Reginald Walter Darcy Weaver (18 July 187612 November 1945) was an Australian conservative parliamentarian who served in the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
for 28 years. Serving from 1917 in the backbenches, he entered the cabinet of
Thomas Bavin
Sir Thomas Rainsford Bavin, (5 May 1874 – 31 August 1941) was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1927 to 1930. He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia at the age of 15, where he stud ...
in 1929 as Secretary for Mines and Minister for Forests until he returned to opposition in 1930. Following the success of 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 ...
in the 1932 election, Weaver returned as the Secretary for Public Works and Minister for Health in the
Stevens ministry.
In 1935 he was dropped from the ministry but was later elected as the
Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly, New South Wales's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is Jonathan O'Dea, who was elected on 7 May 2019. Traditionally a ...
in 1937, holding office until the Mair Government lost power in 1941. Weaver then witnessed the death of the United Australia Party in 1943 and became the leader of the new
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in 1944. He was then involved in the negotiations to form the
New South Wales branch of the Liberal Party, with Weaver becoming the first leader of the state Liberal Party in April 1945. He served only briefly until dying of a heart attack in November 1945.
Early life
Reginald Weaver was born at Kickerbill station,
Quirindi, New South Wales
Quirindi ( or ) is a small town on the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, in Liverpool Plains Shire.
At the , Quirindi had a population of 3,444. It is the nearest link to Gunnedah to the west and Tamworth to the north. ...
, on the
Liverpool Plains
The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia.
These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the s ...
, the twelfth child of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
-born parents Richard Weaver and his wife Fanny Seymour Weaver. Weaver was educated at
Newington College
, motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge
, location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = A ...
(1890–1894) in Sydney before joining two of his brothers in a
stock and station agency in
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
and then branching out on his own at
Condobolin
Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,486.
History
Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...
and
Narrandera
Narrandera ( ) until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt highways, adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River, and ...
. A member of the
Farmers and Settlers' Association, Weaver first entered politics when he was elected as an
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
on
Condobolin Municipal Council from 1898 to 1900 and then later as an Alderman on
Narrandera Municipal Council in 1902.
[ On 19 April 1899 he married Gertrude Susan Bond Walker at ]St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St Andrew's Cathedral (also known as St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral) is a cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan o ...
.[
]
Early political career
In 1910, Weaver, now living in Dubbo
Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021.
The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...
, contested the seat of Ashburnham for the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
but was defeated on 46-53% against the Labor Party's John Lynch. Undeterred, Weaver stood again in 1913 as the Farmers and Settlers Party candidate for the seat of Macquarie but was narrowly defeated with 49.61% against the Labor Party candidate's 50.39%. Weaver contested the result, accusing the Labor Party of manipulating the rolls. An inquiry found no fault in these accusations against the Labor Party, but instead found Weaver's own organisers guilty of roll-stuffing.[
Moving to North Sydney in 1916, he established a real estate business and on 24 March 1917 entered the ]New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
at the 1917 election, as the Nationalist Party candidate for the seat of Willoughby with 51.68%. A fervent Imperialist and pro-conscriptionist, he was rejected as medically unfit for the Australian Imperial Force in 1916 but eventually enlisted on 23 August 1918. Raising over £25,000 in War Loans, Weaver was discharged from the Army on 2 December 1918.[ When the Willoughby seat was abolished at the next election, Weaver contested the new multi-member electorate of North Shore, receiving 15.31% and the first seat on the electorate.
Suspicious of the Irish Catholic establishment, embodied by the Labor Party, Weaver joined the Protestant Federation in 1921 and became a sympathiser of the right-wing ]New Guard
The New Guard was an Australian fascist paramilitary organisation during the Great Depression. It was the largest and most successful fascist organisation in Australian history.
The New Guard, known for its violent agitation against Premier o ...
.[ At the 1922 election, he was re-elected with an increased margin of 20.16%, gaining first place once again. He served until, citing business reasons, he retired from parliament on 18 April 1925.]
Minister of the Crown
Weaver soon returned to politics, when on 8 October 1927, at the 1927 election, he was elected to the seat of Neutral Bay
Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
Neutral Bay takes ...
with 69.49%. Rising to prominence within the party, Weaver gained a reputation as an independent-minded but powerful debater in the House, crossing the floor
In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...
on many issues.[
Nevertheless, Weaver was appointed by Premier ]Thomas Bavin
Sir Thomas Rainsford Bavin, (5 May 1874 – 31 August 1941) was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1927 to 1930. He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia at the age of 15, where he stud ...
on 16 April 1929 as the Secretary for Mines
The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade.
In 1929, the department took over responsibility for petroleum.
In 1940, the department was divided with Geoffrey ...
and Minister for Forests
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
. Taking over the worsening dispute on the northern coalfields, he believed the struggle to be communist-inspired and made possible by unemployment relief and child endowment and attempted to resolve an industrial dispute by supporting the use of non-union labour in the Rothbury
Rothbury is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet. It is northwest of Morpeth and of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 2,107.
Rothbury emerged as an important town be ...
coal mine. The resultant protests led to the Rothbury Riot and the death of one miner. His suspension of unemployment relief gained him many enemies from the Labor Party.[ This promotion proved short-lived however, when the Bavin Government was defeated at the October 1930 election, at which Weaver was returned with 65.42%, by Jack Lang's Labor Party.][
In opposition, Weaver witnessed the end of the Nationalist Party and was elected Deputy Leader of the new ]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 ...
(UAP) in New South Wales in 1931. When Lang's Government was dismissed on 13 May 1932 by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Philip Game
Sir Philip Woolcott Game, (30 March 1876 – 4 February 1961) was a British Royal Air Force commander, who later served as Governor of New South Wales and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (London). Born in Surrey in 1876, Game was educa ...
, an early election was called by caretaker-Premier and UAP Leader, Bertram Stevens. At the 11 June 1932 election, in which Weaver was returned with 80.70%, Stevens' UAP/Country Coalition gained 31 seats and won government. Stevens had already appointed Weaver as the Secretary for Public Works and Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
on 16 May 1932.[
A competent, if controversial member of the cabinet, Weaver, as Minister for Health, travelled extensively and concentrated on the expansion of hospitals, becoming Director of ]Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...
(1929-1930). His determination to exert more control over hospitals and the banning of honorary doctors from local hospital boards brought him into conflict with the NSW branch of the British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...
. His strict control over Hospital administrators brought him into conflict with the medical community and he was eventually dropped from the cabinet on 10 February 1935 by Premier Stevens, who found him "too extreme in personal independence" and possessing a "needlessly sharp tongue."[ Weaver returned to the backbenches and won re-election at the 1935 election on 11 May with an increased margin of 88.42%. On 3 July 1935, ]King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
, on the advice of the Governor of New South Wales
The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...
, Lord Gowrie, granted him retention of the title "The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
", for having served more than three years on the Executive Council of New South Wales
The Executive Council of New South Wales (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of New South Wales) is the cabinet of that Australian state, consisting of the Ministers, presided over by the governor.
Role and history
The Executive Council ...
.
Later career
When Sir Daniel Levy retired from parliament, Weaver was elected as the Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
of the Legislative Assembly on 4 August 1937. In 1938, he was cleared by a judicial inquiry, chaired by Sir Percival Halse Rogers, into Jack Lang's allegations of fraud and corruption in the sale of state enterprises in 1933 when Weaver was the Secretary for Public Works.[ At the 1939 election Weaver was returned uncontested. He served as Speaker until the succeeding government of ]Alexander Mair
Alexander Mair (25 August 18893 August 1969) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 5 August 1939 to 16 May 1941. Born in Melbourne, Mair worked in various businesses there before moving to Albury, New Sout ...
was defeated at the May 1941 election by the Labor Party under William McKell
Sir William John McKell (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985) was an Australian politician who served as the 12th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1947 to 1953. He had previously been Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947 ...
. Weaver was returned in his seat uncontested.
However, with the very poor results of the federal United Australia Party under Billy Hughes
William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...
at the 1943 Federal election, the UAP disintegrated. A large number of former UAP members in New South Wales merged with the Commonwealth Party to form Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in November 1943. Mair resigned as leader of Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition
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 ...
on 10 February 1944 and was replaced by Weaver. Weaver then led the party to the 1944 election where it won 19% of the vote and 12 of the 90 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Weaver himself retained his seat with 56.90%.
Weaver's efforts to merge the Democratic Party with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were deadlocked over questions of party organisation and by acrimony between himself and the LDP leader, Ernest White
Sir Ernest Keith White Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, Military Cross, MC (14 August 1892 – 1 August 1983) was an Australian timber merchant and political activist.
He was born at Gosford, New South Wales, Gosford to timb ...
. In 1945, the two parties dissolved and joined the New South Wales branch of the Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
newly formed by 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 ...
. Weaver was elected as the first leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party on 20 April 1945.[
His term as leader of the newly formed party was to prove short-lived. Weaver suffered a mild heart attack in the Legislative Assembly chamber on the evening of 7 November 1945 and drove himself home. He died a week later on 12 November 1945 at Hornsby Hospital, survived by his wife, son and three daughters.][ At the resulting ]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 ...
on 15 December, Neutral Bay was retained by the Liberal Party candidate, Ivan Black
Ivan Carlisle Black (6 July 1913 – 8 July 1990) was an Australian politician and a member of the Liberal Party. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1945 until 1962. Black was born in Ryde, New South Wales. He was ...
, against a single Independent candidate with 56%.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Reginald
1876 births
1945 deaths
Australian people of English descent
People educated at Newington College
Australian businesspeople
New South Wales local councillors
Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales
United Australia Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Australian military personnel of World War I
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Speakers of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Leaders of the Opposition in New South Wales