James McIntosh Fraser (12 March 1889 – 27 August 1961) was an Australian trade unionist and politician. He was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

(ALP) and served as a Senator for

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 1938 to 1959. He held ministerial office in the ALP governments of the 1940s, serving as Minister for External Territories (1941–1943), Social Services (1943–1946),

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

(1943–1946), and Trade and Customs (1946).

Early life

Fraser was born in

Forres Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There a ...

Morayshire Moray; ( gd, Moireibh ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. It ...

, Scotland and educated locally. He emigrated to Australia and married Ellen Simmons in April 1912 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 ...

. He was turned down for military service during World War I and instead returned to a position at the Royal Arsenal in London, where he had worked before emigrating. After the war he returned to Perth as a motorman with the Western Australian Government Tramways and he became an officer of the Tramway Employees' Union.

Political career

Fraser became a member of the State executive of the

in the 1920s and he was a member of Perth City Council from 1929 to 1937. He was elected to the Senate in the 1937 election. He was appointed Minister for External Territories in the Curtin ministry in October 1941. In September 1943, he became

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

and Minister for Social Services and was responsible for implementing the Labor government's ambitions to expand social security programs. In June 1946, he became Minister for Trade and Customs (losing the Social Services portfolio) on the death of

Richard Keane Richard Valentine Keane (14 February 1881 – 26 April 1946) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Minister for Trade and Customs from 1941 until his death in 1946. H ...

, but was not re-elected to the ministry in November 1946. As a backbencher, he became a forceful critic of Labor leader,

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...

, whom he regarded as unelectable, and seconded a motion to declare the party's leadership positions vacant in October 1954. He retired from parliament in 1959.

Personal life

Fraser died in the Perth suburb of

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

in 1961, survived by his wife, two sons and one of his two daughters. During World War II, his three sons served in the army. One was captured by the Japanese in the

Battle of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

and another died as a prisoner of war in Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, James McIntosh Scottish emigrants to Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Members of the Australian Senate 1889 births 1961 deaths Members of the Cabinet of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Ministers for Health