James Guy Dalley Arkins (14 October 1888 – 2 August 1980) was an Australian politician. Born in

Millthorpe, New South Wales Millthorpe is a town located between Orange and Blayney in New South Wales, Australia in the Blayney Shire. At the , Millthorpe had a population of 1,253 people. The town was once a major potato growing area and continues to have extensive agri ...

, he was educated at public schools before becoming a builder. In 1915 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for Castlereagh. After the Labor split of 1916 over

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, Arkins joined the Nationalist Party. While still an MLA, he served in the military from 1916 to 1919. In 1920 he transferred to the seat of

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

, and in 1927 to Rockdale. He contested

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

in 1932, following the abolition of Rockdale, but was defeated by

William Clementson William Alfred Clementson (19 July 1884 – 19 August 1982) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1930 to 1932, representing the electorate of Waverley. Clementson was born at ...

. On 26 September 1935, Arkins was appointed to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

as a member of 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 ...

(UAP) (successor to the Nationalist Party), filling the vacancy caused by the death of NSW Senator

Lionel Courtenay Lionel Thomas Courtenay (1 December 1879 – 11 July 1935) was an Australian businessman and politician. Born in Sydney, he left school at a young age but became general manager of an engineering company. He was involved in local politics, ...

, who had died 11 days after being sworn in. In the 1937 federal election, an election was held for four NSW Senate seats, all of which were won by the Labor Party using the infamous "four A's" strategy, whereby the ALP selected candidates whose names all began with the letter A. Arkins returned to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, winning

Dulwich Hill Dulwich Hill is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 7.5 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Inner West Council. Dulwich Hill stretche ...

in 1938 and holding it until 1941. He died in 1980. He was the last surviving member of the 1935–1937 Senate.

References

Australian builders Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Members of the Australian Senate Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1888 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians United Australia Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales {{Australia-Labor-senator-stub