Leslie Arnold Wood (6 March 1907 – 29 March 1958) was a school teacher and member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

. He was the Leader of the Opposition in Queensland for seven months in 1957–1958.

Biography

Wood was born in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, to parents Joseph Emanuel Wood and his wife Fredrika Johanna Henrietta (née Hoepper). He was educated at Middle Ridge State School in Toowoomba before attending Maryborough Central State School and Maryborough Grammar School. He took up

teaching Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the context of an educational institution. Teaching is closely ...

at Maryborough West State School and then returned to Toowoomba to carry on his teaching duties at Newtown and East Toowoomba. From 1941 until 1945 he was a member of the AIF reaching the rank of Captain in the 3rd Division and saw service at Milne Bay,

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histo ...

, and Bougainville. On 22 December 1928 he married Anne Alice Margaret Reyment (died 2001)Deceased search
—

Toowoomba Regional Council The Toowoomba Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and bey ...

Retrieved 26 March 2016. and had three sons and one daughter including identical twins

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

who themselves went on to be members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He was a Past Master of the Melrose

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

and a president and referee in the Toowoomba Rugby League. He was also a member of the Toowoomba Bowls Club and the RAOB. Wood died of a heart attack at his home in March 1958. He was given a state funeral, the first time it was accorded to an

opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. The funeral service was packed (Wood had been an exceptionally popular parliamentarian, esteemed even by his political opponents) and hundreds of people stood outside the church to pay their respects. There were 140 cars in the

funeral cortege A funeral procession is a procession, usually in motor vehicles or by foot, from a funeral home or place of worship to the cemetery or crematorium. In earlier times the deceased was typically carried by male family members on a bier or in a cof ...

as it made its way to the

Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery at the corner of South Street and Anzac Avenue, Harristown, Queensland, Australia. It was surveyed in May 1850, and is one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Queensland. The cem ...

for his burial.Deceased search
—

Retrieved 26 March 2016.

Political career

Wood, for the Labor Party, won the 1946

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the seat of East Toowoomba following the death of Herbert Yeates the previous December. There was a state election the next year however and Wood lost the seat to future

Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and for 1 week,

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is a ...

Gordon Chalk Sir Gordon William Wesley Chalk, Gordon William (Chalkie) (1913 ...

. Out of politics for three years, Wood contested the new seat of North Toowoomba at the 1950 state election, and defeated the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate, Ralph Weppner.About Ralph
—

University of Southern Queensland The University of Southern Queensland (branded as UniSQ and formerly branded as USQ) is a medium-sized, regional university based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, with three university campuses at Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich. It offe ...

Retrieved 26 March 2016. He held North Toowoomba until his death in 1958. In 1957, the Labor Party split with Premier

Vince Gair Vincent Clair Gair (25 February 190111 November 1980) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Labor Party. He was e ...

and most of his Cabinet being expelled from the party. This left Jack Duggan as the new Labor leader but Gair lost

supply Supply may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as in confidenc ...

and an election was called for 3 August 1957. Duggan lost his seat and Wood found himself leader of what was left of the Labor Party. He held the role until his death the next year and on 1 April 1958, parliament gave glowing praise to Wood in a motion of condolence.Motion Of Condolence
—

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...

. Retrieved 26 March 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Leslie Arnold Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1907 births 1958 deaths Burials in Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers