Edward Alexander Mann (11 August 1874 – 15 November 1951) was an Australian politician and radio commentator. He held the

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 ...

n seat of

Perth 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 ...

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 1922 to 1929.

Early life

Mann was born in

Mount Gambier, South Australia Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about sou ...

and was the brother of Frederick Mann, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 1935 to 1944. He was educated at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

and was appointed government analyst in Western Australia in 1895 and set up the government laboratory in

. In 1901 he married Estelle Frances Leonie Hicks. He was appointed to the Commonwealth Advisory Council for Science and Industry from 1916 to 1920, although his participation was limited, partly due to the distance between Perth and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Political career

Mann was elected as the member for

at the 1922 election, defeating disendorsed Nationalist James Fowler. He was responsible for the passage of the ''Electoral Act 1924'' through the House of Representatives, introducing

compulsory voting Compulsory voting, also called mandatory voting, is the requirement in some countries that eligible citizens register and vote in elections. Penalties might be imposed on those who fail to do so without a valid reason. According to the CIA World ...

. Like his predecessor he opposed high tariffs and he publicly criticised party leader and Prime Minister,

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party. Born ...

over the issue. In 1929, he attacked the government over its failure to prosecute John Brown for illegally locking out his employees, resulting in his exclusion from party meetings. Later in the year, he voted with Billy Hughes and three others to bring the Bruce government down over the ''Maritime Industries Bill''—which would have abolished the

Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration was an Australian court that operated from 1904 to 1956 with jurisdiction to hear and arbitrate interstate industrial disputes, and to make awards. It also had the judicial functions of i ...

—forcing it to the 1929 election and its defeat. He also lost his seat running as an independent.

Radio career

Mann soon became the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

's chief commentator with his daily news session, ''At home and abroad'', and a weekly programme, ''The news behind the news''. He spoke anonymously under the pseudonym of "The Watchman", and regularly offended the government with his trenchant criticism. The

Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...

government censored him and he resigned from the ABC to contest the seat of Flinders at the September election, but lost narrowly. He could not regain a satisfactory position on the ABC and moved to commercial radio, particularly the

Major Broadcasting Network The Major Broadcasting Network was an important part of the Australian broadcasting scene from 1938 until the 1970s. History and background In 1938 David Worrall, manager of 3DB Melbourne, launched the Major Broadcasting Network which up until i ...

where he continued to use the pseudonym "The Watchman". Mann was well known as a regular panelist on the Australian radio version of ''

Information Please ''Information Please'' is an American radio quiz show, created by Dan Golenpaul, which aired on NBC from May 17, 1938, to April 22, 1951. The title was the contemporary phrase used to request from telephone operators what was then called "info ...

''. He married Gladys Alice Kubale in 1949. He died of a heart attack on a Melbourne tram, survived by his second wife and a son and two daughters of his first marriage.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Edward Alexander Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Perth Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1874 births 1951 deaths Australian radio personalities Independent members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians