The Court–McPharlin Ministry was the 26th Ministry of the Government of Western Australia , and was led by Liberal Premier Sir Charles Court and his deputy, National Country Party leader Ray McPharlin . It succeeded the Tonkin ministry on 8 April 1974, following the defeat of the Labor government at the 1974 election nine days earlier. The Ministry collapsed when McPharlin led the National Country Party out of the Coalition on 20 May 1975, and was reconstituted on 5 June 1975 as the Court Ministry .
36-619: Prior to the election, the Country Party had tentatively merged with the Democratic Labor Party , going to the voters as the "National Alliance" which put forward a centrist platform—however, they lost both votes and seats in doing so, when compared with the two parties' performance at the 1971 election . In order to form a parliamentary majority, the National Country Party under its new leader, Ray McPharlin , agreed to form
72-562: A Protestant (from Victoria). No DLP Senators or state politicians were ever elected in South Australia or Western Australia . Owing largely to demographic reasons, the ALP did not split in these states, although some lay branch members switched to the new party once it had been established. As the ALP and the conservative parties traditionally held approximately equal numbers of seats in the Senate,
108-527: A coalition with the Liberals after the election, and negotiated three seats in the Ministry. However, relations between the two parties were not smooth—the reduced position of the party vis-a-vis the Liberals had led to public discussions that it needed an identity distinct from the Liberals in order to survive. Ultimately, tensions over rural and education issues and, ultimately, milk quotas for dairy producers led to
144-447: A deal was almost done. Three out of four of the ALP's parliamentary leaders agreed to a deal. However, Calwell refused to share power within the party with the DLP leadership on a membership number basis, so the deal failed. Santamaria later claimed that had he accepted, Calwell could have become prime minister. Indeed, at the 1961 federal election Labor came up just two seats short of toppling
180-559: A dissolution of parliament later that day, with the election set down for 28 May 1955 . At the election, 11 of the 12 expelled MPs in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, as well as other candidates, and the one MP facing re-election in the Victorian Legislative Council lost their seats. The party drew 12.6% of the vote, mainly from the ALP, which was directed to the non-Labor parties. Labor won 37.6% of
216-512: A result of the ALP split of 1955 being a 'de-ethnicisation', a forcible removal of the Irish-Catholic element within the ALP. However, many ALP (Anti-Communist) members were not of Irish descent. The party attracted many voters among migrants from Catholic countries in southern Europe, and among anti-Communist Eastern European refugees. A significant minority of its voters were also non-Catholics. Journalist Don Whitington argued in 1964 that
252-463: A split, and on 20 May 1975, National Country Party leader Ray McPharlin had led the party (and its three Ministers) out of the Coalition. In the negotiations which followed, which included, among others, Federal Country Party leader Doug Anthony and Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen , McPharlin was replaced as leader by Dick Old and the Coalition was resumed on 31 May; however, Court insisted he
288-698: A successful bid to split the DLP and remove its influence. The party lost all its Senate seats at the 1974 federal election . In April 1976, the Queensland and South Australian branches of the DLP were dissolved. The party only stood candidates in Victoria at the 1977 federal election , without success. In April 1978 it was reported in The Bulletin that the New South Wales state council would meet in June 1978 to determine
324-784: Is ordered by decreasing seniority within the Cabinet, as indicated by the Government Gazette and the Hansard index. Blue entries indicate members of the Liberal Party, whilst green entries indicate members of the National Country Party. The members of the Ministry were: Premier and Treasurer Minister Co-ordinating Economic and Social Development Deputy Premier Minister for Agriculture Minister for Works Minister for Water Supplies Minister for Housing Deputy Premier (Acting, from 20 May 1975) Minister for Justice Leader of
360-599: The Queensland Labor Party , a breakaway party of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party , became the Queensland branch of the DLP. In 1978, a new Democratic Labor Party was founded by members of the original party, which remains active as of 2024. The Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) which began in 1954. The split
396-529: The ALP (Anti-Communist) was almost entirely Roman Catholic of Irish descent. The only two non-Catholics were its federal leader, Bob Joshua , who represented Ballarat in the Australian House of Representatives , and Jack Little , who led the party in the Victoria Legislative Council between 1955 and 1958. It has been suggested that the party was substantially a party of Irish-ethnics,
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#1732872858205432-505: The ALP out of office at the federal level and in Victoria. The DLP vote for the House of Representatives gradually declined during the 1960s, but remained strong enough for the Liberals to continue to need DLP preferences to win close elections. After Evatt's retirement in 1960, his successor Arthur Calwell , a Catholic, tried to bring about a reconciliation between the ALP and the DLP. Negotiations were conducted through intermediaries, and in 1965
