John Michael Drew (17 October 1865 – 17 July 1947) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

for 41 years in two separate terms between 1900 and his death in 1947. Born at Wanerenooka,

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

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 ...

, Drew established and edited several newspapers circulating in the

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

region before entering politics. A strong opponent of

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

, he was elected to the Legislative Council in 1900. Nominally independent, Drew aligned himself with the Labor Party, and served in several Labor ministries during the early 1900s, in positions such as Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Lands, and Colonial Secretary. He officially joined the party in 1911, having been admitted to

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

sittings the previous year. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Drew supported

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, but this issue, coupled with the ineffectual Scaddan Ministry, led to him losing his seat at the 1918 election. He regained his seat at the 1924 election, and subsequently served as chief secretary of the party, as well as Minister for Education, Health, and the

North-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

. Drew died of cancer in 1947, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

.Bain, Mary Albertus
Drew, John Michael (1865–1947)
– Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drew, John 1865 births 1947 deaths Australian newspaper editors Australian newspaper founders Australian newspaper publishers (people) Deaths from cancer in Western Australia Journalists from Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Northampton, Western Australia Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia