Parker John Moloney (12 August 18798 May 1961) was an Australian politician. A member of the
Labor Party, he served in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
from 1910 to 1913, 1914 to 1917, and 1919 to 1931. He was
Minister for Markets and
Minister for Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
in the
Scullin Government Scullin may refer to:
In places:
* Scullin, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Division of Scullin, an electorate in the Australian House of Representatives
People with the surname Scullin:
* James Scullin (1876–1953), Prime Mi ...
from 1929 to 1932.
Early life
Moloney was born in
Port Fairy, Victoria
Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the S ...
, to Maurice Moloney and Mary, née Bowe. He became a teacher at
John O'Hara
John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The L ...
's South Melbourne College in 1902 and then at
University High School. Around this time he began to be interested in labour politics and attended the Catholic Young Men's Association. In 1906 he became principal of
Beechworth
Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,859.
Beechworth's many histor ...
College.
Member of Parliament
In 1910 Moloney won the
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
n seat of
Indi
Indi may refer to:
*Mag-indi language
*Division of Indi, an electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives
*Indi, Karnataka, a town in the state of Karnataka, India
*Instrument Neutral Distributed Interface, a distributed control sys ...
for Labor. He lost it in 1913, but regained it in 1914. In the same year, on 15 April, he was married to Margaret Mary Mills. However, it was his opposition to
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 ...
which lost him the seat for good in 1917. He relocated to
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and in 1919 became the first Labor representative for
Hume. Despite representing a New South Wales seat, he continued to live in Melbourne, but built up a strong support base in Hume. He was one of only a small number of people who have represented
more than one state or territory in the Parliament.
In 1928, Moloney fell gravely ill with appendicitis, and was operated on by his parliamentary colleague
Earle Page
Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leade ...
.
Moloney was
Minister for Markets and Transport from 1929 to 1931 as part of the
Scullin government. He negotiated Australia's first trade treaty with Canada, and was rewarded with a parliamentary ovation. Despite many continuing exploits, including preparing for the
Imperial Economic Conference of 1932, to be held at
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, Canada, Moloney lost his seat in the conservative landslide of 1931.
Later life
There were no parliamentary
pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
s, which left Moloney almost destitute. He sold his house and moved in with his sister-in-law. With former colleague
Richard Keane
Richard Valentine Keane (14 February 1881 – 26 April 1946) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Minister for Trade and Customs from 1941 until his death in 1946. H ...
, he managed to buy two old mining dumps near
Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...
, which were sold to
Collins House for £3000. He also became active in the share market. By 1939 he was president 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 the f ...
in Victoria, but, despite two unsuccessful
Senate
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 ...
campaigns, he withdrew from politics in 1943, when Labor won office. Although he gradually moved away from the ALP, he certainly never joined the DLP and in fact, disagreed with many of the policies of the
Democratic Labor Party. Chairman of the Victorian Dried Fruits Board from 1936 to 1957, he was only able to retire after
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
ensured he would be provided with a pension. He was closely associated with Archbishop
Daniel Mannix
Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia.
Early years and Maynoo ...
, and was always interested in horse-racing.
Personal life
Moloney died on 8 May 1961 and was given a state funeral. He was remembered by Archbishop
Guilford Young as "outstanding among a great generation of Catholic men who had a special Catholic ethos".
[
Moloney was a devout Catholic. In 1947 he participated in a lecture series sponsored by the ]Legion of Mary
The Legion of Mary ( la, Legio Mariae, postnominal abbreviation L.O.M.) is an international association of members of the Catholic Church who serve it on a voluntary basis. It was founded in Dublin, as a Marian movement by the layman and civi ...
, speaking on the subject "why I am a Catholic". He spoke of his conviction that the Catholic Church was the one true church
The expression "one true church" refers to an ecclesiological position asserting that Jesus gave his authority in the Great Commission solely to a particular visible Christian institutional church—what is commonly called a denomination. This ...
and according to '' The Advocate'' was of the view that "the Christian religion was being assailed as never before by a ruthless enemy pledged to an insidious Marxian doctrine aimed at the complete dethronement of God".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moloney, Parker
Politicians from Melbourne
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hume
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Indi
1879 births
1961 deaths
People from Port Fairy
20th-century Australian politicians
Australian people of Irish descent
Australian Roman Catholics
Australian schoolteachers