John Lloyd (Jack) Price (14 February 1882 – 23 April 1941) was an Australian politician and trade unionist.
He was an
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 the f ...
member of the
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.
Overview
The House of Assembly was creat ...
for
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
from 1915 to 1925. He later served in the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
for
Boothby from 1928 until his death in 1941, but left the Labor Party and joined 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 ...
, following the
1931 Labor split over government responses to the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
Early life and professional career
Price was born in
Everton in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England, the son of
Thomas Price, the future first Labor
Premier of South Australia
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...
, and his wife Anne Elizabeth (née Lloyd). His family migrated to
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
in March 1883 and settled at
Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
, where Price was educated at Mitcham Public School, Unley Public School, the Adelaide Business College and the South Australian School of Mines. He worked in the clerical branch of the state railways from June 1898 until his election to the House of Assembly in 1915. He volunteered for service in World War I along with several brothers, but was rejected.
He was secretary of the Railway Officers' Association and the state branch of the Federated Masters' and Engineers' Association, president of the
South Australian Government General Workers' Association and the Port Adelaide Trades and Labour Council, and later president of the
United Trades and Labour Council and state president of the Labor Party.
He was both a councillor and alderman of the
City of Port Adelaide
The City of Port Adelaide was a local government area of South Australia centred at the port of Adelaide from 1855 to 1996.
Early years
The council was established on 27 December 1855 when the Corporate Town of Port Adelaide was proclaimed as a ...
, serving from 1916 to 1924, and was president of the Largs Bay Progressive Association.
State politics
Price was elected to the
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.
Overview
The House of Assembly was creat ...
at the
1915 state election for the safe Labor seat of
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
. He remained with the Labor Party in the
1917 Labor split, after which he became secretary to the parliamentary Labor Party and Opposition Whip. He was Government Whip in the government of
John Gunn from 1924 to 1925.
In March 1925, he was appointed to a three-year term as
Agent-General in London by the Gunn government; he had previously been tipped as a potential minister.
His resignation necessitated a
1925 by-election in Port Adelaide, which was won by Labor candidate
John Stanley Verran
John Stanley Verran (24 December 1883 – 30 August 1952) was an Australian politician.
Verran was born in Moonta, the son of John Verran, later Premier of South Australia. He went to work in a mine at the age of 11, and later worked as ...
.
Federal politics
In 1928, he was elected to the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
as the Labor member for
Boothby, defeating sitting
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
Jack Duncan-Hughes
John Grant "Jack" Duncan-Hughes (1 September 1882 – 13 August 1962) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for Boothby from 1922 to 1928, of the Australian Senate for South Australia fr ...
. He was secretary to the parliamentary Labor Party from 1929, but left the Labor Party in the
1931 Labor split, in which several Labor MPs merged with the Nationalists to form 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 ...
under the leadership of
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...
. He later served as secretary to the parliamentary United Australia Party and Government Whip from 1940 until his death.
He died in office in 1941 at the age of 59; he had "not been in robust health" for two years, but his death was sudden and unexpected. His death raised serious concerns that the
Menzies
Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges.
Derivation and history
The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...
government could fall if his seat were lost in a by-election. However, UAP candidate
Grenfell Price held the seat in the
resulting by-election, although the government subsequently fell in August anyway.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, John
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Boothby
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
1882 births
1941 deaths
20th-century Australian politicians
British emigrants to Australia