Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

Early life

McLarty was born in

Pinjarra, Western Australia Pinjarra is a town in the Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, from the state capital, Perth and south-east of the coastal city of Mandurah. Its local government area is the Shire of Murray. At the 2016 census, P ...

, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty, a farmer and grazier and member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

, and his wife Mary Jane, née Campbell. He attended Pinjarra State School and the Perth Boys' High School. On 12 January 1916 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at the Blackboy Hill depot. On 27 March he was promoted to corporal and assigned to the 44th Battalion, arriving in England on 21 July. The 44th Battalion departed England for the Western Front on 25 November 1916. McLarty was promoted to sergeant on 29 March 1917. In June 1918, McLarty was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land. The award ...

for "bravery in the field" on 25 January 1918 at Passchendaele.The service record does not provide the location of McLarty on 25 January 1918. Passchendaele is sourced from the book, which cites an article in the ''South Western Advertiser'' 10 January 1930. AIF troops would have occupied trenches in the area between the end of the battle in November 1917 and the abandoning of the positions in March 1918. McLarty was commissioned on 1 May 1918 as a second lieutenant and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 August. This was the rank he held until being discharged. On 28 August 1918, during the Second Battle of the Somme, McLarty was wounded in the left hand. While convalescing in London he had a chance meeting with his brother Douglas who was serving with the 16th Battalion. After the war, McLarty returned to farming at Pinjarra and married Violet Olive Margaret Herron on 25 October 1922. He served as a justice of the peace from 1925 and belonged to the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia.

Parliamentary career

He campaigned in the 1930 state election as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

candidate with the slogan 'A practical farmer for a farming electorate', winning the lower house seat of Murray-Wellington. At the 1933 election, the Nationalists were defeated by the Labor Party under

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 Au ...

, beginning a 14-year period in opposition for the conservative parties. On 14 December 1946, McLarty succeeded the retired Robert Ross McDonald as leader of the newly formed

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 ...

, which had amalgamated with the Nationalists.

Premiership

The 1947 election saw the Liberal-Country coalition unexpectedly defeat the Labor government of premier Frank Wise who had held the position for only two years. For the first time since 1933, the Liberal (formerly Nationalist) group in Parliament was larger than the Country Party's and, under the negotiated coalition agreement, McLarty became premier and the Country Party's Arthur Watts became his deputy. Together with the premiership, he held the Treasury, Housing, Forests and North-West portfolios. His administration coincided with rapid post-war expansion of the Western Australian economy and, in 1950, conducted negotiations with BP to develop the

Kwinana Oil Refinery Kwinana Oil Refinery was sited on the shore of Cockburn Sound at Kwinana, near Fremantle, Western Australia. Built by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and completed in 1955, it was the largest oil refinery in Australia, with a capacity of . It was ...

whose surrounding area subsequently developed into the state's main

industrial district Industrial district concept was initially used by Alfred Marshall to describe some aspects of the industrial organisation of nations. Industrial district (ID) is a place where workers and firms, specialised in a main industry and auxiliary indus ...

. His government accepted federal funding to establish the State Housing Commission. His premiership was, however, marred by discord between the two coalition parties. He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in January 1953 and lost office at the election next month, continuing as opposition leader for another four years until March 1957. Throughout his parliamentary career, McLarty travelled home to Pinjarra for most weekends. He was chairman of the Murray District Hospital Board and held a number of pastoral investments, including a controlling interest in Liveringa station, near

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. He resigned from parliament because of poor health in May 1962 and died in December. McLarty was accorded a state funeral and is buried in the Pinjarra cemetery.

References

External links

*
Duncan Ross McLarty (Liberal) 1 April 1947 to 23 February 1953
' Constitutional Centre of Western Australia , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McLarty, Ross 1891 births 1962 deaths Australian Army officers Australian military personnel of World War I Volunteer Defence Corps officers Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Australian politicians awarded knighthoods Australian recipients of the Military Medal Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Pinjarra, Western Australia Premiers of Western Australia Treasurers of Western Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian monarchists

Early life

Parliamentary career

Premiership

See also

References

Further reading

External links