Frank Cooper (Australian politician)
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Frank Arthur Cooper (16 July 1872 – 30 November 1949) was
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 1942 to 1946 for the Labor Party.Cooper, Frank Arthur (1872–1949)
'' Australian Dictionary of Biography''
He was born on 16 July 1872 at
Blayney, New South Wales Blayney is a farming town and administrative centre with a population of 3,378 in 2016, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Mid-Western Highway about west of Sydney, west of Bathurst and above sea-level, ...
, the son of an English miller and his Irish wife who had immigrated to Australia. Frank was educated in Sydney and worked as a clerk in various capacities around Sydney, including the Sydney diocese of the
Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
and the Westinghouse brake company. In the latter capacity he moved to postings around the country before settling in Ipswich, Queensland where the main railway workshops for the
State of 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 , establishe ...
were located. Cooper joined the Brisbane Clerical Union and became involved in Labor politics in Ipswich, including as president and secretary of the Ipswich Workers' Political Union, and was involved in the eight-hour day movement in provincial Queensland. His political activities, particularly his support for workers strikes in the state in 1912, caused him to run afoul of employer and he was dismissed, and Cooper subsequently became a journalist and activist within the Labor movement. He became editor of the ''Queensland Leader'', a workers publication in Ipswich, in 1915 and remained so until 1925.Cooper, Hon. Frank Arthur
Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...
. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
In 1915 he was selected to run for the seat of Bremer in the
Queensland Parliament The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral st ...
, a seat based in Ipswich which he would hold for the next three decades. In 1924 he became an alderman and eventually deputy-mayor for
Ipswich City Council The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Geography The C ...
. The following year, he married Agnes Hardy. Cooper had joined the first majority ALP government in Queensland under
T. J. Ryan Thomas Joseph Ryan (1 July 1876 – 1 August 1921) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1915 to 1919, as leader of the state Labor Party. He resigned to enter federal politics, sitting in the House of Represe ...
shortly after his election and became a prominent and well regarded member of the administration. Labor went back to opposition in 1929 but Cooper soon distinguished himself as an effective debater and parliamentarian. His reputation was such that he became Assistant Treasurer and Secretary for Public Instruction upon the election of
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 leadershi ...
as premier of a new ALP government in 1932. By 1938 Cooper was sitting on the Queensland ALP's central executive and was treasurer. He excelled in the position: that year he delivered the state's first budget surplus since 1927. Deputy Premier from 1940 to 1942, he played a key role in preparing Queensland's resources and mobilization for the outbreak of
World War II in the Pacific The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the Theater (warfare), theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, ...
. In 1942, the Federal ALP government under Prime Minister
John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...
introduced uniform taxation which ended the system of dual income taxes levied by both the states and the Commonwealth, instead making the Commonwealth the sole collector of income taxes with grants to be given back to the states to compensate for any losses. Many states, including Queensland, challenged the law in the High Court but were ultimately unsuccessful. William Forgan Smith reluctantly acceded to Curtin's plan, but resigned soon after, and Cooper duly became Premier of Queensland. The septuagenarian Cooper soon showed himself to possess an energetic leadership style which rivalled that of many a younger politician. He was an ardent supporter of the Commonwealth's prosecution of the war effort and worked with Curtin closely, sometimes invoking the ire of his own party in Queensland. He continued as Premier for the rest of the war and for the first months of the peace. In 1946 he resigned from the legislature, and Edward "Ned" Hanlon (who had been Treasurer since 1942) became Premier. After leaving the parliament, Cooper remained active in the Anglican synod and on the senate of the
University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...
. He died at his home in Kedron (a Brisbane suburb) in 1949; his State funeral included a procession from
St John's Cathedral :''This list is for St. John the Evangelist Cathedrals. For St. John the Baptist Cathedrals, see St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)'' St. John's Cathedral, St. John Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. John, or other variations on the name ...
to the
Mount Thompson crematorium Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium (formerly Brisbane Crematorium) includes a heritage-listed chapel (the West Chapel), columbaria and other features. It is located on north-western slopes of Mount Thompson in Brisbane, Australia. ...
.


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Frank 1872 births 1949 deaths Premiers of Queensland Deputy Premiers of Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Treasurers of Queensland Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland