George Conrad Hannan (10 September 19101 May 2009) was an Australian politician who served 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

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

from 1956 to 1965 and 1970 to 1974. He was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

for all but the last few months of his career, and was known as a strident

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

. He lost Liberal

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 ...

in 1973, and the following year announced the formation of a new

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

political party, the National Liberal Party. He was unsuccessfully in his bid for re-election at the 1974 election and dissolved the party shortly after.

Early life

Hannan was born on 10 September 1910 in

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

. He was the oldest son of Theresa Caroline (née Reis) and James Francis Hannan. His father, a country storekeeper, was a

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. Following the expulsion of the N ...

supporter and stood 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 ...

(ALP) in

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

at the

1927 New South Wales state election The 1927 New South Wales state election to elect the 90 members of the 28th Legislative Assembly was held on 8 October 1927. During the previous parliament the voting system, which had been a form of proportional representation with multi-member ...

. Hannan was educated at

St Patrick's College, Goulburn (If you do something, do it well) , status = Closed , established = , closed = 2000 (merged into Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn) , city = Goulburn , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , campus = , coor ...

, before going on to study law 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 nor ...

where he was a member of Newman College. He completed his

articles of clerkship Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public we ...

in 1933 and was admitted to the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The current President of the Bar is Roisin Annesley KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. On 30 June 2020, there were 2,179 counsels ...

the following year. He married Eileen Frances Williams in 1938, with whom he had four children. During World War II, Hannan was a member of the

Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) was a reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy. Formation In late 1920, the Navy Board proposed the creation of an Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve scheme, with approaches made to yac ...

. He was mobilised in 1942 and was stationed at the base as a radar officer. After his discharge in 1946, he resumed his legal career but was also employed as a social commentator on

3XY Magic 1278 (official callsign: 3EE) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Australia owned by Nine Entertainment Co, and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. History 1935–1991: 3XY 1935–1967 3XY began broadcasting on 8 Sept ...

, a Melbourne radio station strongly linked with the Liberal Party. He was a life member of the

Wireless Institute of Australia The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) was formed in 1910, and is the first and oldest national amateur radio society in the world. It represents the amateur radio operators of Australia as the AR "peak body" in dealings with the Australia ...

and was an active member of

Actors Equity of Australia Actors Equity of Australia was an Australian trade union representing actors and other performers. It existed from 1920 to 1993. It was established as the Actors' Federation of Australasia in 1920. It was renamed Actors' Equity of Australia in 19 ...

Politics

Hannan served on the state executive of the

Liberal and Country Party The Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), branded as Liberal Victoria, and commonly known as the Victorian Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1949 as ...

for over a decade. He first stood for parliament in 1948, losing a

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

by-election for

Melbourne Province Melbourne Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council (Australia). Melbourne Province was created in 1882 when Central Province was abolished in the redistribution of Provinces. Its area included central Melbourne, Carlto ...

. He subsequently contested the

Division of Maribyrnong The Division of Maribyrnong is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the inner north-western suburbs of Melbourne. Suburbs include Aberfeldie, Airport West, Avondale Heights, Essendon, Footscray, Gowanb ...

at the 1949 federal election and

East Yarra Province East Yarra Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both h ...

at the 1952 Legislative Council election. Hannan was an unsuccessful candidate for Senate

prior to the 1955 federal election. On 28 August 1956, he was appointed to the Senate to fill the

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the resignation of John Spicer. He defeated

Magnus Cormack Sir Magnus Cameron Cormack KBE (12 February 1906 – 26 November 1994) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served multiple terms as a Senator for Victoria (1951–1953, 1962–1978), including as President of ...

for the position. At the 1958 federal election he was elected to a full term. He was defeated in 1964, his term ending on 30 June 1965. He was re-elected at the 1970 Senate election, taking his place immediately. In 1974, he resigned from the Liberal Party, forming a new party, the National Liberal Party, under which banner he contested the 1974 double dissolution election. He received 1.2 per cent of the vote, and was not elected. George Hannan died on 1 May 2009, aged 98.Fairfax digital classifieds
/ref> He was the last surviving member of the 1956–1962 Senate.

Family

Both he and his wife Eileen née Williams were lawyers. They had 2 sons, Peter and Michael, and 2 daughters, Judith and Eilene. Judith Hannan (1939–2014) was married to Sir Guy Boileau, 8th Bt. until his death in February 2013.

Eilene Hannan Eilene Hannan Member of the Order of Australia, AM (24 July 194611 July 2014) was an Australian operatic soprano with an international reputation. She was particularly associated with opera sung in English, although she also sang in other languag ...

(1946–2014) was a renowned international operatic soprano. Eilene Hannan died in July 2014 and her sister Lady Boileau died less than a month later in August 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannan, George 1910 births 2009 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Members of the Australian Senate National Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians People from Wagga Wagga University of Melbourne alumni Australian barristers