Franc Falkiner

Franc Falkiner
Member of the Australian Parliament for Riverina
In office 31 May 1913 – 5 September 1914
Preceded by	John Chanter
Succeeded by	John Chanter
Member of the Australian Parliament for Hume
In office 5 May 1917 – 3 November 1919
Preceded by	Robert Patten
Succeeded by	Parker Moloney
Personal details
Born	(1867-06-17)17 June 1867 Ararat, Victoria
Died	30 October 1929(1929-10-30) (aged 62) Bungendore, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal (1913–17) Nationalist (1917–19)
Spouse(s)	Ethel Elizabeth Howat
Occupation	Property manager

Franc Brereton Sadleir Falkiner (17 June 1867 – 30 October 1929) was an Australian politician and grazier, born on the Ararat, Victoria goldfields to Frank Sadleir Falkiner and Emily Elizabeth, née Bazley. The eldest boy among five sons and five daughters, his younger brother Otway Falkiner would later rival him as a Merino sheep breeder.

Falkiner was educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School, and in 1878 the family moved to the Riverina as a result of Otway's asthma. Franc managed the family properties for some time, and in 1909 became managing director of F. S. Falkiner & Sons Ltd on the death of his father.

A founding member of Conargo Shire Council (formed in 1906), Falkiner's political interests were awakened by the 1910 Federal land tax, which prompted him to enter the Australian House of Representatives. He won the seat of Riverina in 1913, representing the Commonwealth Liberal Party, but lost it to the former member, John Chanter, the following year. He won Hume in 1917 for the Nationalist Party, but was defeated in his attempt to transfer to the Senate in 1919. A brusque and humorous politician, Falkiner derided Labor Prime Minister Andrew Fisher's 1912 maternity allowance as a "bangle bonus".

On his departure from politics, Falkiner concentrated on breeding sheep, and was president of the Southern Riverina Pastoralists' Union, one of the founders of the Australian Stud Merino Flock Register, and a director of the Bank of New South Wales from 1919-1929.

Falkiner died on 30 October 1929 at Bungendore of intracranial haemorrhage, and was survived by his wife, Ethel Elizabeth (née Howat), whom he had married on 5 May 1902, and his two sons and two daughters.

References

• Atchison, John (1981). "Falkiner, Franc Brereton Sadleir (1867-1929)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 2007-08-25. 

Falkiner, Suzanne Ethel: A Love Story Macmillan, Sydney 1996