James Francis Cope (26 November 19073 February 1999) was an Australian 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 in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
from 1955 to 1975. He was
Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1975, resigning abruptly in dramatic circumstances when he came into conflict with Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...
.
Early life
Cope was born 26 November 1907 in
Surry Hills, New South Wales
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...
. He was the youngest of five sons born to Martha (née Ellem) and George Eugene Cope. His father worked as a
compositor and was a "strong supporter of the Australian Labor Party".
Cope attended
Crown Street Public School and Bourke Street Public School. He left school after two years of secondary education and began working as a messenger boy. He later worked as a
machinist at the
Randwick Tramway Workshops, but was retrenched during the
Great Depression and relied on
the dole
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
for three years. He also worked part-time as a cricket umpire and billiard marker. During World War II, Cope worked for Amalgamated Wireless Valve making glass tubes for use in radar. After the war's end, he manufactured glass for laboratories. He served as federal treasurer of the Australian Glass Workers' Union from 1952 to 1955.
[
]
Politics
Cope joined the ALP in 1930 and became president of its Redfern branch. He was elected to the Redfern Municipal Council in 1948.[
Following the death of the incumbent Labor MP ]Tom Sheehan
Thomas Clancy Sheehan (March 31, 1894 – October 29, 1982) was an American pitcher, scout, coach and manager in Major League Baseball.
Born in Grand Ridge, Illinois, Sheehan, a right-hander, had a six-year pitching career from 1915–16, 1921 ...
, Cope was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1955 Cook by-election. His seat was abolished in a redistribution, but he switched to Watson at the 1955 federal election. He held Watson until its abolition in 1969, when he transferred to the new seat of Sydney.[
]
Speakership
On 27 February 1973, Cope was appointed the first Labor Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
since 1950. On 27 February 1975, the second anniversary of his election as speaker, he resigned after the Whitlam government refused to support him when he named Clyde Cameron
Clyde Robert Cameron, (11 February 191314 March 2008), was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1980, representing the Division of Hindmarsh. He wa ...
, a government minister. Cope retired from parliament at the double dissolution election of 11 November 1975.
Later life
In the New Year's Honours of 1978, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), for his services to the parliament.It's an Honour
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Cope died in 1999.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Jim
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cook (1906–1955)
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Watson
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Sydney
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Speakers of the Australian House of Representatives
1907 births
1999 deaths
20th-century Australian politicians