Crawford Nalder

The Honourable Sir Crawford Nalder
Deputy Premier of Western Australia
In office 1 February 1962 – 3 March 1971
Preceded by	Arthur Watts
Succeeded by	Herb Graham
Member of Parliament for Wagin (Legislative Assembly)
In office 15 March 1947 – 25 March 1950
Preceded by	Sydney Stubbs
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of Parliament for Katanning (Legislative Assembly)
In office 25 March 1950 – 30 March 1974
Preceded by	Arthur Watts
Succeeded by	Dick Old
Personal details
Born	(1910-02-14)14 February 1910 Katanning, Western Australia, Australia
Died	8 December 1994(1994-12-08) (aged 84) Wagin, Western Australia, Australia
Political party	Country Party[note 1]

Sir Crawford David Nalder (14 February 1910 – 8 December 1994) was an Australian politician who served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1947 to 1974, including as deputy premier from 1962 to 1971. Born in Katanning, Western Australia, Nalder was educated at Wesley College, Perth, but returned to farming after graduation. He was elected to the seat of Wagin at the 1947 state election, as a member of what would later be known as the Country Party.^{[note 1]} Following the abolishment of Wagin, Nalder switched to Katanning for the 1950 election, a constituency he would hold until his retirement. He succeeded Arthur Watts as the party's leader in February 1962, and continued to govern in coalition with the Liberal Party, led by premier David Brand. This arrangement continued until the government's defeat at the 1971 elections. Nalder was knighted in 1974, following his retirement from parliament, and later returned to Wagin, where he died in 1994.

Biography

Nalder was born in Katanning, a small town in Western Australia's Great Southern region, to Janet (née Painter) and Henry Arthur Nalder.^[1] He received his early education from state schools in Colanilling, Ballaying, and Bonnie Doon,^[2] but boarded at Wesley College, Perth, for his final two years of schooling. After graduating in 1925, Nalder returned to the country, farming at Wagin. From 1932, he served as a lay preacher in the Methodist Church.^[2] In October 1936, whilst travelling on the Perth–Wagin Road with two of his brothers, he received a severe concussion after their truck overturned.^[3] During World War II, Nalder enlisted in the Australian Army, serving as a private in the 10th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps.^[4]

A long-time member of the Country and Democratic League (CDL), Nalder stood for the Legislative Assembly seat of Wagin in the 1947 state elections, and was elected over two other CDL candidates and one Labor Party candidate.^[5] The electoral district of Wagin was abolished in a redistribution prior to the 1950 state elections, and Nalder successfully contested Katanning, which had been vacated following the decision of Arthur Watts, the leader of the CDL, to move to Stirling. He would hold Katanning until his retirement prior to the 1974 elections, on occasion being re-elected unopposed.^[6] Following Labor's defeat in the 1959 state elections, Nalder was named Minister for Agriculture in the Brand–Watts Ministry, a position he held from 2 April 1959 through to 3 March 1971. From 12 April 1962, he was also Minister for Electricity.^[7]

Nalder was elected Deputy Leader of the CDL in 1956, and on Watts' retirement in February 1962, succeeded him as the party's leader and Deputy Premier to David Brand. He remained a member of Cabinet in the reconstituted Brand–Nalder Ministry until the defeat of the Liberal–Country coalition at the 1971 elections, and continued in parliament until the 1974 elections.^[2] On 15 June 1974, following his retirement, Nalder was created a Knight Bachelor.^[8][9] He subsequently retired to Wagin, dying there in December 1994, aged 84.^[10] Nalder's son, Cambell Nalder, served as member for Narrogin from 1986 until his death the following year, and his grandson, Dean Nalder, is the current Liberal Party member for Alfred Cove.^[11] His granddaughter, Karen Middleton, is a political correspondent for SBS Television, currently covering federal politics in the Canberra Press Gallery.^[12]

Notes

1. 1 2 Throughout his life, Nalder was a member of what is now the National Party of Western Australia, the state branch of the National Party of Australia. In Western Australia, the party was variously known as the Country and Democratic League from 1946 to 1962, the Country Party from 1962 to 1973, the National Alliance from 1973 to 1974, and the National Country Party from 1974 to 1985.

References