Sir Frederick Harold Stewart (14 August 1884 – 30 June 1961) was an Australian businessman, politician and government minister. His continuing political commitment was to the establishment of a national insurance scheme and the shortening of working hours to improve social conditions during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, despite the opposition of his own party.

Early life

Stewart was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and educated in public schools in Newcastle and worked for 20 years as an administrative officer in the

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differe ...

. In 1908 he married Lottie May Glover and they had six children. He was a prominent Methodist Lay Preacher. In 1919 Stewart developed the Sydney suburb of

Chullora Chullora, a suburb in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown local government area, is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. The ...

and owned the Metropolitan Omnibus Company that serviced the area. He also had an early interest in aviation and broadcasting. He established radio station

2CH ''2CH'' was a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia. It was owned by Pacific Star Network. The station changed formats on 10 June 2022 to sports. History 2CH commenced broadcasting on 15 February 1932 on 1210 kHz. It moved to ...

and with

Charles Kingsford-Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

and

Charles Ulm Charles Thomas Philippe Ulm (18 October 1898 – 3 December 1934) was a pioneer Australian aviator. He partnered with Charles Kingsford Smith in achieving a number of aviation firsts, serving as Kingsford Smith's co-pilot on the first transpaci ...

established

Australian National Airways Australian National Airways (ANA) was Australia's predominant aerial carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. The Holyman's Airways period On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.I ...

Political career

Stewart failed to get pre-selection as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

candidate for 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 ...

seat of

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

at the 1929 election and ran unsuccessfully for the state seat of

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

at the 1930 election. He won the federal seat of

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

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 ...

at the 1931 election and held it until his retirement before the 1946 election. He supported a shorter work week to reduce unemployment during the

and programs to improve social conditions such as national insurance and workers' housing schemes. Stewart was appointed Minister for Commerce from October 1932 had responsibility for trade policy. In November 1934, he stood down to allow the Country Party to be brought into the

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

, with

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leade ...

becoming Minister for Commerce. He refused

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...

's offer of a junior ministry and instead became parliamentary under-secretary for employment, but resigned this position in February 1936 so that he could concentrate on his private scheme to improve social conditions. He was knighted in 1935. After the 1937 election, under pressure from Stewart, Lyons announced a limited national insurance scheme, but Stewart refused a position in

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Stewart was appointed as

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

and

Minister for Social Services The Minister for Social Services is the Australian federal government minister who oversees Australian Government social services, including mental health, families and children's policy, and support for carers and people with disabilities, and ...

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

in April 1939 and continued to press for the implementation of a national insurance scheme. In November 1939, with the outbreak of World War II, he was given the additional portfolio of Minister for the Navy and in January 1940, he became in addition Minister for Supply and Development on Richard Casey's appointment as Ambassador to the United States. This portfolio was responsible for procuring supplies for the military. In March 1940, he lost the portfolios of health and the navy, but retained social services and supply and development in the second Menzies Ministry. He was criticised over his performance in supplying the military, despite such ingenuity as finding and refurbishing 15,000 World War I uniforms and he lost the supply portfolio from October 1940 in the third Menzies Ministry, but was appointed

Minister for External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

, retained social services and regained health. He held the three portfolios until the fall of the Fadden government in October 1941. In opposition he served as chairman of the Joint Committee on Social Security in 1943 and 1944.

Personal life

Stewart's first wife died in 1943 and in 1945 he married Hilda Marjorie Evelyn Dixon. He was a noted philanthropist following his retirement from parliament. He died at the

Royal North Shore Hospital The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and has over 600 beds. It is the prin ...

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston * St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St ...

, survived by his wife and three daughters and two sons from his first marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Frederick Harold Members of the Cabinet of Australia Australian ministers for Foreign Affairs Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Parramatta Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian Knights Bachelor 1884 births 1961 deaths United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Ministers for Health