Cyril Chambers

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(1897–1975) was an Australian politician who served as a member of 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 1943 to 1958, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for the Army in the Chifley government from 1946 to 1949.

Early life

Chambers was born in the

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 ...

suburb of

Thebarton Thebarton ( ), formerly Theberton, on Kaurna land, is an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore ...

on 28 February 1897. He was educated at St John the Baptist's School, Thebarton, and Hayward's Academy, Adelaide. In 1919 he became a dentist. He was mayor of Henley and Grange from 1932 to 1934. In 1938, he married Hilda Dorothy Mummery. 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 ...

, he served in the 3rd Field Ambulance in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, but was soon invalided back to Adelaide.

Political career

Chambers was elected as the

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 of the

seat of

at the 1943 election and was appointed Minister for the Army following the 1946 election in the second Chifley ministry. In July 1949 he ordered troops to mine coal in the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to break a

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

by the then communist-influenced

Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation The Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (often known as the Miners' Federation of Australia) was an Australian trade union representing workers in the coal mining industry from 1913 to 1990. It was first federally registered in 1913 a ...

. The Labor government lost power at the 1949 election. Chambers' first wife had died in 1943 and in December 1949, he married a divorcee, Salamas Rickman, despite his generally strict Catholicism. She died in 1954 and in October 1956 he married Janet Sanderson Pullen. In 1951, he refused to take part in Labor's campaign against the 1951 anti-communist referendum and would have been expelled from the party except for the intervention of party leader H.V. Evatt. On 8 August 1957, Chambers publicly called on Evatt to resign as party leader, accusing him of "fomenting discord wherever he goes" and of contributing to the party's loss at the

1957 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 3 August 1957 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The major parties contesting the election were the Queensland Labor Party led by Premier Vince Gair, the ...

. On 27 August he announced his intention to move a

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 m ...

in Evatt's leadership. However, on 19 September he was expelled from the ALP by the state council of the South Australian branch. Chambers sat as an independent until 16 June 1958, when he was re-admitted to the Labor Party. By that time Joe Sexton had already won

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

for Adelaide at the 1958 federal election. It was too late for Chambers to nominate for another seat, and he was forced to retire.

Later life

Chambers worked as an immigration selection officer in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

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from 1959 to 1962 and then worked in Adelaide as a welfare consultant. In 1968, he was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). He died in

Hawthorn, South Australia Hawthorn is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, in the City of Mitcham. It is bounded to the north by Cross Road, Adelaide, Cross Road, to the south by Grange Road, to the west by Sussex Terrace and to the east by Belair Road, Adelaide, Belair ...

, survived by his third wife, but he had no children.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Cyril Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Adelaide Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia 1897 births Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1975 deaths Australian dentists Independent members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Politicians from Adelaide Mayors of places in South Australia 20th-century dentists