Vincent Clair Gair (25 February 190111 November 1980)
[ was an Australian ]politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He served as Premier of Queensland
The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.
By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...
from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Labor Party. He was elected to the Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
and led the Democratic Labor Party from 1965 to 1973. In 1974 he was appointed Australian Ambassador to Ireland by the Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
government, which caused his expulsion from the DLP.
Early life
Gair was born in Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...
to John Alexander and Catherine Mary Gair, a Scottish father and an Irish mother, and raised a Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.[
] His parents were founding members of the Labor Party in Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
in the 1890s. He began work with the Department of Railways upon the family's move to Dutton Park, Queensland
Dutton Park is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Dutton Park had a population of 2,024 people.
Geography
Dutton Park is located about south of the Brisbane CBD. It is bounded to the north-eas ...
. In 1916 he joined the Labor Party. He married Florence Glynn in 1924.[ She died in an accident five years later.
]
State parliamentary career
The Queensland state electorate of South Brisbane
South Brisbane is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people.
Geography
The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisba ...
was held from 1929 to 1932 by Neil MacGroarty, Attorney-General in the government of Arthur Moore. MacGroarty was influential in creating the Mungana Royal Commission to destroy the political career of Ted Theodore
Edward Granville Theodore (29 December 1884 – 9 February 1950) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1919 to 1925, as leader of the state Labor Party. He later entered federal politics, serving as Treasurer in ...
, and reportedly incurred the displeasure of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane, James Duhig
Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest-s ...
.
Gair worked at consolidating his hold on the marginal electorate, at which he was largely successful except in the 1938 election, when a newly formed Protestant Labor Party
The Protestant Labour Party, alternatively spelt Protestant Labor, was a minor Australian political party that operated mainly in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. It was formed by Walter Skelton in July ...
targeted his seat. He fended off the challenge and retained a low profile in Parliament. In 1941, Gair's only daughter from his first marriage died. In 1944 he remarried, to Ellen Mary Sexton;[ the couple had two sons.
Gair was a backbencher for ten years during the ]William Forgan Smith
William Forgan Smith (15 April 188725 September 1953) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of the state of Queensland from 1932 to 1942. He came to dominate politics in the state during the 1930s, and his populism, firm leadership ...
government before being appointed as Secretary for Mines under the elderly Frank Cooper in 1942. The same year he became Minister for Labour and Employment (later Labour and Industry), and in 1947 he was elected by his colleagues as Deputy Premier. In 1950 he also became Treasurer. Gair had not previously held office in a trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
. Many Labor parliamentarians in Queensland in particular were closely aligned with the Australian Workers' Union
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...
(AWU). Premier Edward Hanlon was the first in a succession of Queensland premiers ''not'' to be linked with the AWU, and this fact helped bring about a reduction in the union's political influence.
In 1948, the 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 ...
associated with the Catholic 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 ...
were introduced into Queensland to combat the influence of the Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...
in the trade unions. The Industrial Groups (whose members were known as Groupers) were supported by Gair, who hoped to use them to cement his personal power base within the party's organisational wing, as well as by union leader Joe Bukowski and the AWU. When conflict with the Groupers precipitated a national split in the ALP, leading to the formation of the breakaway Democratic Labor Party (DLP), the national organisation of the AWU swung its support behind ALP leader Dr H. V. Evatt
Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...
and disbanded the Groups. This would later deprive Gair of a potential source of support within the party organisation. Hanlon died on 15 January 1952 and Gair, having been acting premier since the previous August, was elected by the ALP Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures.
The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...
to succeed him on 17 January.[
]
Premier of Queensland
Under Gair's premiership, reforms were carried out in worker's compensation, sick leave, and annual leave. Long-service leave was also introduced, while the government's price controls enabled workers in Queensland to enjoy the highest real wages (adjusted for prices) in Australia.
Gair came into conflict with Bukowski when the AWU in 1955 began making allegations that there was corruption in the process of granting and extending pastoral lease
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Australia
Pastoral lease ...
s in the state. In July of that year, members of the AWU executive met Gair. According to an account they gave later, Gair promised them an inquiry, although Gair denied ever having promised any such thing. Bukowski publicly expressed a desire to appear before the Bar of Parliament to detail his allegations, in which he was supported by Frank Nicklin
Sir George Francis Reuben Nicklin, (6 August 1895 – 29 January 1978) was an Australian politician. He was the Premier of Queensland from 1957 to 1968, the first non-Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party premier since 1932. , then leader of the Opposition; but Gair defeated his motion in parliament.
In February 1956, Ian Wood, a 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 ...
Senator for Queensland, alleged that the government had demanded payments from pastoralists in order to ensure the extension of pastoral leases, and that these payments had been diverted to Labor Party funds. Gair immediately set up a royal commission, which resulted in the laying of criminal charges against Lands Minister Tom Foley
Thomas Stephen Foley (March 6, 1929 – October 18, 2013) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. A member of the Democratic Party, Foley represen ...
. Foley was acquitted of the specific charges laid against him, but was found by the Royal Commission's report to be responsible for the improper solicitation of party donations, for which he was dismissed from cabinet and expelled from the Labor Party.
Gair discovered that the AWU had gained its information about the scandal from a senior public official, Vivian Creighton. Gair pressed for Creighton's resignation on the grounds of official misconduct. Creighton was summoned to appear before the Bar of Parliament to explain his actions but was later dismissed by cabinet. Gair easily won the elections of May 1956.[
When the AWU uncharacteristically endorsed strike action by shearers, Gair raised the union movement's ire by negotiating with the federal government in order to secure the export of wool shorn by non-union labour. He was ultimately successful in a negotiated end to the strike, but the effect was to cement an unlikely anti-Gair alliance between the ]Queensland Trades and Labour Council
The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) is a representative, an advocacy group, or peak body, of Queensland trade union organisations, also known as a labour council, in the Queensland, Australia. As of 2020, 26 unions and 13 regional branches w ...
(TLC) (represented by Boilermaker's Union secretary Jack Egerton
Sir John (Jack) Alfred Roy Egerton (11 March 1918 – 21 December 1998) was an Australian trade union organiser and member of the Australian Labor Party.
Born in Emerald, Queensland, Egerton was educated at Rockhampton and Mount Morgan Hi ...
) and the AWU.[
Out of the several issues over which Gair and the union movement came into conflict, the most severe was the introduction of three weeks' paid leave to workers under state industrial awards. This had been part of the party's election platform since 1953. Gair announced in 1955 that although the state's finances did not permit the extension of annual leave, the government would extend entitlements to long service leave. This compromise was regarded as insufficient by both the TLC and the AWU, and in November they moved in the Queensland Branch's Central Executive that legislation introducing the leave be introduced by the parliamentary party.][
The majority of Gair's Cabinet refused to accept what it saw as direction from the Central Executive, and in February 1956, Bukowski and Egerton organised the numbers at the next Labor Party convention to vote in favour of a leave increase. After private discussions it was revealed that Gair would introduce the leave sometime over the course of the year. After the election, however, State Treasurer ]Ted Walsh
Ted Walsh (born 14 April 1950) is an Irish amateur jockey turned racehorse trainer who was born and raised in Co. Cork but based in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. Ted is also father to amateur Irish National Hunt jockey, Katie Walsh and profes ...
revealed that Queensland's budget was in deficit and Gair claimed that extending leave would be financially irresponsible.[
The parliamentary ALP found itself in deadlock with the organisational wing and the trade unions, with the TLC and the Central Executive maintaining pressure on Gair throughout early 1957. Gair still refused to budge, thinking that the executive would not dare to expel him.][ For its part, the QCE did not believe that Gair would take many of his caucus with him. The QCE finally expelled Gair on 24 April. He took a total of 25 defectors from the ALP Caucus with him, including all the Cabinet except Deputy Premier Jack Duggan, to form the ]Queensland Labor Party
The Queensland Labor Party (QLP) was a political party of Queensland, Australia formed in 1957 by a breakaway group of the then ruling Labor Party Government after the expulsion of Premier Vince Gair. In 1962 the party became the Queensland se ...
(QLP). Gair tried to gain Country Party support, but talks with Nicklin broke down when federal Country Party leader Arthur Fadden
Sir Arthur William Fadden, (13 April 189421 April 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Australia from 29 August to 7 October 1941. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1940 to 1958 and also served ...
(who was himself a Queenslander) told Nicklin that he had a chance to become Premier himself.[ On 12 June, the ALP, now led by Duggan, voted to deny "]supply
Supply may refer to:
*The amount of a resource that is available
**Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers
**Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission
*Supply, as in confidenc ...
" (that is, the money needed to govern) to what was left of the Gair government. The Country-Liberal Coalition moved to block supply as well and brought the government down.
An election was called for 3 August, in which both the QLP and the ALP lost ground. The two Labor factions won only 31 seats between them to the Coalition's 42. Gair was re-elected at South Brisbane as a QLP candidate. Nicklin became Premier and for the first time in 25 years and only the second time since 1915, a Labor Government was out of office in Queensland. The ALP would not return to power in Queensland until 1989.
Federal politics
Although he was no longer Premier, Gair continued to lead the QLP, which was reduced to 11 members after the 1957 election. However, he was defeated at South Brisbane at the 1960 state election.[ In 1962 the QLP merged with the Democratic Labor Party, which had previously been largely inactive in Queensland. Gair unsuccessfully contested the ]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 ...
election of 1961 for the DLP. In 1964 he was elected as a DLP Senator for Queensland.[
He became the second former Queensland Premier after Anderson Dawson to be elected to Federal Parliament as a Queensland representative. Two other former Premiers Tom Ryan and Ted Theodore had also served in Federal Parliament but were elected as New South Wales representatives in the House of Representatives.
On his election to the Senate, Gair became the federal DLP's leader, a post he held until 1973.][ During his time in the Senate he advocated a strong defence and foreign policy based on anti-Communism.][ The DLP generally sought the middle ground on domestic issues. Gradually his anti-Communist views became outdated but he stubbornly refused to modify them in the face of developments like ]Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's détente
Détente (, French: "relaxation") is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The term, in diplomacy, originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to reduce ...
with China and Russia in the early 1970s.[
]
The "Gair Affair"
Gair subsequently became disillusioned with the DLP's other senators, who forced him to resign as leader in October 1973. In 1974, when the Federal Labor government of Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
was desperately attempting to gain a majority in the Senate, Whitlam tried to create an extra vacancy in Queensland for the upcoming Senate election so as to gain the ALP an increased chance of winning an extra Senate seat.
Whitlam approached Gair with the offer of the position of Ambassador to Ireland, which Gair accepted on 14 March. Whitlam intended to keep the appointment confidential until 2 April, when Gair would tender his resignation from his Senate seat retroactive to 20 March, when Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
cabled its acceptance of Gair's appointment to Canberra. This would force the issuing of writs for the election of six Senators from Queensland, not five as would normally have been the case. Labor would have a realistic chance of winning three of those seats, and with it control of the Senate.[ Subsequently, when knowledge of the appointment became public on 2 April there was an outcry from the conservative parties.][ The then Queensland Premier ]Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...
decided to thwart Whitlam by causing the issue of writs for the usual five Senate vacancies before Gair could resign.[
]
In Canberra, a group of Country Party senators kept Gair occupied in their office, away from the President of the Senate Magnus Cormack (to whom he needed to give his resignation), drinking beer and eating prawns, until 6pm (the Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that writs would be deemed to have been issued at 6pm irrespective of the time that they were actually issued). At 6:05pm, the Queensland Cabinet met and advised the governor, Air Marshal Sir Colin Hannah
Air Marshal Sir Colin Thomas Hannah, (22 December 1914 – 22 May 1978) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a Governor of Queensland. Born in Western Australia, he was a member of the Militia before joining the ...
, to issue writs for the election of five senators for Queensland, and the writs were issued at 11pm. As a result, Gair failed to resign his Senate position in time for there to be six vacancies instead of five, thus thwarting Whitlam's plan. This delaying tactic was later known as "the Night of the Long Prawns".[ Gair later claimed he was perfectly aware of why he was being feted by his colleagues, some of whom were former enemies. Gair's actions helped to precipitate a ]double dissolution
A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...
. After the 18 May election, the ALP remained without control of the Senate. The 1974 election marked the electoral demise of the DLP, which lost all four of its remaining seats, largely as a backlash against Gair's actions.[
]
Later life
Gair took up his post in Ireland. During his tenure, he got into numerous rows with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and other ambassadors. Several female staffers resigned to protest his frequently inappropriate (and often alcohol-induced) behavior. He frequently criticised Opposition Leader Billy Snedden. After the Fraser Fraser may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands
Australia
* Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen
* Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal e ...
government was confirmed to office at the 1975 election, Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock
Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the par ...
had Gair recalled on 21 January 1976, not for political reasons, but because he was unfit for diplomacy.[
]
Death
Gair returned to Brisbane, and died on 11 November 1980, aged 79, on the fifth anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government. He was given 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 ...
and was buried in Nudgee Cemetery
Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium is a large Roman Catholic cemetery at 493 St Vincents Road, Nudgee, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery opened in 1867 and is still operating. Over 31,000 people are buried there.
Services
The cemetery ...
.[
]
Memorials
Gair Park
Gair Park is a heritage-listed park and memorial at 181 Annerley Road, Dutton Park, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1936 onwards. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 April 2004.
History
Gair Park ...
in Dutton Park, Brisbane, is named after Gair. The park is a triangular "garden of remembrance" with a Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
, which originally opened on 25 April 1951.
See also
* Australian Labor Party split of 1955
The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labor Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism.
Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt and B. A. S ...
* 1975 Australian constitutional crisis
The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, also known simply as the Dismissal, culminated on 11 November 1975 with the dismissal from office of the prime minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), by Governor-General Sir Jo ...
References
Further reading
*Costar, Brian. "Vincent Clare Gair: Labor's Loser". In Murphy D, Joyce R, Cribb M, and Wear, R (Ed.), ''The Premiers of Queensland'' pp. 268–285. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. .
*
External links
Gair in political cartoon, 1974
Gair leaves Australia, and the DLP, for Ireland. Cartoon by Australian political cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curre ...
Pickering.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gair, Vincent
1901 births
1980 deaths
Ambassadors of Australia to Ireland
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland
Australian people of Irish descent
Australian people of Scottish descent
Australian Roman Catholics
Burials at Nudgee Cemetery
Queensland Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland
Democratic Labour Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Members of the Australian Senate
Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland
People from Rockhampton
Premiers of Queensland
Deputy Premiers of Queensland
Treasurers of Queensland
20th-century Australian politicians
Australian anti-communists