Selby Walter Munsie (23 September 1870 – 12 March 1938) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1911 until his death, representing the seat of Hannans. He served as a minister in the governments of

Philip Collier Philip Collier (21 April 1873 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Premier of Western Australia from 1924 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1936. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1917 to 1936, and is Western Aus ...

and

John Willcock John Collings Willcock (9 August 1879 – 7 June 1956) was the 15th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 1936 until 1945. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party. Early life John Willcock was born at Frogmoor (now Frogmore), New So ...

. Munsie was born near

Armidale, New South Wales Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

, to Anna Maria (née Richardson) and Alexander Welch Munsie. He was educated in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, and later worked for a period in the timber trade at nearby

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

. Munsie came to Western Australia in 1895 to work on the goldfields, living first at

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

and later in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. He eventually became president of the Federated Miners' Union (a forerunner of the national

CFMEU The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU, though most commonly still referred to as CFMEU) is Australia's main trade union in construction, forestry, maritime, mining, energy, textile, clothing and footwear producti ...

).Selby Walter Munsie
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2016. At the 1911 state election, Munsie was elected to parliament, replacing the retiring

Francis Ware Francis John Ware (13 September 1874 – 13 October 1929) was an Australian trade unionist and politician who served as a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1905 to 1911, representing the seat of Hannans. ...

as the member for the seat of Hannans. After Labor's victory at the 1924 election, he was appointed a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

in the new ministry formed by Philip Collier. He was given a substantive position after the 1927 election, replacing

Frank Troy Michael Francis "Frank" Troy (13 October 1877 – 7 January 1953) was an Australian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1904 to 1939. A member of the Labor Party, he was the Speaker of the Legislative ...

as Minister for Mines and John Drew as

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 ...

. Labor were defeated at the 1930 election, but were only out of office for a short period, returning in a landslide at the 1933 election. Munsie regained his old portfolios, and retained them when John Willcock replaced Philip Collier as premier in 1936. He died in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in March 1938, after an illness of about two months, and was granted a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

."A LIFE OF FAITHFUL SERVICE"
– ''Westralian Worker'', 18 March 1938.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Munsie, Selby 1870 births 1938 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian miners Australian trade unionists Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Armidale