James Joseph Webster (14 June 1925 – 3 April 2022) was an Australian politician. He was a Senator for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

from 1964 to 1980, representing the

National Country Party 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 fe ...

(NCP). He served as Minister for Science (1975–1978) and Science and the Environment (1978–1979) in the Fraser Government. He left politics to become

High Commissioner to New Zealand The High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to New Zealand is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in New Zealand, and head of the UK's diplomatic mission in New Zealand. As the United Kingdom and New Zealand are fellow mem ...

, serving from 1980 to 1983.

Early life

Webster was born on 14 June 1925 on

Flinders Island Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal Tasmanian population were exiled by the colo ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. He was the youngest of three sons born to Eileen (née Thorne) and Leslie Webster. His father was the chairman of the Flinders Island Butter Factory and served as president of the Flinders Island Municipal Council. In 1929, Webster and his family moved to his father's home state of

. His father ran a timber and hardware business in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

before settling the family on a farm in Greenval in 1932. Webster was educated at state schools before completing his education at Caulfield Grammar School. During World War II he managed the family farm in the absence of his older brothers, and also joined the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...

. His father served in state parliament from 1944 to 1947 as a member of the Country Party. Webster took business classes at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

before studying accounting at

Melbourne Technical College RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

. He worked for periods as a clerk at a timber company, as chief clerk at a sawmill in

Orbost Orbost is a historic early settlers town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the surf and fishing seaside town of Marlo on th ...

, and as a tallyman on the Melbourne wharves. He was active in the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

as a delegate to the Australian Timber Workers' Union and as a member of the

Waterside Workers' Federation The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered ...

. In 1948, he joined J. J. Webster Pty Ltd, the

Elsternwick Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Elsternwick recorded a population of 10,887 at the 2 ...

timber, hardware, and plumbing retailer that had been founded by his grandfather in 1884. In 1954, he became a director of Lords Holdings Limited, a building supply wholesaler.

Politics

Webster joined the Young Country Party in 1940. He was a member of the party's Federal Council (1960–1964) and served as state president of the Victorian Country Party (1963–1964). At the 1955 state election he stood unsuccessfully in the seat of

Broadmeadows Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Broadmeadows recorded a population of 12,524 at the 2021 census. Broadmeadow ...

. Webster was appointed to the Senate in December 1964, filling a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the death of

Harrie Wade Harrie Walter Wade OBE (10 January 1905 – 18 November 1964) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Country Party and served as a Senator for Victoria from 1956 until his death in 1964. He was the party's Senate leader and held ...

. He was re-elected in 1966, 1967, 1974, and 1975. Webster was an "active backbencher" and served on a variety of Senate committees. His views were "in many respects, those of a rural socialist", and he supported government subsidies and tax incentives for rural industries. He was also in favour of public funding of the Australian film industry, supporting the establishment of the

Australian Film Development Corporation The Australian Film Development Corporation was an organisation created and funded by the Australian Government in the 1970s, intended to allow filmmakers in the Australian film industry to create movies for everyone to see. In 1975 it was repl ...

, the Australian Film and Television School, and the Australian Film Commission. In December 1975, Webster was appointed Minister for Science in the Fraser Government. He was also given the environment portfolio in 1978, becoming Minister for Science and the Environment. In 1979, Webster announced that responsibility for

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

would be moved from the Department of Primary Industry to his own department. He subsequently said that the government would seek to end illegal "pirate" whaling and was "firmly committed to a policy of vigorous and active protection of whales". During his tenure Australia and

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

successfully lobbied the

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

(IWC) to introduce the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary. In 1975, his constitutional eligibility to sit in the Senate was questioned, prompting the Parliament to introduce the ''

Common Informers (Parliamentary Disqualifications) Act 1975 Section 46 of the Constitution of Australia provides a penalty for a Australian Senate, Senator or member of the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives who sits while Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia, constitutio ...

'', although ultimately the High Court found that he was not ineligible and he continued to serve until his retirement in 1980.

Later life

In December 1979, it was announced that Webster would retire from politics in order to be appointed

. He formally resigned from the Senate in January 1980, and was succeeded by Laurence Neal. Webster served as High Commissioner during the negotiations leading up to the Closer Economic Relations agreement. According to

John Menadue John Laurence Menadue (born 8 February 1935) is an Australian businessman and public commentator, and formerly a senior public servant and diplomat. He served as Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 1975 to 1976, work ...

, he opposed the Fraser Government's 1981 changes to the

Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) is an arrangement between Australia and the Realm of New Zealand which allows for the free movement of citizens of one of these countries to the other. The arrangement came into effect in 1973, and all ...

, which required New Zealanders to carry passports when entering Australia. His term as High Commissioner ended in October 1983. He subsequently resumed farming in Victoria.

Personal life and death

Webster married Jean Drake in 1957, with whom he had four sons. They were divorced in 1989 and in 1993 he married Jeanette Hillis. Webster became an elder in the

Presbyterian Church of Victoria The Presbyterian Church of Victoria is one of the constituent churches of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It was established in 1859 as a union of Church of Scotland, Free Presbyterian and United Presbyterian congregations. The Presbyte ...

at the age of 21. He served on the board of the

Victorian School for Deaf Children The Victorian College for the Deaf (VCD), located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, Australia, is Victoria's oldest deaf school, opening in 1860. The Victorian College for the Deaf is Australia's only Prep to Year 12 Specialist in Deaf Education ...

from 1954 to 1974. Webster died in

Brighton, Victoria Brighton is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Bayside local government area. Brighton recorded a population of 23,252 at the 2021 census. ...

on 3 April 2022, at the age of 96. His funeral was held at St Leonards Uniting Church on 21 April.

References

External links