Arthur Blakeley (3 July 1886 – 27 June 1972) was an Australian politician who served in 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 ...

from 1917 to 1934, representing the Labor Party. He was the party's deputy leader from 1928 to 1929 and served as

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

in the

Scullin Government Scullin may refer to: In places: * Scullin, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Division of Scullin, an electorate in the Australian House of Representatives People with the surname Scullin: * James Scullin (1876–1953), Prime Mi ...

(1929–1932).

Early life

Blakeley was born on 3 July 1886 in

Gilberton, South Australia Gilberton (formerly Gilbert Town) is an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia on the northern bank of the River Torrens. It is a short distance from Adelaide's city centre. It is bounded by the river, Park Terrace, Stephen Terrace a ...

. He was the son of Catherine Ann (née Greenwood) and Simeon Blakeley, his father being a house-painter from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, England. When he was young, the family moved to Broken Hill, New South Wales, where he attended a

convent school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

. Blakeley was educated to the age of 13, when he left school to work in the mining camps. He later worked as a shearer. In 1912, he became an organiser for 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 exer ...

(AWU). He served as secretary of its western branch from 1915 to 1917, based in

Bourke, New South Wales Bourke is a town in the north-west of New South Wales, Australia. The administrative centre and largest town in Bourke Shire, Bourke is approximately north-west of the state capital, Sydney, on the south bank of the Darling River. it is also ...

. Blakeley married Ruby Pauline McCarroll in 1914, with whom he had two sons and two daughters.

Political career

In the 1917 election, Blakeley was elected as the member for Darling in 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 o ...

after a sustained campaign against conscription. He was president of the Australian Workers' Union from 1919 to 1923. In April 1928, he was elected deputy leader of the parliamentary party, but lost it in 1929 to

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 ...

. On the election of the

Scullin government Scullin may refer to: In places: * Scullin, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Division of Scullin, an electorate in the Australian House of Representatives People with the surname Scullin: * James Scullin (1876–1953), Prime Mi ...

, Blakeley became Minister for Home and Territories until Labor's defeat at the 1931 election. This position was responsible for the development of Canberra and in 1930 he announced the establishment of a

university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

and in 1931, he abolished the

Federal Capital Commission The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. Timeline of the ...

. On the advice of the Northern Territory Pastoral Lessees' Association, Blakeley oversaw the re-establishment of the single

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, which in 1926 had been split into the separate territories of Central Australia and

North Australia North Australia can refer to a short-lived former British colony, a former federal territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, or a proposed state which would replace the current Northern Territory. Colony (1846–1847) A colony of North Austr ...

. The territories were disestablished effective 11 June 1931 by legislation passed the previous year. In 1931, Blakeley also proposed the establishment of a special court for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, similar to the later community courts. He stated a desire for "a simple tribunal, presided over by a person or persons with a thorough knowledge of native customs, who can sift native evidence ..I do not want a court restricted by all kinds of legal technicalities and procedures". At the 1934 election, Blakeley was defeated by the

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. Following the expulsion of the N ...

candidate,

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

Later life

Blakeley moved to Melbourne and in 1935 he was appointed an inspector of the

Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration The Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration was an Australian court that operated from 1904 to 1956 with jurisdiction to hear and arbitrate interstate industrial disputes, and to make awards. It also had the judicial functions of i ...

, which he worked for almost continuously until his retirement in 1952. His wife died in 1962, and he died in 1972 in the Melbourne suburb of

Glen Iris Glen Iris may refer to: *Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia *Glen Iris, Western Australia A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whit ...

, after a state funeral he was cremated. He was survived by two sons and two daughters.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakeley, Arthur Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Darling Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia 1886 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians People from South Australia Australian people of English descent