James Francis Cope (26 November 19073 February 1999) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms th ...

(ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1955 to 1975. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1975, resigning abruptly in dramatic circumstances when he came into conflict with Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

Early life

Cope was born 26 November 1907 in

Surry Hills, New South Wales Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surrou ...

. He was the youngest of five sons born to Martha (née Ellem) and George Eugene Cope. His father worked as a compositor and was a "strong supporter of the Australian Labor Party". Cope attended

Crown Street Public School The Crown Street Public School is a heritage-listed public primary school located at Crown Street, Surry Hills, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by George Allen Mansfield and built from in 1869 by A. Scott (masonry an ...

and Bourke Street Public School. He left school after two years of secondary education and began working as a messenger boy. He later worked as a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling m ...

at the Randwick Tramway Workshops, but was retrenched during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

and relied on

the dole Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compu ...

for three years. He also worked part-time as a cricket umpire and billiard marker. During World War II, Cope worked for Amalgamated Wireless Valve making glass tubes for use in radar. After the war's end, he manufactured glass for laboratories. He served as federal treasurer of the Australian Glass Workers' Union from 1952 to 1955.

Politics

Cope joined the ALP in 1930 and became president of its Redfern branch. He was elected to the Redfern Municipal Council in 1948. Following the death of the incumbent Labor MP

Tom Sheehan Thomas Clancy Sheehan (March 31, 1894 – October 29, 1982) was an American pitcher, scout, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Born in Grand Ridge, Illinois, Sheehan, a right-hander, had a six-year pitching career from 1915–16, 1921 ...

, Cope was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1955 Cook by-election. His seat was abolished in a redistribution, but he switched to

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

at the 1955 federal election. He held Watson until its abolition in 1969, when he transferred to the new seat of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

Speakership

On 27 February 1973, Cope was appointed the first Labor

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

since 1950. On 27 February 1975, the second anniversary of his election as speaker, he resigned after the Whitlam government refused to support him when he named

Clyde Cameron Clyde Robert Cameron, (11 February 191314 March 2008), was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1980, representing the Division of Hindmarsh. He w ...

, a government minister. Cope retired from parliament at the

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolutio ...

election of 11 November 1975.

Later life

In the New Year's Honours of 1978, he was appointed a Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(CMG), for his services to the parliament.It's an Honour
/ref> Cope died in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Jim Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cook (1906–1955) Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Watson Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Sydney Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Speakers of the Australian House of Representatives 1907 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians