John Joseph Daly (10 November 1891 – 13 April 1942) was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, 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 o ...

from 1928 to 1935. 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 ...

until 1934, when he was expelled. During the Scullin Government he was the party's Senate leader, and held ministerial office as

Vice-President of the Executive Council The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executiv ...

and briefly as

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Early life

Daly was born at Hemington, now part of the Adelaide suburb of

Thebarton Thebarton ( ), formerly Theberton, on Kaurna land, is an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore ...

, and educated at St John the Baptist School, Thebarton, but left at 13. He continued his education at Remington Training College and became an office-boy in the legal firm of Sir

Josiah Symon Sir Josiah Henry Symon (27 September 184629 March 1934) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 1901 to 1913 and Attorney-General of Australia from 1904 to 1905. Symon was born in Wick, Caithness, ...

and later conveyancing clerk for William Joseph Denny and Francis Villeneuve Smith. He was called to the bar in 1919 and handled much trade union work. He married Eva Bird in October 1918.

Political career

Daly joined the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exer ...

in 1914 and was a member of the executive of the South Australian branch of the

from 1918 to 1928. He ran unsuccessfully for the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, ...

in 1921 and for the Australian Senate in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

. He was elected to the Senate in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

and was the following June unanimously elected as the ALP's Senate leader, becoming Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. With the election of the Scullin government in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, Daly became Senate leader and

and minister in charge of development and migration, and of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in the Scullin Ministry. From August 1930 to January 1931, he acted as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and allegedly had

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 ...

and

Edward McTiernan Sir Edward Aloysius McTiernan, KBE (16 February 1892 – 9 January 1990), was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge. He served on the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1976, the longest-serving judge in the court's history. McTiernan ...

appointed to the High Court of Australia against Scullin's wishes. He opposed the Scullin government's deflationary

Niemeyer Plan The Premiers' Plan was a deflationary economic policy agreed by a meeting of the Premiers of the Australian states in June 1931 to combat the Great Depression in Australia that sparked the 1931 Labor split. Background The Great Depression ...

and was removed from cabinet by caucus in March 1931, but following a change in his attitude to support the similar

Premiers' Plan The Premiers' Plan was a deflationary economic policy agreed by a meeting of the Premiers of the Australian states in June 1931 to combat the Great Depression in Australia that sparked the 1931 Labor split. Background The Great Depression ...

was restored to cabinet in June 1931 as minister without portfolio. He was expelled from the party by the South Australian branch for supporting Scullin's economic policies and failed to gain preselection for the Senate for the 1934 election.

Later life

Following the expiration of his Senate term, Daly returned to his private practice. He died in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

survived by his wife and his five children.

Notes

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, John Joseph 1891 births 1942 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Cabinet of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Defence ministers of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians