Paul Jones (15 June 1878 – 27 December 1972) was an Australian politician. Born in Gaffneys Creek, Victoria, he was educated at

South Melbourne College South Melbourne College was a co-education boarding school in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school was founded by Thomas Palmer in 1883. John Bernard O'Hara became a partner in 1889 and became sole proprietor in 1893-4. In his han ...

before becoming a goldminer and teacher. He also studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

for a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree. In 1928, he was elected to 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 ...

in unusual circumstances. Jones stood for the Labor Party in

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 ...

, and was initially a heavy underdog in this strongly conservative seat. However Country Party incumbent Robert Cook mistakenly failed to lodge his renomination papers, leaving Jones to take the seat unopposed. This is one of the few known instances in the history of the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

that a candidate has lost his or her seat in this way. Jones narrowly held onto the seat in 1929, seeing off a spirited challenge from Cook. He was defeated in the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

landslide of 1931, suffering a 14-point swing. The Labor Party has not come close to winning the seat since then, only tallying 45 percent of the two-party vote once. Jones was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

in 1938 for

Doutta Galla Province Doutta Galla Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both ...

. He remained in the Council until 1958, but left the Labor Party in 1955, joining the

Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), formerly the Democratic Labor Party, is an Australian political party. It broke off from the Australian Labor Party (ALP) as a result of the 1955 ALP split, originally under the name Australian Labor Party ...

, which later became the Democratic Labor Party.Ainsley Symons (2012), 'Democratic Labor Party members in the Victorian Parliament of 1955-1958', ''Recorder'' (Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne Branch) No. 275, November, pp. 4-5. Paul Jones died in 1972.

References

1878 births 1972 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Democratic Labor Party (historical) members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Indi Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Victorian Legislative Council 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub