...

and the Labor Party (ALP). He was the Attorney General of New South Wales from 1941 until 1953 and also held the position of Minister for Transport for six months prior to his death.

Early life

Martin was born in Ballarat, Victoria and was the son of a miner. He was educated at state schools in Broken Hill, New South Wales and was orphaned at an early age. He initially worked in the Broken Hill mines but continued his education privately. At age 17 he moved to Sydney, underwent teacher training and taught in state schools in rural NSW while continuing part-time studies in economics at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

. During the period he was out of parliament he studied law at the university. Martin graduated and was called to the bar on the motion of

Richard Windeyer Richard Windeyer (10 August 1806 – 2 December 1847) was a journalist, barrister and Australian politician. Early life Richard Windeyer was born in London, the eldest of nine children of Charles Windeyer, first recognised reporter in the House ...

in 1936, in 1952 he was appointed a Queen's Counsel. He was the founder of the NSW branch of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

and a trustee of the State Library of New South Wales. He served in the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initia ...

in New Guinea and the Middle East for 4 years and reached the rank of Major.

State Parliament

Martin entered the New South Wales Parliament at the

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

state election as the labor member for

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

. He defeated the sitting Country Party member Albert Reid and his victory helped Labor form a government under Premier Jack Lang. However, he was defeated in the

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...

landslide that ended Lang's premiership. During his time as the member for Young, Martin was active in forming and working with the Socialisation Units of the ALP. These Units promoted a transition to "socialism in our time" in the midst of the Depression crisis, which led him into conflict with Lang and his followers. By the mid-1930s, while still out of Parliament, he was a recognised leader of the left-wing forces inside the ALP. He was a supporter of rebel union-backed Labor Party, the

, and stood as their candidate at the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

caused by the death of 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 ...

member for

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

, John Waddell. His victory and that of

Clive Evatt Clive Raleigh Evatt (6 June 1900 – 15 September 1984) was an Australian politician, barrister and raconteur. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1939 until 1959. At various times he sat as a member of the Industr ...

in a

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

were seen as evidence of Lang's declining power. Within a few months of Martin's entry into parliament, the Industrial Labor Party was re-admitted into the ALP caucus and Lang was replaced as

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

William McKell Sir William John McKell (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947 ...

. The Federal Executive of the Labor Party intervened in the NSW Branch to convene a unity conference, which effectively removed Lang and his followers from control.

Government

With the election of the Labor government of

at the 1941 election, Martin was appointed as the

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. In September 1949, the serving Deputy Premier,

Jack Baddeley John Marcus Baddeley (20 November 1881 – 1 July 1953) was an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 25 March 1922 to 8 September 1949. Early life Baddeley was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, England ...

, announced his retirement from parliament and Martin stood to succeed him as deputy. At the caucus meeting on 21 September, Martin was defeated in his bid by the Secretary for Public Works and Local Government,

Joseph Cahill John Joseph Cahill (21 January 189122 October 1959), also known as Joe Cahill or J. J. Cahill, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, railway worker, trade unionist and Labor Party Premier of New South Wales from 1952 to his death in 1 ...

, 21 votes to 20, but took on the new cabinet post of Minister for Co-operative Societies. Cahill bested Martin again when

James McGirr James "Jim" McGirr, JP (6 February 1890 – 27 October 1957) was the Labor Premier of New South Wales from 6 February 1947 to 3 April 1952. A Catholic, McGirr was the seventh son of John Patrick McGirr, farmer and Irish immigrant, and Mary Mc ...

announced his resignation as premier on the grounds of ill health on 1 April 1952. At the caucus meeting on 3 April Cahill defeated Martin 32 votes to 14 for the office of Premier. He remained Attorney General until 1953 when illness caused him to take the less hectic post of

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Clarrie 1900 births 1953 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Attorneys General of New South Wales Australian barristers Australian schoolteachers Australian King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Australian military personnel of World War II Australian Army officers University of Sydney alumni Burials at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park