Henry Kennedy Maley (17 June 1878 – 26 February 1956) was an Australian politician who was a Country Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1917 to 1924 and again from 1929 to 1930. He was the state leader of the Country Party from 1922 to 1923, and a minister in the government of Sir James Mitchell from 1921 to 1924.

Early life

Maley was born in

Greenough, Western Australia Greenough is a historical settlement situated in a floodplain (the Greenough Flats) 400 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia and 24 kilometres south of Geraldton on the Brand Highway. The settlement's historical buildings are mostly ...

, to Elizabeth (née Waldeck) and

John Stephen Maley John Stephen Maley (5 April 1839 – 28 December 1910) was a pioneering settler of the Mid West region of Western Australia. He was known for his engineering prowess. Life Maley was born in Albany, Western Australia, to Martha Mary (née Goodchil ...

. He attended the

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on a scholarship, and after leaving began working as a clerk for the

Midland Railway Company The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

. After two years, he moved to

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

and was employed by a mining syndicate. During the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, Maley served with the West Australian Mounted Infantry. He took over his father's farm in Greenough after the war's end, and also owned land in Three Springs from 1907 to 1913 (in partnership with his brothers). Maley served as secretary of the

Greenough Road Board The Greenough Road District was an early form of local government area in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It was based in the town of Greenough. It was established on 24 January 1871, and was originally a much larger district, including ...

, and was also secretary of the

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

branch of the

Farmers' and Settlers' Association The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a fede ...

.Henry Kennedy Maley
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 3 June 2016.

Politics

Maley first stood for parliament at the 1905 state election, running unsuccessfully as a Ministerialist in the seat of Greenough. He recontested Greenough for the Country Party at the 1917 election and was successful, defeating the sitting member, John Cunningham. After the 1921 election, Maley was appointed Minister for Agriculture in the Mitchell government, replacing

Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch (29 March 1872 – 12 February 1953) was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the ...

. He was elected to the Country Party leadership in August 1922, following the resignation of Tom Harrison. There were three other candidates, William Pickering,

Alec Thomson Alexander Thomson (9 March 1873 – 18 November 1953), known as Alec Thomson, was an Australian politician, and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1914 until 1930 representing the seat of Katanning, and a member of t ...

, and

Charles Latham Sir Charles George Latham (26 January 1882 – 26 August 1968), often shortened to simply C. G. Latham, was an Australian politician, former leader of the opposition in Western Australia and the 10th President of the Western Australian Legislat ...

, with Latham subsequently being elected deputy leader."COUNTRY PARTY LEADERSHIP QUESTION."
''The West Australian'', 23 September 1922. In 1923, the Country Party split into two factions due to a dispute over the status of the coalition with the

Nationalists 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 ...

. Maley supported the coalition, but at the 1924 state election was opposed by

William Patrick William Patrick may refer to: * William Patrick (author), American author * William Patrick (minister) (1791–1872), minister of the Church of Scotland * William Patrick Sr. (1845–1936), Australian politician * William Patrick Jr. (1880–1968), ...

, a member of the opposing faction. Some of Patrick's supporters directed their preferences to the Labor candidate, Maurice Kennedy, which resulted in Maley losing his seat by a margin of just 25 votes on the

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

count. Maley recontested Greenough 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 ...

at the 1927 election, but was unsuccessful.

Charles Maley Charles Crowther Maley (28 August 1876 – 15 October 1929) was an Australian businessman, farmer, and politician. who was a Country Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1921 until his death, representing the se ...

, Henry's older brother, was also a member of parliament, representing the seat of Irwin. He died in office in October 1929, and at the resulting by-election Henry was elected as his successor. However, the seat of Irwin was abolished prior to the 1930 state election, and merged into the new seat of Irwin-Moore. Maley did not contest Irwin-Moore, but instead ran again in Greenough, as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. He failed to make the final two-candidate-preferred count.

Later life

Maley retired to Subiaco, and from 1929 to 1943 served on the Subiaco Municipal Council. He had earlier served on the

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...

board of control from 1923 to 1925. Maley died in Perth in February 1956, aged 77. He had married Mabel Louisa Bateman in 1911, with whom he had three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maley, Henry 1878 births 1956 deaths Australian military personnel of the Second Boer War Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Nationalist Party (Australia) politicians People educated at Hale School People from the Mid West (Western Australia)