Vincent Clair Gair (25 February 1901 – 11 November 1980) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957 when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Australian Labor Party. He was elected to the Australian Senate and led the Democratic Labor Party from 1964 to 1973. In 1974 he was appointed Australian Ambassador to Ireland by the Whitlam government. is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... List of Premiers of Queensland Before the 1890s there was no formal party system in Queensland. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is a minor political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism. ... Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916), known as Gough Whitlam (, pronounced Goff), is an Australian former politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia. ...

Early life

Gair was born in Rockhampton, of mixed Scottish and Irish parentage, and raised Roman Catholic. His parents were founding members of the Labor Party in Queensland in the 1890s. He began work with the Department of Railways upon the family's move to Brisbane and in 1916 he joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP), whose membership included a great many Irish Catholics. He married Florence Glynn in 1924. She died in an accident five years later. Rockhampton, sometimes abbreviated to Rocky, is a city in Central Queensland, Australia, located inland from the Capricorn Coast on the Bruce Highway, approximately north of Queenslands capital city, Brisbane. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Wickham Terrace entrance to Central Station - showing Queensland Rail QR sign QR, previously known as Queensland Rail and Queensland Railways, is the corporation responsible for the operation and maintenance of the railway system in the State of Queensland, Australia. ... Brisbane (pronounced ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, as well as the third largest city in Australia. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Parliamentary career

The state electorate of South Brisbane was held from 1929 to 1932 by Neil Macgroarty, Attorney-General in the government of Arthur Moore. Macgroarty was influential in creating the Mungana Royal Commission to destroy the political career of Ted Theodore, and had thus incurred the displeasure of the influential James Duhig, Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane. It was rumoured to be the personal intervention of Duhig, wishing to find a Catholic candidate to unseat Macgroarty, that saw Gair win ALP preselection for the seat. The Moore government lost office in the elections of 1932 in which Gair unseated Macgroarty. The division of South Brisbane is a Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral division in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ... Arthur Edward Moore (1876-1963), was an Australian politician, the first Country Party Premier of Queensland, from 1929 to 1932. ... The Mungana Affair involved the selling of some mining properties in the Chillagoe-Mungana districts of northern Queensland, Australia to the Queensland government, at a grossly inflated price. ... Hon Ted Theodore Edward Granville Theodore (29 December 1884 - 28 February 1950), Australian politician, was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the second son of a Romanian immigrant called Basil Teodorescu. ... Archbishop Sir James Duhig (2 September 1873 - 10 April 1965 was Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane for nearly 50 years and was at the time of his death the longest-serving bishop in the church. ...

Gair worked at consolidating his hold on the marginal electorate, at which he was largely successful except in the elections of 1938, when a newly-formed Protestant Labor Party targeted his seat. He fended off the challenge and retained a low profile in Parliament. In 1941 Vince and Florence Gair's only daughter died, an event which affected him deeply. He remarried to Ellen Sexton in 1944 and the two had two sons.

Gair was a backbencher for ten years during the William Forgan Smith government before being appointed as Secretary for Mines under the elderly Frank Cooper in 1942. The same year he became Minister for Labour and Employment (later Labour and Industry), and in 1947 he was elected by his colleagues as Deputy Premier. In 1950 he also became Treasurer. William Forgan Smith (1887-1953), was Premier of Queensland from 1932 to 1942. ... Frank Arthur Cooper (1872-1949) was Premier of Queensland from 1942 to 1946 for the Australian Labor Party. ...

Unusually for a Labor minister, Gair had not previously held office in a trade union. Many Labor parliamentarians in Queensland in particular were closely aligned with the Australian Workers Union (AWU). Premier Edward Hanlon was the first in a succession of Queensland premiers not to be linked with the AWU, a fact that had seen a reduction in its influence. Gair also was not associated with the AWU, and in fact had a strong personal dislike of the AWU's Queensland president, Joe Bukowski, dating back to their childhoods in Rockhampton when Bukowski bullied Gair. Gair was determined not to be beholden to AWU power, an important determining factor in many of his actions as Premier. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) is one of Australias largest and oldest trade unions. ... Edward Michael Hanlon (1887-1952), was Premier of Queensland from 1946 to 1952. ...

In 1948, the Industrial Groups associated with the Catholic Movement of B. A. Santamaria were introduced into Queensland to combat the influence of the Communist Party of Australia in the trade unions. The Industrial Groups (whose members were known as Groupers) were supported by Gair, who hoped to use them to cement his personal power base within the organisational wing, as well as by Bukowski and the AWU. When conflict with the Groupers precipitated a national split in the ALP, leading to the formation of the breakaway Democratic Labor Party (DLP), the national organisation of the AWU swung its support behind ALP leader Dr H.V. Evatt and disbanded the Groups. This would later deprive Gair of a potential source of support within the party organisation. The Industrial Groups were groups formed by the Australian Labor Party in the late 1940s, to combat Communist Party influence in the trade unions [1]. In 1941 B.A. Santamaria founded the Catholic Social Studies Movement, generally known simply as the Movement. The Movement quickly gained a large influence in... Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria (14 August, 1915 - 25 February, 1998), (known in public as B.A. Santamaria and in private as Bob), Australian political activist and journalist, was one of the most influential political figures in recent Australian history, but never held public office or joined a political party. ... The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991. ... The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is a minor political party in Australia that espouses social conservatism. ... Rt Hon Dr H.V. Evatt Dr Herbert Vere Evatt (April 30, 1894 - November 2, 1965), Australian jurist, politician and writer (generally known in his lifetime as Dr H.V. Evatt and popularly known as Doc) was born in Maitland, New South Wales, to a working-class family of Anglo...

Hanlon died on 15 January 1952 and Gair, having been Acting Premier since the previous August, was elected by the ALP Caucus to succeed him on 17 January. January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A caucus is most generally defined as being a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Premiership

Gair came into conflict with Bukowski when the AWU in 1955 began making allegations that there was corruption in the process of granting and extending pastoral leases in the state. In July the AWU executive met with Gair, who according to them promised an inquiry, which Gair denied. Bukowski publicly expressed a desire to appear before the Bar of Parliament to detail his allegations, in which he was supported by Frank Nicklin, leader of the Opposition, but Gair defeated his motion in parliament. In February 1956, Ian Wood, a Liberal Party Senator for Queensland, alleged that the government had demanded payments from pastoralists in order to ensure the extension of pastoral leases and that these payments had been diverted to Labor Party funds. Gair immediately set up a royal commission which resulted in the laying of criminal charges against Lands Minister Tom Foley. Foley was acquitted of the charges but was found by the Royal Commission's report to be responsible for the improper solicitation of party donations, for which he was sacked as a Minister and expelled from the Labor Party. Pastoral Leases are agreements under the Commonwealth of Australia that allow for the use of Crown land by farmers, etc. ... Sir George Francis Reuben Nicklin (1895-1978) was Premier of Queensland from 1957 to 1963, the first Country Party Premier since 1932. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... In states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. ... Thomas Stephen Foley (born March 26, 1929 in Spokane, Washington) is an American politician of the Democratic Party, having served as the most recent Democratic speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and ambassador to Japan. ...

Gair discovered that the AWU had gained its information about the scandal from a senior public official, Vivian Creighton. Gair pressed for Creighton's resignation on the grounds of official misconduct. The parliamentary dismissal of Creighton raised claims that the government was acting out of vindictiveness, and was criticised by the AWU. Nevertheless, Gair easily won the elections of May 1956.

When the AWU uncharacteristically endorsed strike action by shearers, Gair raised the union movement's ire by negotiating with the federal government in order to secure the export of wool shorn by non-union labour. Gair was ultimately successful in a negotiated end to the strike, but the effect was to cement an unlikely alliance between the militants of the Queensland Trades and Labour Council (TLC) (represented by Boilermaker's Union secretary Jack Egerton) and the AWU. The Queensland Council of Unions is a representative body of Trade union organisations in the State of Queensland, Australia. ... Sir John (Jack) Alfred Roy Egerton (11 March 1918 - December 1998) was an Australian trade union organiser and member of the Australian Labor Party. ...

Out of the several issues over which Gair and the union movement came into conflict, the most severe was to prove to be that over the introduction of three weeks' paid leave to workers under state industrial awards. This had been part of the party's election platform since 1953. Gair announced in 1955 that although the state's finances did not permit the extension of annual leave, the government would extend entitlements to long service leave. This compromise was regarded as insufficient by both the TLC and the AWU, and in November they moved in the Queensland Branch's Central Executive that legislation introducing the leave be introduced by the parliamentary party.

The majority of Gair's Cabinet refused to accept what it saw as direction from the Central Executive, and in February 1956, Bukowski and Egerton organised the numbers at the next Labor Party convention to vote in favour of a leave increase. After private discussions it was revealed that Gair would introduce the leave sometime over the course of the year. After the election, however, Treasurer Ted Walsh revealed that the state's budget was in deficit and Gair claimed that extending leave would be financially irresponsible. Ted Walsh is a racehorse trainer based in Kill, County Kildare in Ireland. ...

The parliamentary party found itself in deadlock with the organisational wing and the trade unions, with the TLC and the Central Executive maintaining pressure on Gair throughout early 1957. Gair still refused to budge, thinking that the executive would not dare to expel him. For its part, the QCE did not believe that Gair would take many of his caucus with him. The QCE finally expelled Gair on 24 April. He took a total of 25 defectors from the ALP Caucus with him, including all the Cabinet except Deputy Premier Jack Duggan, to form the Queensland Labor Party (QLP). Gair tried but failed to gain Country Party support for his continuation as Premier. On 12 June, the ALP, now led by Duggan, crossed the floor of Parliament and voted with the Country Party and the Liberal Party to deny supply (that is, the money needed to govern) to what was left of the Gair government. is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Queensland Labor Party (QLP) was a political party of Queensland, Australia formed in 1957 by a breakaway group of the then ruling Australian Labor Party Government after the expulsion of Premier Vince Gair. ... The National Party of Australia is an Australian conservative political party, which claims to represent rural voters. ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

An election was called for 3 August, in which both the QLP and the ALP lost ground, although Gair was re-elected at South Brisbane as a QLP candidate. Nicklin became Premier and for the first time in 25 years, a Labor Government was out of office in Queensland. The ALP would not return to power in Queensland until 1989. is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

DLP leadership and the "Gair Affair"

Although he was no longer Premier, Gair continued to lead the QLP, which was reduced to 11 members after the 1957 election. However, he was defeated at South Brisbane at the 1960 state election. In 1962 the QLP merged with the Democratic Labor Party, which had previously been largely inactive in Queensland, and Gair contested the Senate elections of 1961 for the DLP unsuccessfully. In 1964 he was elected to the Senate, where he became the DLP's leader, a post he held until 1973. During his time in the Senate he advocated a strong defence and foreign policy based on anti-Communism. The DLP generally sought the middle ground on domestic issues. Gradually his anti-Communist views became outdated but he stubbornly refused to modify them in the face of developments like Richard Nixon's detente with China and Russia in the early 1970s. Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

Gair subsequently became disillusioned with the DLP, who forced him to resign as leader in October 1973. In 1974, when the Labor government of Gough Whitlam was desperately attempting to gain a majority in the Senate, Whitlam tried to create an extra vacancy in Queensland for the upcoming Senate elections so as to gain the ALP an increased chance of winning an extra Senate seat. Whitlam approached Gair with the offer of the position of Ambassador to Ireland. Subsequently, when knowledge of the appointment had become public, there was an outcry from the conservatives. The Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen decided to thwart Whitlam by causing the issue of writs early for five, rather than six, Senate vacancies. Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916), known as Gough Whitlam (, pronounced Goff), is an Australian former politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia. ... Sir Johannes Joh Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG (13 January 1911 – 23 April 2005), New Zealand-born Australian politician, was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of the state of Queensland. ...

A group of Country Party Senators kept Gair occupied in their office, drinking beer and eating prawns, while Bjelke-Petersen saw the Governor of Queensland (Air Marshal Sir Colin Hannah), to have the writs issued; and as a result, Gair failed to resign his Senate position in time. (This delaying tactic was later known as "the Night of the long prawns": Gair later said that he was perfectly aware of why he was being feted by his colleagues, some of whom were former enemies.) Gair's actions helped to precipitate a double dissolution election (that is, an election for all members of both houses of the Australian Parliament.) After the election, held on 18 May 1974, the ALP remained without control of the Senate. Whitlam was later dismissed when the Senate refused to pass supply bills (see Australian constitutional crisis of 1975). The 1974 election marked the electoral demise of the DLP, which lost all four of its remaining seats, largely as a backlash against Gair's actions. List of Governors of Queensland See Governors of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Governor. ... May 18 is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The secretary of the Governor-General, David Smith, announcing the dissolution of Parliament on November 11th, 1975. ...

Gair took up his post in Ireland, but when the Fraser government took office after the 1975 elections, Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock had Gair recalled. Gair died in November 1980 in Brisbane, aged 79. This article is about the former Prime Minister of Australia; for the Western Australian public servant, see Malcolm Fraser (surveyor). ... Andrew Sharp Peacock AC (born 13 February 1939), Australian Liberal politician, was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the son of a wealthy company director. ...

Further reading

• Costar,Brian. "Vincent Clair Gair: Labor's Loser". In Murphy D, Joyce R, Cribb M, and Wear, R (Ed.), The Premiers of Queensland pp. 268-285. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3173-8.