Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council, 1954–1957

This is a list of members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council from 29 May 1954 to 23 January 1957.

The council consisted of 14 members. Six members were elected to four single-member electorates (Alice Springs, Batchelor, Stuart and Tennant Creek), and one two-member electorate (Darwin). Seven members (called Official Members) were appointed by the Australian government, all of whom were senior public servants in the Northern Territory. The Administrator of the Northern Territory, Frank Wise and later James Archer, served as presiding officer (or president) of the council.[1]

Name Party Electorate/Title Years in office
Colin Adams Appointed Director of Mines 1955–1970
James Archer OBE Appointed Administrator 1956–1961
Hugh Barclay Appointed Director of Lands 1948–1963
Harold Brennan [1] Independent Batchelor 1955, 1956–1971
Aubrey Callinan Independent Darwin 1954–1957
Fred Drysdale Independent Labor Darwin 1954–1957, 1960–1969
Keith Edmunds Appointed Crown Law Officer 1951–1954
Harry Giese Appointed Director of Welfare 1954–1973
Neil Hargrave Independent Alice Springs 1954–1969
Alfred Humphry Appointed Director of Health 1954–1958
John Huthnance Appointed Chief Clerk 1949–1955
Reg Leydin Appointed Government Secretary 1948–1952, 1953–1954, 1963
Reg Marsh Appointed Assistant Secretary, Department of Territories 1955–1957, 1958–1962
Reginald McCaffery Appointed Acting Director of Native Affairs 1953–1954
Wilhelm Petrick Independent Stuart 1951–1962
Len Purkiss Independent Tennant Creek 1951–1965
Tom Ronan [1] Labor Batchelor 1954–1955
Lionel Rose OBE Appointed Director of Animal Industry 1954–1958, 1962–1965
Charles Stahl Appointed Acting Government Secretary 1952–1953, 1954–1955,
Frank Vidgen Appointed Director of Works 1951–1954
Dr Stephen Watsford Appointed Chief Medical Officer 1951–1954
Frank Wise Appointed Administrator 1951–1956
Ron Withnall Appointed Crown Law Officer 1954–1966, 1966–1974
1 The Labor member for Batchelor, Tom Ronan, resigned on 5 April 1955, unhappy with the conditions for members of the council.[2] The Administrator, Frank Wise, called the Territory's first by-election (previous casual vacancies had been filled by appointment or left vacant until the next general election) for 6 August. Harold "Tiger" Brennan, who Ronan had defeated by only three votes at the 1954 election, won the by-election with a comfortable majority against the Labor candidate Alfred Forscutt. On 5 December 1955, Brennan resigned from the council in a public protest over the federal government ordering its official members to vote against a bill legalising off-course gambling. Another by-election was called for Batchelor, and Brennan returned to the council when he was unopposed at the close of nominations on 13 February 1956.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jaensch, Dean (1990). The Legislative Council of the Northern Territory: An Electoral History 1947–1974. Darwin: Australian National University.
  2. ^ Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography. Charles Darwin University Press. 2008. ISBN 9780980457810.