John Barnes (Australian politician)
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John Barnes, 1868-1938, was an Australian politician for the Labor Party.
Born at Hamilton, South Australia, he was educated at a primary school, and subsequently worked as a farm labourer, shearer, miner and general bush worker. In his swag he carried copies of works by Henry George, Robert Blatchford and other writers on economic and social questions and he thus became largely self-educated. He was an early member of the Shearers' Union, afterwards the Australian Workers' Union, became general secretary in 1908 and afterwards president. He was secretary of the Victoria-Riverina branch for a period, and held that position when he was elected a federal senator for Victoria in 1913. He was defeated at the general election held in 1919 but was again elected in 1922 and in 1928. He was assistant minister for works and railways from 22 October 1929 to 3 March 1931 and then vice-president of the executive council and leader of the government in the senate until 6 January 1932. He was then leader of the opposition in the senate until 30 June 1935. Though he held his seat until this date he had been defeated at the general election held in 1934. He was re-elected to the senate in 1937 but died in Melbourne on 31 January 1938. He left a widow, one son and five daughters.
Barnes was a man of strong personality. At the time, he was the most notorious practical joker in Australian federal politics. His sense of humour went hand in hand with earnestness and a belief in the cause of Labour. He was well regarded among his colleagues and in union circles, where he was for many years a leader before entering politics.
[edit] References
- Serle, Percival. (1949). "Barnes, John". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from
Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.