468-459: The Coalition. One of those seats was Bruce , in the DLP's heartland of Melbourne. DLP preferences allowed Liberal Billy Snedden to win a paper-thin victory. Although the Coalition was only assured of a sixth term in government later in the night with an even narrower win in the Brisbane -area seat of Moreton , any realistic chance of a Labor win ended with the Liberals retaining Bruce. Without Bruce,
504-582: The DLP was able to command a significant vote, particularly in Victoria and Queensland, with their large numbers of Catholics. During the period the party held between one and five seats in the Senate (which is elected by proportional representation ). The DLP Senate leaders were George Cole (from Tasmania; 1955–1965), Vince Gair (from Queensland; 1965–1973), and Frank McManus (from Victoria; 1973–1974). Other DLP Senators were Condon Byrne (from Queensland), Jack Kane (from New South Wales), and Jack Little ,
540-492: The DLP was able to use the balance of power in the Senate to extract concessions from Liberal governments, particularly larger government grants to Catholic schools, greater spending on defence, and non-recognition of the People's Republic of China . During this period the DLP exercised influence by directing its preferences to Liberal candidates in federal and state elections (see Australian electoral system ), thus helping to keep
576-420: The DLP were considering a merger. In response, Gough Whitlam said he was delighted to see "the old harlot churched". By this point, the party's emphasis on Senate results had led to a steady decline in their primary vote for the House of Representatives, and according to Tom King of Australian National University a large amount of the support for the DLP by this point came as a result of protest votes against
612-596: The DLP, as a basically sectarian party, was a most dangerous and distasteful force in Australian politics. Whitington observed that the party was backed by influential sections of the Roman Catholic Church, and that although the party professed to exist primarily to combat communism, it had less commendable reasons behind its coming into being. Daniel Mannix , the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne ,
648-933: The Government in the Legislative Council (Acting, from 20 May 1975:) Minister for Transport Minister for Police Minister for Traffic Minister for Traffic Safety (from 1 May 1974) Minister for Education Minister for Cultural Affairs Minister for Recreation (Acting, from 20 May 1975:) Chief Secretary Minister for Conservation and Environment Minister for Fisheries and Fauna Minister for Labour and Industry Minister for Consumer Affairs Minister for Immigration Minister for Tourism Minister for Industrial Development Minister for Mines Minister for Electricity (from 1 May 1974) Minister for Fuel and Energy Minister for Local Government Minister for Urban Development and Town Planning Minister for Lands Minister for Forests Minister for
684-513: The Legislative Council until the expiry of their terms at the 1958 Victorian election , and all who recontested their seats were defeated. At the 1955 federal election held in December, all the 7 expelled federal MPs were defeated. However, Frank McManus was elected as a senator for Victoria at the 1955 election, and successful ALP candidate George Cole had chosen before the election to become part of this party. The parliamentary membership of
720-638: The Movement's tactics, and there was no party split in that state. The expelled ALP members formed the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) under the influence of B. A. Santamaria . Ideologically, the ALP (Anti-Communist) followed universalism and kept the NCC anti-communist position. Following the stance of the Roman Catholic Church towards the White Australia policy after 1952, the ALP (Anti-Communist)
756-525: The North-West Minister for Regional Development is a position in the government of Western Australia , currently held by Don Punch of the Labor Party . The position was first created in 1977, for the government of Charles Court , and has existed in most governments since then. The minister is responsible for the state government's Department of Regional Development . Prior to the creation of
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#1732872858205792-625: The North-West Minister for Agriculture (Acting, from 20 May 1975) Minister for Health Minister for Community Welfare Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955) The Democratic Labor Party ( DLP ) was an Australian political party . The party came into existence following the 1955 ALP split as the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) , and was renamed the Democratic Labor Party in 1957. In 1962,
828-405: The best Labor could have done was a hung parliament . At the 1969 federal election , DLP preferences kept Calwell's successor Gough Whitlam from toppling the Coalition, despite winning an 18-seat swing and a majority of the two-party vote. DLP preferences in four Melbourne-area seats allowed the Liberals to narrowly retain them; had those preferences gone the other way, Labor would have garnered
