George Matthew Foster (29 January 1884 – 6 June 1956) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the
Nationalist Party and served terms in the
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart.
The Assembly has 25 m ...
(1917–1919) and as a
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
(1920–1925). He suffered from
shell shock
Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...
and his term in the Senate was marked by absenteeism. He later became a leader of the
temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
in Sydney.
Early life
Foster was born on 29 January 1884 in
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 ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. He was the son of Isabella (née Forscutt) and George Foster, his father being a tailor's cutter. The family moved to Tasmania and he was "probably educated in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
", leaving school to train as a mechanic.
Foster enlisted in the
Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1914 and served with the
3rd Light Horse Regiment. He spent three months in
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...
, later serving with the regiment in Egypt before being sent home to Australia due to illness.
[ In 1917, he became the inaugural state secretary of the ]Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia
The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force.
Mission
The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...
(RSSILA). He was also the state secretary of the Reinforcements Referendum Council, formed to support the "Yes" vote in the 1917 conscription plebiscite.[
]
State politics
In June 1917, Foster was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart.
The Assembly has 25 m ...
at a by-election for the seat of Denison. He stood 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 ...
with the support of the RSSILA. However, in the lead-up to the 1919 state election both he and the league disavowed any connection. He lost his seat "due to his position having been weakened by pressure groups in the electorate causing some disruption and weakening the Nationalist vote".[
]
Federal politics
Foster was elected to the Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
at the 1919 federal election, to a six-year term beginning on 1 July 1920. He was predominantly interested in issues relating to returned soldiers, also opposing any attempts to decrease defence expenditure and supporting the local manufacture of aeroplane engines. He was a member of a select committee that examined a returned soldier's claims to a war gratuity, but did not participate in its deliberations.[
In July 1921, Foster was named as a co-respondent in a divorce suit brought by John Thomas Hall, whose estranged wife Florence was Foster's landlady in Melbourne. John Hall claimed £1,000 in damages on the grounds that Foster and his wife had engaged in "misconduct". The jury dismissed the petition on the grounds of connivance by Hall, but found that misconduct had occurred; as a result the presiding judge did not award Foster his legal costs. During the hearing, the court was told that Foster was an alcoholic and been hospitalised the previous year after suffering a nervous breakdown. He had also suffered from insomnia since the war and "was unable to travel in trains or trams because of the vibrations".][
After 1921, Foster rarely attended the Senate, seldom voted, and made no speeches. His absenteeism "made him something of a standing joke" and '' The Bulletin'' claimed that he "grew to hate the job".][ In July 1923, he was granted two month's leave of absence to take a health trip to Queensland, with ]Albert Gardiner
Albert "Jupp" Gardiner (30 July 1867 – 14 August 1952) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1910 to 1926 and again briefly in 1928. A member of the Labor Party, he served in cabinet as Vice-President o ...
advising the Senate that he was suffering from shell shock
Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...
and was unfit to perform parliamentary duties. In October 1924, it was reported that the Confidential Finance Company had initiated lawsuits against Foster in multiple states for writing bad cheques. It was alleged that he had been absent from the Senate since February 1923, was living in Queensland, and had appeared in the Senate chamber for only a few minutes during that time, in order to avoid his seat being declared vacant.
In the session of parliament running from June 1923 to October 1924, Foster made the least appearances of any senator, attending for only six out of 95 sitting days. He was absent without leave on 64 sitting days. In February 1925, Tasmania's Taxation Department obtained a judgment against Foster for unpaid income tax. The Attorney-General of Tasmania
The Attorney-General of Tasmania is a ministry of the Government of Tasmania with responsibility for the state's courts and tribunals. The Attorney General is a senior minister in the state government and the First Law Officer of the State.
T ...
stated that bankruptcy proceedings would be brought if no payment was made, which if successful would result in his seat being declared vacant. On 2 July 1925, the President of the Senate Thomas Givens
Henry Thomas Givens (12 June 1864 – 19 June 1928) was an Australian politician. He served as a Senator for Queensland from 1904 until his death in 1928 and was President of the Senate from 1913 to 1926. He began his career in the Australian ...
announced that he had received a telegram from Foster announcing his resignation due to ill health.
Later life
After leaving the Senate, Foster worked for periods at the Melbourne Zoo
Melbourne Zoo is a zoo in Melbourne, Australia. It is located within Royal Park in Parkville, approximately north of the centre of Melbourne. It is the primary zoo serving Melbourne. The zoo contains more than 320 animal species from Austra ...
and at a Sydney land agency. He had married Vera Anita Pietriche in April 1922, with whom he had one daughter. Foster became a disciple of Robert Brodribb Hammond, a Christian evangelist and social reformer who was a leader of the temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
in New South Wales. He was appointed as the superintendent of the Hammond Hotel, a facility in a converted warehouse which aimed to rehabilitate destitute men. In 1933, he became the general superintendent and secretary of Hammondville, a back-to-the-land
A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree of self-suffic ...
settlement in Sydney's south-west. The ''Hobart Mercury
''The'' ''Mercury'' is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd (DBL), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called ''Mercury ...
'' published an interview with Foster about Hammondville in 1935, describing him as "a zealous spokesman for social justice, and a diligent student of ethical, psychological, and economic problems". He and Hammond hoped to build a ten-storey "temperance hotel" in Sydney.[ Foster selected a site on Hunter Street, but no work was completed by the time of Hammond's death in 1946. The project was abandoned the following year after it was discovered that the hotel could cost up to £500,000 to construct.]
Foster died at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital
Concord Repatriation General Hospital (abbreviated CRGH), commonly referred to as Concord Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, on Hospital Road in Concord. It is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the University of ...
in Sydney on 6 June 1956.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, George
Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania
Members of the Australian Senate
1884 births
1956 deaths
20th-century Australian politicians
Australian military personnel of World War I
Australian temperance activists
Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly