Norman Makin

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Hon Norman Makin

Norman John Oswald Makin (31 March 1889 - 20 July 1982), Australian politician, was a Cabinet minister, Speaker and diplomat.

Makin was born in Petersham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, the son of an itinerant worker. He received a primary education in Broken Hill, then moved with his family to Adelaide, where he became a metal-worker. He was active in the Australian Society of Engineers and the Australian Labor Party from an early age. By 1918 he was President of the South Australian branch of the Labor Party, and in 1919 he was elected to the House of Representatives for the safe Labor seat of Hindmarsh in the working-class suburbs of Adelaide. In his private life Makin was a lay Methodist preacher.

Makin spent ten years in Opposition before the election of the Scullin Labor government in 1929. He hoped to be elected to Cabinet, but had to be content with the position of Speaker, a post in which he performed capably, being noted for his even temperament and his courtesy to all members. In 1932, following the fall of the Scullin government, he returned to the Opposition benches, and was Secretary of the Labor Caucus during the 1930s.

By 1941, when Labor returned to office under John Curtin, he had an undeniable claim to office, and became Minister for the Navy and Minister for Munitions - key posts in a wartime government. In 1945 he also became Minister for Aircraft Production. He established good relations with service chiefs and played an important role in Australia's successful transition to a wartime economy. When Curtin died in 1945 Makin was mentioned as a possible successor, but the claims of the Treasurer, Ben Chifley, were too strong.

In 1946 Chifley appointed Makin as Australian Ambassador to the United States, a post he held until 1951. In the gathering Cold War atmosphere of the postwar years, this was a position of great importance to Australia, and Makin performed it so well that the incoming Liberal Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, kept him in the post after the change of government in 1949. In 1946 he served as the first President of the United Nations Security Council.

After leaving his diplomatic post Makin returned to Australia. Although he was by now in his mid 60s, he decided to return to politics. At the 1954 election he captured the marginal Liberal seat of Sturt for Labor, and in 1955 he shifted to the new, safe seat of Bonython. Had Labor won the 1958 or 1961 federal elections, Makin might well have returned to office, or possibly become Speaker again. As it was he retired at the 1963 elections, and remained active in Labor affairs for many years, dying in Adelaide in 1982 at the age of 93. He was the last surviving member of John Curtin's Cabinet.

The electorate of Makin, established in 1984 in Adelaide's northeastern suburbs, is named after him.