Norman Kenneth Foster (12 March 192119 November 2006) was a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of 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 the seat of Sturt from 1969 to 1972 and then 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 House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

from 1975 to 1982. He also served as a signaller with the 2/10th Battalion in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, Papua and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

during World War II, and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his bravery in action.

Early life

Norman was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and left school at 13. He worked as a labourer until he enlisted in the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

's 2/10th Battalion in 1939 at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He served in England,

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and

, where he was mentioned in dispatches for bravery in action as a signaller. After the war he worked on the docks in

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 ...

and became a leader of the

Waterside Workers' Federation The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered ...

and president of the Trades and Labor Council in 1964.

Political career

He won the federal seat of Sturt from

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 ...

incumbent Ian Wilson at the 1969 election with a 50 percent primary and 50.5 percent

two-party A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referr ...

vote from a 15 percent two-party swing. Foster's victory in the historically blue-ribbon Liberal seat was part of an 18-seat swing to Labor that nearly ended the

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

's record tenure in government. However, Wilson won the seat back at the 1972 election from a 2.7 percent swing even though Labor won government. Foster then served in the

from 1975 to 1982 and was probably best known for his support of the

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

Liberal government's legislation in 1982 to allow the

Roxby Downs Roxby Downs may refer to. * Roxby Downs, South Australia, a town and a locality * Roxby Council, formerly Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, a local government area See also *Roxby Downs Station Roxby Downs Station was a pastoral lease in centra ...

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

mine. The legislation was very controversial, and was opposed at the time by Labor. Foster resigned from the Labor Party just before he

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

to give the final vote required to pass the legislation. He ran unsuccessfully for the Legislative Council as an independent Labor candidate in 1982. His ALP membership was reinstated in 1988. Foster died in Adelaide and was survived by his wife, five children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Norman Kenneth 1921 births 2006 deaths Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Sturt Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian waterside workers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian military personnel of World War II