Archie Galbraith Cameron (22 March 18959 August 1956) was an Australian politician. He was a government minister under

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

and Robert Menzies, leader of the Country Party from 1939 to 1940, and finally Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1950 until his death. Cameron was born in

Happy Valley, South Australia Happy Valley is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Central Business District of Adelaide. Within the suburb is the Happy Valley Reservoir accompanied by South Australia's largest water trea ...

. After serving in World War I, he took up a farm near Loxton as a soldier settler. He was elected to the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

in 1927, and to the House of Representatives at the 1934 federal election. Cameron was

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsible ...

in the Lyons Government from 1938 to 1939. He replaced

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leade ...

as leader of the Country Party in September 1939, and in March 1940 led the party back into coalition with the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

(UAP), which Page had broken off. Cameron was ''de facto''

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

under Menzies, as well as Minister for Commerce and Minister for the Navy. However, he was deposed as Country Party leader in October 1940, subsequently defecting to the UAP (and later joining the new

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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

). Cameron's last appointment was as Speaker, where he was highly respected. He was known throughout his political career for his eccentric manner and strong personality.

Early life

Cameron was born in

, the son of Mary Ann (née McDonald) and John Cameron. His parents were both immigrants from Scotland. He was educated at state schools and worked on his father's farm at Happy Valley until 1916, when he joined the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Au ...

and fought on the Western Front. He was gassed while in the front, suffering severe damage to his heart and lungs. After World War I Cameron took up farming near Loxton as part of a soldier settlement scheme, and became active in the newly formed Country Party.

State politics

In 1927, Cameron was elected to the seat of Wooroora in the

, and became leader of the state branch of the Country Party. He helped shepherd the merger of the SA Country Party with the Liberal Federation to form the

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

. As part of the deal, in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

he was elected to the

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

for Barker, a mostly conservative seat stretching from rural southeastern South Australia to the outer suburbs of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Federal politics

Cameron did not have long to wait for ministerial preferment; in 1937 he was appointed an assistant minister in the government of

. In November 1937, Cameron stood for the deputy leadership of the Country Party following the retirement of

Thomas Paterson Thomas Paterson (20 November 1882 – 24 January 1952) was an Australian politician who served as deputy leader of the Country Party from 1929 to 1937. He held ministerial office in the governments of Stanley Bruce and Joseph Lyons, represent ...

; he did not win enough votes to make the second ballot. He briefly served as acting minister for commerce in 1938, and during that time became the first minister to be "named" by the Speaker. Later that year, he became

. He temporarily suspended radio 2KY's licence because he objected to political views expressed on it (2KY was the property of the ALP's New South Wales branch).

Leader of the Country Party

Cameron was elected leader of the Country Party on 13 September 1939, following the resignation of Earle Page. He defeated

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

by seven votes to five, with two abstentions. According to McEwen, the result was skewed by the absence of four MPs who had refused to sit with the Country Party with Page as leader – a motion to re-admit them was defeated by seven votes to six. McEwen claimed in his memoirs that the dissident MPs were "all strong supporters of mine and, had they been allowed to vote, I would have won the election". They were all re-admitted to the party a few months later. In March 1940, Cameron took the Country Party back into the coalition government under Menzies, becoming the ''de facto''

as well as Minister for Commerce and Minister for the Navy. After the 1940 election, however, the Country Party tired of Cameron's domineering style, and replaced him as leader with

Arthur Fadden Sir Arthur William Fadden, (13 April 189421 April 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Australia from 29 August to 7 October 1941. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1940 to 1958 and also served ...

. Cameron then immediately resigned from the ministry, and from the Country Party: he joined Menzies's party, the

. He rejoined the Army and spent the rest of the war on active service in the Directorate of Military Intelligence at Army Headquarters, Melbourne, where he did useful work on the Japanese order of battle. While he was in the service, he faced what would be his only really close electoral contest. At the 1943 election, trade unionist Harry Krantz slashed Cameron's majority from a comfortably safe 15.9 percent to an extremely marginal 1.7 percent. Cameron was left as the only non-Labor MP from South Australia, and the only non-Labor member outside the eastern states (the member for

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

Adair Blain was an independent, but did not have full voting rights).

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Cameron followed most of the UAP into Menzies's new party, the

, and when the Liberals won the 1949 elections Menzies appointed him Speaker of the House: mainly, it was said, to keep him out of the Cabinet. He presided over the House with an autocratic style that caused a number of celebrated rows with members on both sides. Cameron's health never recovered from his World War I gassing, and in August 1955 he contracted influenza. Despite this, he fought that year's election and was handily reelected. He would die of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in August in

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School a ...

, Sydney.

Personal life

Cameron married Margaret Eileen Walsh on 15 April 1925. They had a son and a daughter together; his daughter predeceased him. Cameron was raised

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, but later converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, which was his wife's religion. He was known for choosing to affirm (rather than swear) the oath of office, citing Jesus's admonition to " swear not at all".Oaths and affirmations made by the executive and members of federal parliament since 1901
Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 20 February 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Archie Galbraith 1895 births 1956 deaths Australian monarchists Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Barker Members of the Australian House of Representatives Speakers of the Australian House of Representatives Liberal and Country League politicians Australian people of Scottish descent Leaders of the National Party of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Roman Catholics Converts from Presbyterianism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism