Herbert Henry Styants (20 October 1893 – 2 December 1982) was an Australian politician who was a Labor 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 1936 to 1956, representing the seat of Kalgoorlie. He served as a minister in the government of Albert Hawke. Styants was born in

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...

, a town in Western Australia's

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

region. After leaving school, he was employed by

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

, working variously as an engine cleaner, a fireman, and then a driver. He came to Kalgoorlie in 1915, having earlier lived in Fremantle, and became a prominent member of the union movement there. In 1923, Styants left the goldfields to live in

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 i ...

, going on to serve on the Perth City Council from 1927 to 1930.Herbert Henry Styants
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 29 May 2016. He was elected to parliament at the 1936 state election, defeating two other Labor candidates (including the sitting member, James Cunningham) in Kalgoorlie. Styants enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1940, while still serving in parliament, and during the war served as a non-commissioned officer in machine gun, cavalry, and education units. After Labor's victory at the 1953 state election, he was named Minister for Railways,

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

, and Minister for Police in the new ministry formed by Albert Hawke. However, prior to the 1956 election, Styants lost Labor

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 ...

to Tom Evans, a 26-year-old schoolteacher, forcing his retirement. After leaving parliament, he served as chairman of the Betting Control Board from 1958 to 1960, and later retired to

, where he died in 1982.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Styants, Herbert 1893 births 1982 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of World War II Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Trade unionists from Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Collie, Western Australia Perth City Councillors 20th-century Australian politicians