Hugh Victor Halbert (17 January 1910 – 31 January 1997) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1958 to 1961, representing the

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n seat of

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. He later served as the party's state president from 1965 to 1968.

Early life

Halbert was born on 17 January 1910 in Meckering, Western Australia. He was educated at Hale School in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. After leaving school he returned to the Wheatbelt where he was an accountant and tax agent and ran a general store and agency in Cunderdin. According to '' The Bulletin'', he was "deeply involved with his township's projects", for which he was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in 1954. He was a talented tennis player and was involved in the creation of sporting facilities in Cunderdin.

Politics

Halbert was an inaugural member of the Liberal Party in Western Australia and was nominated to its provisional executive in January 1945. Halbert was elected to the

at the 1958 federal election, winning the seat of

for the Liberal Party from the incumbent Country Party MP Hugh Leslie. He was elected largely on Democratic Labor Party preferences. Leslie had been elected unopposed at the 1955 election and the Liberal Party reportedly only endorsed a candidate when they became aware the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) was intending to stand in Moore. In parliament, Halbert was a strong supporter of the Menzies government. He lost his seat back to Leslie after a single term at the 1961 election. His defeat was attributed to the ALP's decision to direct its preferences to Leslie. Halbert was unsuccessful in his attempt to reclaim his seat at the 1963 election, despite Leslie retiring shortly before the election campaign and being replaced by a new Country Party candidate, Don Maisey. His decision to re-contest the seat was the source of tensions within the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

, with the Country Party announcing plans to contest the seat of

Forrest Forrest may refer to: Places Australia *Forrest, Australian Capital Territory *Forrest, Victoria, a small rural township *Division of Forrest, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives, in Western Australia *Electoral distric ...

against incumbent Liberal MP Gordon Freeth as a form of retaliation. At the 1964 Senate election, Halbert was placed on third position on the Liberal Party's

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

ticket but was defeated by Country Party candidate Tom Drake-Brockman for the final seat. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the

casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...

caused by the death of

Shane Paltridge Sir Shane Dunne Paltridge KBE (11 January 1910 – 21 January 1966) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the Menzies Government as Minister for Shipping and Transport (1955–1960), Civil Aviation ( ...

in 1966, losing to Reg Withers. Halbert served as state president of the Liberal Party from 1965 to 1968. Relations between him and the Country Party remained poor; in November 1966 he publicly accused Country Party leader

John McEwen Sir John McEwen (29 March 1900 – 20 November 1980) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as the 18th prime minister of Australia from 1967 to 1968, in a caretaker capacity following the disappearance of prime minister Harold Ho ...

of making false claims about the Liberal Party's involvement with the Basic Industries Group, an organisation campaigning against Country Party candidates.

Personal life

Halbert died on 31 January 1997, aged 87.

References

Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Moore Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1910 births 1997 deaths People from Cunderdin, Western Australia People educated at Hale School Australian MPs 1958–1961 {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub