Clarence Goode

Clarence Goode (17 August 1875 – 30 April 1969)[1] was a farmer and politician in South Australia. Descendants pronounce the family name to rhyme with "wood".[2]

History

Clarence was born at Canowie Station the son of Thomas Goode. He was educated privately and at the Canowie Public School, then at Frederick Caterer's Glenelg Grammar School. He was for many years occupied in farming and grazing (at Laura then with Albert Powell at Booyoolie estate near Gladstone), and was elected Councillor for the Gladstone Corporation in December 1902, and was returned unopposed two years later. He was for some time Chairman of the Gladstone branch of the Agricultural Bureau. On 27 May 1905 he was returned to the Assembly at the head of the poll for Stanley[1] for the Australian Labour Party with colleagues Harry Jackson and William Cole, and was re-elected in 1910,[3] holding that seat for ten years, then was returned for the Electoral district of Victoria for a further term of three years until 5 April 1918,[1] with colleague Peter Reidy. He served as Commissioner of Crown Lands and Minister of Agriculture in the Crawford Vaughan Labour Government from 3 April 1915 to 14 July 1917[1] in what was criticised as the "Family Ministry" (Attorney-General John Howard Vaughan being the Premier's brother and Clarence his brother-in-law).[4] Goode was one of the Vaughan Government ministers whom A. T. Saunders singled out for complicity in shady land deals, notably the purchase, from colleagues, of land at inflated prices to be passed on in 200-acre lots to First AIF soldiers ("soldier-settlers").[5]

Goode claimed to have been largely instrumental in establishing the wartime wheat scheme, which saved the farmers of Australia at that time from financial ruin. That, and initiation of the Australian Shipping Board, brought him into close association for nearly two years with some of the most able businessmen in Australia. In 1917 he left politics, and was not a member of any political party for more than 18 years.

Goode was appointed general manager of the British Australian Cotton-growing Association, a position he relinquished in November 1923 to take up cotton growing at Miles, Queensland, in part on the recommendation of one of his brothers who had moved to that State. His experience was disappointing however, and he returned penniless to South Australia ten years later, residing in a rented house at 301 Military Road, Henley Beach.[6] Work was scarce and he was reduced to working as a cleaner at Centennial Park Cemetery.[2]

In 1935, in the depths of the Great Depression, Goode stood as Independent candidate for the Central District No. 2 in a Legislative Council by-election. Some of the policies he advocated were:— Placing all able-bodied men in useful work at full rates or pay and more liberal pensions for those unable to work and the widowed and fatherless. Proportional representation to give substantial minorities representation in Parliament. He supported "the people's verdict on six o'clock closing of hotel bars." He advocated radical alterations to the system by constitutional methods, quoting Henry George's remark that a country could not go on permitting men to vote and forcing them to tramp, nor educating boys and girls and refusing them the right to earn an honest living.[7] E. W. Holden won the seat; Goode came a distant third.[8]

Goode subsequently found employment with A. M. Bickford and Sons.[9] He never lost his interest in public affairs, and was a frequent contributor to the "Letters to the Editor" in The Advertiser.

Family

He married Helen Ethel Miriam "Ethel" Marston ( – 8 March 1904) on 17 August 1900. They had a son on 20 May 1901 at Mt. Herbert, Gladstone, before Ethel died of tuberculosis. He married again, to Ethel's sister Hilda Anna Margaret Marston. They had a son Ray on 14 July 1909, a daughter on 14 March 1912 at Unley, another daughter on 9 December 1920 at Parkside.

Goode died on 30 April 1969. His last residences were 301 Military road, Henley Beach, then 1 Murray Avenue, Koongarra Park.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Clarence Goode". Former Member of Parliament Details. Parliament of South Australia.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.deareverybody.net/site/intro.html
  3. ↑ "Mr. Goode M.P.". The Register (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 5 April 1910. p. 11. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Out Among The People.". The Advertiser (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 19 December 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Man Who Exposed Land Deals". The Mail (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 12 January 1918. p. 2. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Mr. C. Goode Revisits Pirie.". The Recorder (Port Pirie, SA: National Library of Australia). 30 April 1936. p. 2. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Mr. C. Goode's Plea as Independent". The Advertiser (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 13 December 1935. p. 18. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "Electors' Apathy". The Sydney Morning Herald (National Library of Australia). 16 December 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Income Tax Appeal Rejected". The Advertiser (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 11 November 1946. p. 2. Retrieved 25 March 2013.

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