864-663: The country's trade unions . These members formed units within the unions, called Industrial Groups , to combat this alleged infiltration. The intellectual leader of the Victorian Catholic wing of the ALP was B. A. Santamaria , a Roman Catholic Italian-Australian Melbourne lawyer and lay anti-Communist activist, who acquired the patronage of Dr Mannix. Santamaria headed The Catholic Social Studies Movement (often known as The Movement ), modeled on Catholic Action groups in Europe and, ironically, in organizational terms, on some of
900-422: The federal and Victorian parliaments were expelled from the ALP. A total of seven Victorian federal MPs and 18 state MPs were expelled. The federal MPs were: Tom Andrews , Bill Bourke , Bill Bryson , Jack Cremean , Bob Joshua , Stan Keon and Jack Mullens . In New South Wales , the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney , Norman Cardinal Gilroy , the first native-born Australian Roman Catholic prelate, opposed
936-446: The following ministers to their positions, who served until the end of the Ministry on 5 June 1975. On 20 May 1975, the three Country members of the Ministry resigned. Four existing Ministers assumed the portfolios in an acting capacity while negotiations continued: Des O'Neil and Alan Ridge divided Ray McPharlin 's duties, whilst Neil McNeill acted for Matt Stephens and Graham MacKinnon acted for Norm Baxter . The list below
972-488: The future of the party. In March 1978, the Victorian branch voted to dissolve The vote to dissolve was carried by 110 votes to 100. Some members of the party refused to accept the vote and formed a continuity DLP, which they claimed was a continuation of the original DLP. However, that claim was disputed by almost all the officers of the original DLP. House of Representatives Senate Minister for
1008-690: The methods employed by its principal target, the Communist Party of Australia. That group later became the National Civic Council (NCC). Evatt denounced the "Movement" and the Industrial Groups in 1954, alleging they were disloyal and trying to deflect the Labour Movement from pursuing Labor objectives. At the 1955 ALP national conference in Hobart , Santamaria's parliamentary supporters in
1044-408: The party's base among Catholics. Some members of the DLP disagreed with this, believing the party should stay focused on anti-communism. The highest DLP vote was 11.11 per cent, which occurred at the 1970 half-senate election . Whitlam and the ALP won government in the 1972 election , defeating the DLP's strategy of keeping the ALP out of power. In 1973, it was reported that the Country Party and
1080-617: The swing it needed to make Whitlam Prime Minister. The DLP's policies were traditional Labor policies such as more spending on health, education and pensions, combined with strident opposition to communism, and a greater emphasis on defence spending. The DLP strongly supported Australia's participation in the Vietnam War . From the early 1960s onward the DLP became increasingly socially conservative, opposing homosexuality , abortion , pornography and drug use . This stand against "permissiveness" appealed to many conservative voters as well as
1116-567: The two major parties, rather than any definitive ideological base. A softening of attitudes towards Communism both in Australia and within the Catholic Church meant that the party increasingly sounded old-fashioned and ideologically adrift, a perception that was not helped by the advanced age of the DLP's parliamentarians. In 1974, Whitlam appointed Gair as ambassador to the Republic of Ireland in
Court–McPharlin ministry - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-562: The vote and 20 seats to the Liberals' 34 and the Country Party's ten. The Cain Labor Government lost government at the 1955 election. Only one of the expelled Labor members, Frank Scully , was re-elected for the seat of Richmond . Scully had been a Minister in the Cain Government and a member of the Movement, and was expelled from the ministry and the ALP as part of the 1955 split. Five other MPs whose terms had not expired remained in
1188-463: Was a DLP supporter, as were other influential clerics. In 1957, the party changed its name to the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). In the same year, the Labor Party split in Queensland following the expulsion of Vince Gair , a conservative Catholic, from the party. He and his followers formed the Queensland Labor Party , which, in 1962, became the Queensland branch of the DLP. Between 1955 and 1974
1224-441: Was also oppositor of said policy. On the night of 19 April 1955, Liberal and Country Party leader Henry Bolte moved a motion of no-confidence against John Cain 's Labor government in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. After twelve hours of debate on the motion, in the early hours of 20 April, 11 of the expelled Labor members crossed the floor to support Bolte's motion. With his government defeated, Cain sought and received
1260-576: Was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H. V. Evatt , and the majority of the Victorian branch, which was dominated by a faction composed largely of ideologically-driven anti-Communist Catholics . Many ALP members during the Cold War period, most but not all of them Catholics, became alarmed at what they saw as the growing power of the Communist Party of Australia within
1296-452: Was too inexperienced to be Deputy Premier, and from this point until the Liberals' defeat in 1983, while the Coalition was maintained between the two parties, the Liberal Party got to name both leading positions in the Ministry. On 8 April 1974, the Governor, Air Commodore Sir Hughie Edwards , constituted the Ministry. He designated 12 principal executive offices of the Government and appointed
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