Standish Michael Keon (2 July 1915 – 22 January 1987) was an Australian politician who represented 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 the Federal Parliament from 1949 to 1955, having served previously in the State Parliament of Victoria.

Early life

He was the third surviving son of Australian-born parents, Philip Tobyn Keon, a lorry driver, and his wife, Jane (née Scott). His Christian names were registered as Horace Stanley; Horace being the name of a brother who had died the previous year. He attended Roman Catholic schools in East Melbourne and Richmond, and later won a scholarship to attend

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. Th ...

, but couldn't attend due to reduced family circumstances, which compelled him to start working at the age of 12.

Political career

Keon's November 1945 election to the electoral district of Richmond in the Victorian Parliament followed a bitter pre-selection contest between supporters of the political machine of

John Wren John Wren (3 April 1871 – 26 October 1953) was an Australian bookmaker, boxing and wrestling promoter, Irish nationalist, land speculator, newspaper owner, racecourse and racehorse owner, soldier, pro-conscriptionist and theatre owner. He b ...

, on one hand, and the "Catholic Social Studies Movement" of

B. A. Santamaria Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria, usually known as B. A. Santamaria (14 August 1915 – 25 February 1998), was an Australian Roman Catholic anti-Communist political activist and journalist. He was a guiding influence in the founding of the Dem ...

, on the other. Keon won 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 ...

seat of Yarra at the 1949 federal election, succeeding former

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 ...

James Scullin James Henry Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian Labor Party politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Scullin led Labor to government at the 1929 Australian federal election. He was the first Catho ...

. Keon himself was widely seen as a future Prime Minister. In 1955, he and six other Victorian federal members were expelled from the Labor Party as a result of the

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

in the party caused by the controversy surrounding the role of

Industrial Groups The Industrial Groups were groups formed by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the late 1940s, to replace Communist Party influence in the trade unions with groups controlled by B. A. Santamaria's "Movement" which had infiltrated the ALP in 1944 ...

within the ALP. In April 1955, the seven expelled Labor parliamentarians became founding members of 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 was renamed the Democratic Labor Party in 1957. Keon became the deputy leader of the new party in federal parliament under

Bob Joshua Robert Joshua, MC (6 June 1906 – 2 June 1970) was an Australian politician, and a key figure in the 1955 split in the Australian Labor Party which led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) and, subsequently, the De ...

. Keon was narrowly defeated in Yarra by the Labor candidate,

Jim Cairns James Ford Cairns (4 October 191412 October 2003) was an Australian politician who was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government. He is best re ...

; all of the other Labor defectors were defeated as well. He made four subsequent but unsuccessful attempts to vanquish Cairns at succeeding federal elections. He eventually had a spectacular falling-out with his controversial one-time ally Santamaria.

Notes

References

1915 births 1987 deaths Australian Roman Catholics Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Democratic Labour Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Yarra Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Place of death missing Politicians from Melbourne 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub