Ian Macfarlan (born John Robert Macfarlan; 21 November 1881 – 19 March 1964) was the
Deputy Leader of the
Australian
Liberal Party
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in the
Australian
state
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of
Victoria
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during 1945. He was briefly commissioned as the 35th
Premier of Victoria
The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assemb ...
by the
Governor
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and formed a government which brought about the end of the
Dunstan Ministry.
MacFarlan was the Member for
Brighton from 1928 until 1945 and was
Attorney-General
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and
Solicitor-General on 3 occasions, from 26 November 1928 until 11 December 1929 in the government of
William McPherson, from 25 July 1934 until 1 April 1935 in the government of
Stanley Argyle and from 8 September 1943 until 20 November 1945 in the government of
Albert Dunstan
Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG (26 July 1882 – 14 April 1950) was an Australian politician. A member of the Country Party (now National Party), Dunstan was the 33rd premier of Victoria. His term as premier was the second-longest in th ...
.
MacFarlan was a member for the
Nationalist Party, which later became 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) in 1931. He became unsatisfied with UAP's strategic inflexibility and left the UAP in 1937 to serve as a liberal
independent
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.
[ In 1943, he was persuaded to rejoin the party as deputy to party leader ]Thomas Hollway
Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lead ...
. The UAP became the Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
in 1945.
Premiership
At the end of September 1945, the government of Albert Dunstan was defeated in the Legislative Assembly, when it voted to refuse Supply to his government. Five Liberals, two Country Party members and one Independent voted with the Labor
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Opposition
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, on the grounds of dissatisfaction with the government's legislative program and opposition to Dunstan's leadership.
Instead of resigning, however, Dunstan persuaded the Governor, Sir Winston Dugan, to grant him a dissolution of Parliament, conditional on the budget being passed. These terms drew fire from the Opposition who claimed that the Governor in his letter to the Premier had left himself open to the charge of instructing the Assembly to grant Supply to a ministry which had already been refused it and to no other.
When it became clear that the Assembly would not grant Supply to the Dunstan Ministry, the Governor commissioned Macfarlan, who was the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, as Premier, on the production of written assurances of support from the Labor Opposition and from members of the Liberal Party, the Country Party and the Independents whose revolt had led to Dunstan's defeat. Macfarlan formed a government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
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, both Houses passed Votes of Supply, and the dissolution took immediate effect.
At the subsequent state election in November, the Labor Party obtained a majority (with the support of two Independents) and formed a government. The state of parties was Labor 32, United Country Party 18, Liberals 13, Independents 2. Macfarlan was one of the defeated candidates.
With a premiership lasting just 50 days, Macfarlan is the shortest serving Liberal Premier of Victoria, and is the second shortest serving Premier of Victoria behind George Elmslie (13 days).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macfarlan, Ian
1881 births
1964 deaths
Premiers of Victoria
Deputy Premiers of Victoria
Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria
Australian people of Scottish descent
Treasurers of Victoria
Attorneys-General of Victoria
Solicitors-General of Victoria
Politicians from Melbourne
20th-century Australian politicians