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 twelfth Premier of Western Australia for a month in 1919, agent-general in London for five years, and a senator for four years.

Born in England, his family migrated to South Australia when Colebatch was four years old. He left school aged 11 and worked for several newspapers in South Australia before moving to Broken Hill in New South Wales in 1888. In 1894, he moved to the Western Australian Goldfields following the gold rush there.

Early life and career

Colebatch was born on 29 March 1872 in the village of Underley in Herefordshire, England, to George Pateshall Colebatch, a chemist and farmer, and Georgina Gardiner. The family had six sons and one daughter, with an additional two children who died as infants. They were low church Anglicans. They are descended from John Colebatch, a physician who was knighted by King George I. Due to bad economic conditions in England, the family travelled to South Australia on the '' St Vincent'' in 1878. Although it nearly sank along the way, the ship reached Adelaide on 30 November 1978 after 91 days at sea. They settled in the coastal town of Goolwa, South Australia, where they had relatives.

At age 11, Colebatch left school as his father could not afford to continue with it. He got his first job as a junior reporter, printer's devil, compositor and office boy for the ''Norwood Free Press'', a small newspaper in suburban Adelaide. He also attended evening classes in shorthand, literature and Latin. This ended when the ''Norwood Free Press'' collapsed, leaving Colebatch to work for a series of short-lived newspapers in the South Australian goldfields, including the ''Petersburg Times''. In 1888, he moved to Broken Hill in New South Wales, working as a reporter for the ''Silver Age'' for six years. There, he reported on a number of strike meetings in 1892, and was subsequently summoned as a Crown witness in the prosecution of some strike leaders. He also developed a hobby in chess, becoming the Broken Hill chess champion.

In 1892, gold was discovered at Coolgardie, Western Australia, and at the nearby town of Kalgoorlie the following year. This triggered a gold rush in the colony of Western Australia, which had been an economic backwater up until that point. Meanwhile, Colebatch was suffering from illness and a poor financial situation in Broken Hill. In 1894, he received a letter from his friend Sidney Hocking saying that he had just purchased the ''Western Argus'', Kalgoorlie's weekly newspaper, and wanted Colebatch to take his place at the ''Golden Age'' in Coolgardie. Colebatch left for Western Australia later that year. Upon arriving in Fremantle, he had made just enough money gambling to catch the train to Southern Cross, but he had to walk the remaining across the desert to Coolgardie, arriving there in early 1895.

Coolgardie soon died down as all the surface gold was taken, and Kalgoorlie overtook it to become the Goldfields' largest town. The ''Golden Age'' collapsed, and so Colebatch moved to Kalgoorlie to work with Hocking on the ''Kalgoorlie Miner'', a new daily newspaper. He then moved to Perth, the colony's capital city, in 1896 to join the ''Morning Herald'' as its mining editor and chess editor. He also became the Western Australian correspondent for the ''British Australasian'' and the ''Financial Times''. Among the things he reported on was Premier John Forrest's announcement of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.

In 1898, Colebatch was banned from the parliamentary press gallery for reporting on a supposed fist fight that had occurred between two members of parliament. A police inspector who had been in Parliament House at the time had told the story to a journalist for the ''Morning Herald'', who then passed the story on to Colebatch who then telegraphed it to the ''Kalgoorlie Miner''. Later that day, Colebatch discovered that the story had been exaggerated and that it was merely a verbal disagreement. The telegraph office was closed by that time, and so the ''Kalgoorlie Miner'' on 23 September 1898 had printed the details of the supposed fist fight on its front page. Forrest was furious, and he attempted to have the publishers prosecuted for published libel. After that failed, Forrest discovered that Colebatch was the reporter who passed the story along, and he had Colebatch banned from the parliamentary press gallery. Colebatch was dragged out by the sergeant-at-arms on 19 October 1898, and the following day, Colebatch sent a letter that he intended to sue the sergeant-at-arms for assault. After heavy media criticism, the ban was lifted and the police inspector was demoted and transferred.

Colebatch became the state chess champion in 1898. By the late 1890s, the federation of Australia had become a major political issue. The ''Morning Herald'', which by this time Colebatch had become assistant leader-writer under Archibald Sanderson, campaigned against federation. Colebatch was inspired by Sanderson's anti-federation arguments and became anti-federation himself. Writing for the Royal Western Australian Historical Society's '' Early Days'' journal in 1951, Colebatch said that "Sanderson's anti-federal articles — from the Western Australian point of view — could be examined line for line odayand proved to be an absolutely accurate forecast of what has happened to the State under federation." Sanderson was not ideologically opposed to federation but was against the terms with which Western Australia was going to enter, saying that "no words in a written constitution could protect a small state in a federation against larger and more powerful ones making policies against its interest." Western Australia ended up voting for federation in a 1900 referendum, and so it became one of the six states of Australia on 1 January 1901.

The ''Morning Herald'' eventually collapsed, and so in 1904, Colebatch moved to Northam, a town in Western Australia's Wheatbelt. With borrowed money, he started his own newspaper: '' The Northam Advertiser''. He became friends with local bank branch manager James Mitchell. Impressed by Mitchell, Colebatch encouraged Mitchell to stand for parliament, becoming Mitchell's campaign manager. Mitchell won the Legislative Assembly seat of Northam in the 1905 state election, and held it until 1933. Although Colebatch was the better public speak of the two, Colebatch often put Mitchell's political career ahead of his own. Although he likely would have probably easily won it, Colebatch did not contest the seat as he would have to oust his friend. Mitchell rose rapidly in the ranks of government, becoming a minister in 1906 and obtaining the important portfolios of lands and agriculture in 1909. During this time, Colebatch was seen as Mitchell's éminence grise.

Colebatch founded a bowling club in Northam and also took a part in creating a bowling club in the nearby town of York. In 1905, he won the state championship in bowls pairs and became the vice-president of the Western Australian Bowling Association. In November 1909, he was elected as the mayor of Northam, in which he oversaw the development of the Avon River with weirs and embankments to enhance the surroundings and prevent flooding. He first ran for parliament in 1910, unsuccessfully contesting the East Province of the Legislative Council in a by-election on 13 May. He then received a petition from 72 electors to run again, so he contested the newly-created seat of Avon in the 1911 state election. He was narrowly defeated by Thomas Bath from the Labor Party. In February 1912, Colebatch formed a Liberal League in Northam. His first son Harley Colebatch succeeded him as mayor in November 1912.

State politics

Colebatch eventually entered parliament by winning the East Province of the Legislative Council in a by-election in May 1912. He took his seat on 27 June 1912, succeeding Warren Marwick. Colebatch was part of the newly-formed Liberal Party, however in his maiden speech, he said he would always speak for his individual feelings. At the time, John Scaddan was premier and the Labor Party had a substantial majority in the Legislative Assembly, however the Legislative Council had a conservative majority. The government set out with socialist objectives, including state-run and state-subsidised brickworks, sawmills, quarries and other industries. According to Brian De Garis, the Scaddan Government went further into socialism than any other Australian government at the time. Colebatch generally criticised state enterprise, but made an exception for the forestry and timber industry, as he believed an unregulated market would have no incentive to conserve or plant for the future. He soon became the Scaddan government's harshest critic in the Legislative Council and Labor members grew to dread his speeches.

In July 1916, the Liberal and Country parties cooperated to pass a vote of no confidence in the Scaddan Government, which had been left with a minority of seats in the Legislative Assembly following several resignations. The Liberal Party's Frank Wilson became premier, and although he had only been in parliament for four years, Colebatch was an obvious choice to join the ministry and lead the government in the Legislative Council. By this time, Colebatch was looked at by some as the state's next John Forrest, and so he was appointed the Minister for Education and the Colonial Secretary.

During World War I, Colebatch was the chairman of the Western Australian War Patriotic Fund which assisted soldiers in need. He was opposed to large-scale gambling and lotteries, particularly those run by the government, believing them to be a tax on the poor and stupid. He introduced a bill to outlaw bookmaking in 1916, but it was not passed by parliament. That year, he also became a member of the Senate of the University of Western Australia. In 1917, he was appointed as the first president of the board governing Rottnest Island, which was planned to be converted from a prison to a holiday resort.

In May 1917, the Liberal Party was disbanded and turned into the Nationalist Party, and in June, the new party elected Henry Lefroy as its leader. Wilson resigned as premier, and so Lefroy was appointed to the position. Colebatch became the unofficial deputy premier and kept his previous positions in the new ministry. Despite this, Colebatch stated his distaste in the way that Wilson had been ousted and was disappointed that Mitchell was no longer in the ministry.

By 1917, Colebatch had established district high schools in Northam and Geraldton. He had also established scholarships to enable children from outside areas to attend them. Two more district high schools were created in Bunbury and Albany that year. Establishing the first high schools outside Perth and the Goldfieds had been the issue which had impelled him to enter politics. In 1918, Nationalist member John Stewart resigned from the seat of Claremont in the Legislative Assembly. It was offered to Colebatch that he resign from the Legislative Council to contest the resulting by-election so that he could one day become premier, however Colebatch decline the offer as he did not want to undermine confidence in the Lefroy Government.

Spanish flu

By late 1918, the Spanish flu had become a pandemic, and returning soldiers aboard the HMAT ''Boonah'' were falling sick. As the Colonial Secretary, Colebatch was responsible for public health. With the ship approaching Fremantle, Colebatch set up an emergency isolation camp on Garden Island to supplement the existing quarantine facility at Woodman Point. He also considered using Rottnest Island if need be, but it was not ideal as it was further from the mainland than Garden Island. The mayor of Fremantle, William Montgomery, demanded that Lefroy disallow the ''Boonah'' from entering the port. However Colebatch stated that he believed that the sick soldiers were "entitled to be taken off the boat as soon as land is reached", and that allowing the ship to continue on to the eastern states would result in most of the other passengers on board being infected. As a result, several hundred of the 1,200 people aboard the ship were quarantined at Woodman Point. Colebatch denounced the federal government's handing of the matter, as despite it being responsible for shipping and quarantine under the Australian constitution, it did very little.

The state and federal governments agreed that any state with a Spanish flu outbreak should be declared an infected area, which would stop all land communication and sea communication would be quarantined. Following Parliament's recess for Christmas 1918, Lefroy and two cabinet ministers attended conferences in Melbourne, leaving Colebatch as acting premier. During that time, the Spanish flu broke out in South Australia and Victoria, however these states refused to follow the agreement and did not declare an infected area. Despite this, Colebatch decided to close the Western Australian border. Coincidentally, a shipping strike meant that there was no coastal shipping in the state, but transcontinental trains were still running when he decided to close the border. Passengers on a train from Adelaide were put in an improvised quarantine camp in Parkeston just east of Kalgoorlie where the railway gauge changed. William Watt, the acting prime minister, threatened Western Australia with dire consequences for impounding the train. Watt told Lefroy that:

Lefroy decided that he would not stand in the way of Colebatch and further action was up to him. South Australia eventually declared infection meaning the railway would have been shut down under the agreement. Because of the shipping strike, Lefroy and the two ministers could not get back to Western Australia without taking the train. Colebatch decided to allow a special train in, as long as the people aboard quarantined, but Watt disallowed this from happening. In general, Western Australians strongly supported Colebatch's actions during the Spanish flu pandemic. He earned further praise when he ended a two-month-long tramway strike.

Premier

In April 1919, Lefroy resigned as premier, and Colebatch took over, becoming the only premier to come from the Legislative Council. Colebatch made himself Colonial Treasurer, the minster for education and the minster for railways. He reinstated Mitchell in the cabinet, making him the minister for lands.

The largest issue during his premiership was the 1919 Fremantle Wharf riot. Stevedores from two different unions — the National Waterside Workers Union (NWWU) and the Fremantle Lumpers Union (FLU) — were working at Fremantle Harbour. The two unions often disagreed with each other and the Commonwealth Arbitration Board favoured the NWWU. Western Australia had a shortage of many essential goods such as medical supplies and food as a result of the earlier shipping strike and the need to quarantine. When the SS ''Dimboola'' arrived in Perth from Melbourne, carrying passengers (including Lefroy) and cargo, the passengers and most of the crew went into quarantine, but the federal government allowed some of the crew to berth the ship before going into quarantine. Fremantle Harbour officials did not allow the ship to berth and forced it to be fumigated at anchor. The NWWU workers then began to unload the ship but the FLU workers attacked them and started picketing, wanting to remove all NWWU workers from working at the wharf. Colebatch implored Watt to try and settle the dispute, as industrial relations were the responsibility of the federal government and the state had little power to do anything other than to use police to diffuse violence. Watt disagreed and said it was up to the state to solve the issue. He also said that if the issue was not fixed quickly, then he would stop shipping to Fremantle. His son, Hal G. P. Colebatch, posited in his 2004 biography that Watt was "probably trying to get revenge on Colebatch for impounding the Commonwealth train and his earlier criticism of the Commonwealth Government during the ''Boonah'' affair."

On 1 May, Colebatch told the FLU that he would get the police if they did not come to an agreement or cease picketing the wharf. The union did not do this, and so on 4 May, a group of people travelled down the Swan River in two launches. Among the people on the boats were Colebatch, the commissioner of police, small businessmen and consignees desperate to get the ''Dimboola'' unloaded. As the boats travelled under a bridge, the FLU members dropped rocks, scrap iron and other objects onto the boats in an attempt to sink them. The larger objects missed the boats, but several people were injured by smaller objects. University of New South Wales Professor of History Francis Keble Crowley said that "the premier came close to being assassinated when masonry hit the deck of his launch." When the boats reached the wharf, a riot broke out between the union workers and the police, who were trying to push the crowd back from the ship. During this, a man named Thomas Edwards was injured and later died. The police commissioner told Colebatch that the police could not control the situation without shooting their guns, but Colebatch did not want to authorise that. Colebatch, the police commissioner, the businessmen and consignees soon left, unsuccessful. In total, approximately 26 police officers and six FLU workers were injured, excluding Edwards. The following day, there was further violence between police and union members. Colebatch announced on 8 May 1919 that the NWWU had agreed to withdraw from the wharf to avoid any further conflict.

Collier resigned as premier on 15 May 1919 as he was unable to find a Legislative Assembly seat and because his health was deteriorating. He was suffering from undiagnosed diabetes. On 17 May, James Mitchell was sworn in as premier and Colebatch was appointed the minister for agriculture, minister for education, minister for the north-west and the new position of minister for health, a role which he had performed before that as the colonial secretary. He was also the deputy premier and leader of the government in the Legislative Council again.

Mitchell Government

Mitchell did not like travelling interstate for meetings with the prime minister and other premiers, so he often had Colebatch represent him instead. Colebatch attended a meeting with Prime Minister Billy Hughes and the other premiers in October 1919. Hughes wanted to enlarge the powers of the Commonwealth Government, which Colebatch was opposed to, as he believed local self-governance improved economic efficiency and individual freedom. Starting in May 1920, he visited the north-west of the state, a place usually neglected by the state government. When he visited Onslow, it was the first time in ten years a government minister had visited there. The visit to the north-west lasted three months and he travelled .

He met with Hughes again to show the prime minster the Group Settlement Scheme and the Fairbridge Farm School. Colebatch managed to help convince Hughes of the need for an increase in immigration to increase the state's population and develop its infrastructure, an interest of Mitchell's. Hughes wrote a letter to Colebatch in March 1922 committing to increasing immigration, and later an agreement was signed between the Australian, Western Australian and British governments for seventy-five thousand British migrants to settle in the state. Reducing unemployment was one of Colebatch's other responsibilities, and he instituted various public works to help with that. Although some saw trying to increase immigration as working against efforts to decrease unemployment, Colebatch believed it would be short-sighted to not do so.

In addition to showing Hughes around Western Australia, Colebatch did the same for several other figures. In 1922, he guided Colonel S. F. Newcombe, who was sent by the British Government to investigate settling discharged soldiers there. He also guided V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, who was sent to ensure that Indians settled in white British countries were not discriminated against. Another task for Colebatch was to negotiate with John Forrest's widow, Margaret Forrest, over a statue of Forrest which the government wanted to erect in Kings Park. Lady Forrest wanted for the statue to depict him as a "slim young explorer", but Colebatch convinced her that a statue depicting him as a "mature and portly statesman" would be best.

From 1921 to 1922, Colebatch was the president of the West Australian Club. He was also a life member of the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Following the 1921 state election, Colebatch was the only minister in the Legislative Council. He was therefore responsible for introducing and handling all bills and other business of the upper house, placing a large workload on him. As there was much hinging on him, the house adjourned when he became sick. Several of his colleagues thought the burden on him was too much.

In the 1923 New Year Honours, Colebatch was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. Later that year, his title of "Honourable" was made permanent. In early 1923, Mitchell announced that he had chosen Colebatch to be the next Agent-General for Western Australia in London. He resigned from the ministry and from parliament on 17 June 1923, and was succeeded by William Carroll. Over the seven years he had been a minister, the state's expenditure on education had risen by 73%. To show their admiration, senior Education Department officials arranged a special function for Colebatch's departure. He had given equal share in the ''Northam Advertiser'' to his wife and two sons as a reward for their service in the army. Harley became editor though Hal continued to write for it.

Agent-general

On his way to England, Colebatch passed through Queensland. Mitchell had asked Colebatch to find him an advisor on tropical agriculture. After talking to Queensland Premier Ted Theodore, Colebatch found Frank Wise in Townsville and recommended him to the Western Australian Government. Wise accepted the offer, and moved to Western Australia. He would later be elected to the Western Australian Parliament as a Labor member and become premier in 1945. In Calcutta, he developed a carbuncle which he had an operation for. His doctor told him he was days away from death before the operation. Two days after it, he was diagnosed with diabetes. He had to stay in Calcutta for several weeks while he recovered.

Soon after he arrived in London, the 1924 Western Australian state election occurred, in which Labor, led by Philip Collier, defeated the Coalition, led by James Mitchell. Colebatch spend the rest of his term as agent-general under a Labor Western Australian Government. Among the things the role entailed was representing the State Government in negotiations with the British Government, the Australian Government and sometimes other foreign governments, deal with European investors and companies operating in Western Australia, arrange loans, work as a purchasing agent for government departments, recruit for specialist positions, communicate with the premier about the goings on in London, promote migration to Western Australia, represent the state at ceremonies, assist Western Australians in London, and generally do things to raise the profile of the state.

He became chairman of the committee responsible for the Australian section of the British Empire Exhibition in 1924 after the previous committee fell apart. Despite this, Colebatch had reservations about the exhibition, thinking it should have involved more than just the British Empire. He supported Australian High Commissioner Joseph Cook when he opposed the country subsidizing the following year's event. Colebatch became a member of the Savage Club when one of the committee members nominated him. He found difficulty in raising loans for Western Australia, firstly, because the London money market was depressed, and secondly, because much loan money was being sent to Germany instead due to the high interest rates there. When the Group Settlement Scheme seemed to be failing, Colebatch persuaded Collier to travel to London to negotiate a new migration deal. Collier dislike travelling, but he went to London anyway and a new deal was signed.

Colebatch's term as agent-general was planned to end in November 1926, just a few months before the 1927 state election. He pointed out to Collier that he would have been expected by Coalition politicians to campaign against Labor in the election. He thought it would be distasteful to campaign against the government when they had worked together well over the previous three years. Collier agreed, and so Colebatch's term as agent-general was extended by a year. In the 1927 New Year Honours, he was made a Knight Bachelor upon the recommendation of the Labor Government.

While Colebatch was living in London, his son Gordon was living in Italy to study singing, theatre and languages. In 1927, Colebatch and his wife travelled around Italy for several months, visiting Rome and Venice among other places. Gordon was friends with high ranking officials in the British Embassy in Rome, through which he secured a private meeting between Colebatch and Benito Mussolini at Chigi Palace. His tour around Italy led Colebatch to form his anti-fascist political beliefs.

Return to Australia

Upon returning to Australia in 1927, Collier asked Colebatch to create a book on the history of Western Australia to commemorate the state's centenary in 1929. Although Colebatch was the book's editor, he wrote almost all of it himself, and was not paid. The book, titled ''A Story of A Hundred Years: Western Australia 1829–1929'', was published in 1929.

While working on the book, Prime Minister Stanley Bruce asked for Colebatch to sit on the Royal Constitution on the Constitution to suggest possible amendments. Colebatch accepted, and became one of seven members of the commission. The other six were from New South Wales and Victoria, and none of them were federalists like Colebatch. The Victorian members even wanted to abolish the states, but that position lost out. The commission travelled around Australia, holding 198 public sittings and examining 339 witnesses. Colebatch suggest that the election method for the Australian Senate be changed from the "block majority" method to proportional representation. This recommendation was adopted twenty years later. When the commission handed down its report, Colebatch also released a minority report.

Australian Senate

Colebatch was elected as a senator for Western Australia at the 1928 federal election, taking his seat on 1 July 1929. He had accepted the nomination from the Nationalist Party on the condition that he would not attend party meetings and that he would not be bound by how the party wanted to vote, believing that the party system undermined the senate's intended role as the state's house. These conditions were unusual, and likely prevented him from becoming a minister. Elected alongside Colebatch as a senator for Western Australia were Bertie Johnston, a former Labor politician turned Country Party member, and incumbent Nationalist senator Walter Kingsmill. Colebatch was the first of the three elected, declaring that his election was an endorsement of his belief that the senate should be a states' house and not a party house.

During the Great Depression, Colebatch spoke against protectionism and criticised the complacency of the Labor government and previous Coalition government which had allowed Australians to live beyond their means by excessive borrowing. When the government raised tariffs in 1929 and 1930, he was one of just a few members of parliament to oppose this. He argued that protectionism was bad for Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, as those states were export-oriented and had little manufacturing industry. Western Australia's gold industry was hit hard by tariffs, which had steadily climbed since federation. The federal government was also price fixing so that it could buy gold at below market value. The industry was agitating for subsidies but Colebatch was ideologically opposed to this, so he instead introduced an amendment to a bill so that the government would have to pay market price for gold. This amendment was supported by the state's other senators, but other than that, only a few senators supported the amendment. Colebatch ended up reluctantly supporting subsidies for gold. He opposed subsidies for other materials though, and succeeded in defeating two of them. In December 1930, he opposed a bill to convert the railway from Fremantle to Kalgoorlie to standard gauge which would have made a standard gauge rail link from Sydney to Perth. He was Western Australia's only politician to oppose this, and he did so because he did not want to fund public works with loans without any provision for paying back the loans. He was also one of few people at the time to question why railways were under public ownership.

Colebatch criticised the Labor government when it reduced military training in country areas as it cost more than in cities, saying that it was unfair to people living in the country and that the Great Depression could lead to war. He lobbied for the Australian government to contribute to the construction of the Singapore Naval Base.

In 1930, Colebatch was the vice-chairman of a select committee to investigate the standing committee system, although he acted as the chairman for much of that time as the chairman was overseas. Its recommendations were for the establishment of a Standing Committee on External Affairs and a Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances, as well as the amendment of the Senate's standing orders so that bills could be referred to select committees. The Committee of Regulations and Ordinances was established as a result, and became a permanent part of the Senate machinery. Otto Niemeyer, a British banker who had worked for HM Treasury and the Bank of England, visited Australia in 1930 to give the prime minister and premiers advice on the Great Depression. James Mitchell, who by that time had become the premier of Western Australia again, sent Colebatch instead. Colebatch largely agreed with what Niemeyer said, however the Labor Party did not.

Family

Colebatch married Mary Maud Saunders (1869–1940) on 29 April 1896 in St George's Cathedral, Perth. They had two sons: Harley Colebatch and Gordon Lindsay Colebatch. Both sons fought in France during World War I and Gordon was severely injured by a shell burst.

Later life

Colebatch's second term as agent-general for Western Australia was from 1933 until 1939. During this time, he again travelled widely throughout Europe. In 1934 the Western Australian Secession Delegation arrive in London, Colebatch made many speeches and argued for the cause. His focus was on the preamble to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act in particular the word ''"indissoluble"'' questioning as to whether the British Parliament could bind a person to a country for all time.

According to his memoirs, he made contact with anti-Nazi Germans who were trying to forestall the rise of Adolf Hitler. After returning to Western Australia, he worked tirelessly to awaken Australia to the necessity of preparing for war. He was widowed early in 1940. On 11 May 1940 he was elected to the Legislative Council for the Metropolitan Province. In 1944 he married Marion Frances Gibson. He held his Legislative Council seat until the election of 1948 when the Liberal Party failed to dissuade him from nominating, and then endorsed both him and its preferred candidate, Harry Hearn, who won comfortably.

In his final years, Colebatch applied himself to writing an autobiography, which has never been published. He died on 12 February 1953 after a brief illness and was honoured with a state funeral the following day. His second wife and three sons survived him. The third son, also named Hal Colebatch, was a poet, novelist, solicitor and writer on legal and political subjects. Hal Junior wrote a biography of Hal Senior.Peter Coleman, "Voice of the father" (review of ''Steadfast Knight''), Weekend Australian, 8–9 January 2005

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Maiden speech
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