NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Arthur Calwell

Arthur Augustus Calwell (August 28, 1896 - July 8, 1973) Australian politician, was Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria. His father was a police officer of Irish descent. His mother was of Irish-American descent. A gifted high school student, Calwell was a devout Roman Catholic and joined the Australian Labor Party in his youth. Lacking the resources to pursue a university education, Calwell became a clerk in the Victorian Public Service, in which he worked for the Department of Agriculture and the State Treasury. Arthur Calwell File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Arthur Calwell File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... August 28 is the 240th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (241st in leap years), with 125 days remaining. ... 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The City of Melbournes coat of arms Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of 3,600,650 in the Melbourne metropolitan area (June 2004) and 61,670 in the City of... Motto: Peace and Prosperity Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Governor HE Mr John Landy Premier Steve Bracks (ALP) Area 237,629 km² (6th) - Land 227,416 km² - Water 10,213 km² (4. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... Motto: Peace and Prosperity Nickname: Garden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Government Governor Premier Const. ...

Active and energetic in the Labor Party, he was elected President of the Victorian Labor Party in 1931. He was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Melbourne in 1940. During World War II, Calwell was Minister for Information in John Curtin's government, and became well-known for his tough attitude towards the press in enforcing wartime censorship. The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Australian House of Representatives chamber Entrance to the House of Representatives The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia. ... Melbourne is an Australian Electoral Division of Victoria. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest, most expensive, and most significant war in... Rt Hon John Curtin John Curtin (January 8, 1885 â€“ July 5, 1945), Australian politician and 14th Prime Minister of Australia, led Australia through the darkest period of its history: when the Australian mainland came under direct military threat during the Japanese advance in World War II. Many Australians regard him...

In 1945, Calwell became Minister for Immigration in Ben Chifley's government. He was the chief architect of Australia's post-war immigration scheme, at a time when Europe was teeming with refugees who desired a better life far from their war-torn poverty-stricken homelands. He popularised the slogan "populate or perish." The immigration program coincided with a period when Australian industry was growing rapidly and suffering from shortages of skilled and semi-skilled labour. On 21 July 1947 he signed an agreement with the United Nations Refugee Organisation to accept displaced persons from European countries ravaged by war. 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rt Hon Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (September 22, 1885 - June 13, 1951), Australian politician and 16th Prime Minister of Australia, was one of Australias most influential Prime Ministers. ... July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Despite his far-sighted immigration policies, Calwell was a staunch advocate of the White Australia Policy: while Europeans were welcomed to Australia, Calwell was deporting many Malayan, Indochinese and Chinese wartime refugees, some of whom had married Australian citizens and started families in Australia. This badge from 1906 shows the use of the expression White Australia at that time The White Australia Policy was the common designation given to the official policy of all governments and all mainstream political parties in Australia based on excluding non-white people from immigrating to the Australian continent...

Calwell left office in 1949 when Chifley was defeated by the Liberals, led by Robert Menzies. After Chifley's death in 1951, Dr H V Evatt became the Labor leader, and Calwell became his Deputy. The two disliked each other, but Calwell refused to challenge Evatt's leadership despite his lack of confidence in him. 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ... he sucks poo and more poo and more poo // Early life Menzies was born in Jeparit, a small town in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, the son of a storekeeper and state Member of Parliament of Scottish descent. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Rt Hon Dr H V Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt (April 30, 1894 - November 2, 1965), Australian jurist and politician (popularly known as Doc Evatt or H V Evatt) was born in Maitland, New South Wales, to a working-class family of Anglo-Irish origin. ...

During the split in the Labor Party in 1955 over this issue of Communism, Calwell remained loyal to the party at a time when many of his fellow Catholics were leaving: he lost many of its oldest friends at this time, including the Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix. The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a popular movement. ... Statue of Daniel Mannix outside St Patricks Cathedral, Melbourne Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 - 2 November 1963), Irish-born Australian Catholic clergyman, Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years, was one of the most influential public figures in 20th century Australia, and certainly the most powerful cleric in Australian...

Evatt retired in 1960, and Calwell succeeded him as Leader, with Gough Whitlam as his deputy. Calwell very nearly defeated Menzies at the 1961 Federal election, due to widespread discontent at Menzies's deflationary economic policies. Menzies won 62 seats while Calwell won 60. The result was decided by a handful of votes in two seats. 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Hon Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (born 11 July 1916), Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia, was the only Australian Prime Minister to be dismissed by the Governor-General. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

After this near loss, however, Menzies was able to exploit divisions in the Labor Party over foreign policy to recover his position. Calwell opposed the use of Australian troops in Malaya and opposed the establishment of American military communications bases in Australia. At the 1963 elections Menzies gained ten seats from Labor. Many thought that Calwell should retire, but was determined to stay and fight. The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... The Federation of Malaya, or in Malay Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, was formed in 1948 from the British settlements of Penang and Malacca and the nine Malay states and replaced the Malayan Union. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Calwell made his strongest stand with his vehement opposition to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, and the introduction of conscription to provide troops for the war, publicly saying that "a vote for Menzies was a blood vote". Unfortunately for Calwell, the war was initially very popular in Australia, and in late 1966 the Calwell-led Labor suffered a crushing defeat in the election, which Liberal Prime Minister Harold Holt fought explicitly on the Vietnam War issue. The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam), allied with the National Liberation Front (NLF, or Viet Cong) against the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), and their alliesâ€”notably the United States military in support of... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-BÃ©del Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... Rt Hon Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 1908 - 19 December 1967) was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia from 1966 - 1967, now best remembered for the bizarre circumstances of his death. ...

In early 1967 Calwell resigned as Labor leader; by this time it was clear that his awkward, old-fashioned image was no match for that of his charismatic and ambitious young Deputy Leader, the urbane, university-educated Gough Whitlam, whose clear mastery of the media gave him a huge advantage over the staid Calwell. 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hon Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (born 11 July 1916), Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia, was the only Australian Prime Minister to be dismissed by the Governor-General. ...

Calwell retired from Parliament in 1972, by which time he was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, after serving as an MP for 32 years. He was succeeded as Labor leader by Whitlam, whom he cordially disliked and of whom he was frequently critical, especially since he knew that Whitlam intended abandoning the White Australia Policy. 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... See also: List of longest-serving members of the Australian Senate The first House of Representatives was elected on 30 March 1901. ... Australian House of Representatives chamber Entrance to the House of Representatives The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Australia. ... This badge from 1906 shows the use of the expression White Australia at that time The White Australia Policy was the common designation given to the official policy of all governments and all mainstream political parties in Australia based on excluding non-white people from immigrating to the Australian continent...

Outside of the political arena, Calwell was a devotee of the North Melbourne Australian Rules football team - he was the first life member of the club. He was always devoted to the Catholic Church despite his many conflicts with Church leaders. He was awarded a papal knighthood for his life-long service to the Church. Australian rules football at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. ... The Roman Catholic Church, also called the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian body in the world. ...

Calwell is also notable for being only the second victim of an attempted political assassination in Australia (the first being the attempt on the life of Prince Alfred of Edinburgh in 1868.) On 21 June 1966 Calwell addressed an anti-conscription rally at Mosman Town Hall in Sydney. As he was leaving the meeting, and just as his car was about to drive off, 19-year-old student Peter Kocan approached the passenger side of the vehicle and fired a sawn-off rifle at Calwell at point-blank range. Fortunately for Calwell, the closed window deflected the bullet, which lodged harmlessly in his coat lapel, and he sustained only minor facial injuries from broken glass. Calwell later visited Kocan in the mental hospital (in which he was confined for ten years). Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was a member of the British Royal Family. ... 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Mosman is a local council area and suburb in the North Shore of Sydney, Australia. ... Sydney Harbour looking south from the vicinity of the Sydney Harbour Bridge towards the CBD skyline; the Opera House is visible in the background on the left. ...

Calwell died in July 1973 and was given a state funeral at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Mary Elizabeth, who continues to jealously protect his reputation. Calwell is regarded unfavourably by many for his defence of the White Australia Policy, but his courage in opposing the Vietnam War is remembered with admiration in the Labor Party. 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... St Patricks Cathedral, Melbourne St Patricks Cathedral, Melbourne, is the cathedral church of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, currently Dennis Hart. ... This badge from 1906 shows the use of the expression White Australia at that time The White Australia Policy was the common designation given to the official policy of all governments and all mainstream political parties in Australia based on excluding non-white people from immigrating to the Australian continent... The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam), allied with the National Liberation Front (NLF, or Viet Cong) against the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), and their alliesâ€”notably the United States military in support of... The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ...

Further reading GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Further reading