Francis Eugene "Frank" Stewart (20 February 192316 April 1979), Australian politician and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer, was a member of 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 ...

representing

Lang Lang may refer to: *Lang (surname), a surname of independent Germanic or Chinese origin Places * Lang Island (Antarctica), East Antarctica * Lang Nunatak, Antarctica * Lang Sound, Antarctica * Lang Park, a stadium in Brisbane, Australia * Lang, ...

between 1953 and 1977 and subsequently Grayndler between 1977 and 1979 for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

Early life and army career

Stewart was born in the Sydney suburb of Belmore and educated at St Joseph's School, Belmore and

St Mary's Cathedral College, Sydney , motto_translation = To Do and To Teach , location = Cathedral Road , city = Sydney central business district , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Systemic secondar ...

. Before World War II, he was a public servant in the New South Wales Department of Transport. In the war, 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 initial ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

with the 39th Transport Platoon in 1944 and 1945 and was eventually promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. Prior to his election to parliament, he played first grade

for

Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

between 1948 and 1950. He married Maureen Neagle Smith in August 1952.

Political career

Having been a member of the ALP since 1942, Stewart was elected as the federal member for Lang in 1953. Belonging to the right-wing Catholic faction of the party, he was widely considered a ''

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...

'', although unlike many other "groupers" he never left the Labor Party. When

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

became prime minister in 1972, Stewart was appointed Minister for Tourism and Recreation. He strongly opposed both the legalising of abortion and the no-fault divorce reform which became law in 1975. As

Vice-President of the Executive Council The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executiv ...

, in 1975, Stewart presided over the meeting that revoked

Rex Connor Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor (26 January 190722 August 1977) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1963 to his death, representing the Labor Party. He was the Minister for Minerals ...

's authority to raise overseas funds. ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' later published allegations that he was so concerned about Connor dealings with Tirath Khemlani as to have leaked information to the opposition on the Loans Affair. After the fall of the Whitlam government, Stewart moved to the

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

. When Lang was abolished prior to the 1977 election, he transferred to Grayndler. He died in

Long Jetty Long Jetty is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on a peninsula between Tuggerah Lake and the Pacific Ocean south of The Entrance. It is part of the local government area. The only street in The En ...

, New South Wales, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

while playing

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

and was survived by his wife, five daughters and one son. Kevin Stewart (1928–2006), Health Minister in the New South Wales government led by

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

, was Frank's younger brother.

Australian Institute of Sport

As Minister for Tourism and Recreation, in 1974 Stewart appointed a study group to report on the feasibility of establishing an Australian sports institute. Released in 1975, the report recommended the establishment of a sports institute, now known as the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS). One of the buildings at the AIS is named after Frank Stewart in recognition of the central role he played in the institute's establishment.

Rugby league

Patrick Francis Stewart, the father of both Kevin and Frank Stewart, was the founding president of the Canterbury Bankstown Leagues Club. The Stewart family have been long-term supporters of the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs and Frank played first-grade rugby league for the Bulldogs from 1948 to 1950. In recognition of this support, the grandstand at Belmore Sports Ground (the former home ground of the club) is named the "Stewart Stand" after Patrick, Frank, and Kevin Stewart. Following an incident where Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs football club was stripped of all points in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

competition for breach of the salary cap, Kevin Stewart was appointed chairman of the board in 2002 in an attempt to restore the club's reputation.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Frank Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players 1923 births 1979 deaths Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grayndler Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Lang Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian public servants Australian sportsperson-politicians 1975 Australian constitutional crisis 20th-century Australian politicians Rugby league players from Sydney Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers