David Watkins (Australian politician)

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David Watkins (5 May 1865 – 8 April 1935) was an Australian politician and Member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Newcastle from 1901 until his death in 1935.

Born on 5 May 1865 in Wallsend, New South Wales to Welsh parents, Watkins embarked upon a career as a coal miner in the Wallsend colliery in 1881. In 1894, after several years as a trade union official, he entered politics when he successfully ran for the Wallsend seat on the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on behalf of the Protectionist Party.

Upon Federation, Watkins won a seat on the House of Representatives for the Australian Labor Party, on which he served until his death from cancer on 8 April 1935. Although he never achieved ministerial status, Watkins had not changed his seat or party allegiance during his federal political career, and his death left Billy Hughes as the only remaining member of the First Parliament still in the House. Watkins' second son, David Oliver Watkins, stood for his seat in parliament in a 1935 by-election, which he won easily and held for 23 years.

[edit] References

• Hilary Kent, 'Watkins, David (1865 - 1935)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp 393-394.
• Ramsey, Alan: Push to save Labor from its own heartland, The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 June 2006.