Alfred Edward Bennett (26 September 1889 – 17 April 1963) was an Australian broadcasting executive. Born at

Balwyn, Victoria Balwyn () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara Local government areas of Victoria, local gover ...

, to schoolmaster George Jesse Bennett and Harriet Ann, ''née'' Bentley, he attended Balwyn State School and Hawthorn College before becoming secretary of the Freezing Company Ltd. at

Murtoa Murtoa is a town in Victoria, Australia, situated around Lake Marma on the Wimmera Highway, north-west of the state capital, Melbourne. The town is in the Shire of Yarriambiack local government area. At the , Murtoa had a population of 865 an ...

. On 11 June 1912 he married Ruby Adelaide Fraunfelder at

St James Old Cathedral St James Old Cathedral, an Anglican church, is the oldest church in Melbourne, Australia, albeit not on its original site. It is one of the relatively few buildings in the central city which predate the Victorian gold rush of 1851. The building ...

in Melbourne, moving to

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

the following year to become secretary of Goulburn Valley Industries Co. Ltd. After spending several years managing at meatworks in

Carnarvon, Western Australia Carnarvon ( ) is a coastal town situated approximately north of Perth, in Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The Shark Bay World Heritage Site, world heritage area lies to the south of the town an ...

, he moved to Sydney in 1922 to become an accountant and in 1926 was appointed manager of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

's radio station

2GB 2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia, owned by Nine Radio, that also owns 2UE. 2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM. In 2024, 2GB held 14% of the total radio ratings share, making it one of the most widely listened-to radio sta ...

. In 1929 Bennett and

George Arundale George Sydney Arundale (1 December 1878 in Surrey, England — 12 August 1945 in Adyar, India) was a Theosophist, Freemason, president of the Theosophical Society Adyar and a bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church. He was the husband of th ...

founded the Who's for Australia? League and served as president until 1931, when his brother Gordon Bennett succeeded him. An open admirer of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, Bennett ran for the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

in the 1931 federal election as a

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 Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

candidate for the seat of

Lang Lang may refer to: *Lang (surname), a surname of independent Germanic or Chinese origin Places * Lang Island (Antarctica), East Antarctica * Lang Nunatak, Antarctica * Lang Sound, Antarctica * Lang Park, a stadium in Brisbane, Australia * Lang, ...

, but was unsuccessful. Bennett travelled to the United States twice in the 1930s and continued his broadcasting activities. He was president of the Australian Federation of Commercial Broadcasting from 1934 to 1936 and took a stand against government interference, as well as demanding equal status with the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

. He also directed the stations 3AW in Melbourne and

5DN Cruise 1323 (call sign: 5DN) is one of Adelaide's longest running radio stations. In its 80+ years it has changed considerably. It was the first commercial station to begin broadcasting in South Australia. History Radio 5DN began operating ...

in Adelaide. He was appointed director of the Theosophical Broadcasting Station Ltd in 1935 and in 1937 won a court case for the rest of his fees after he was asked to resign. He later won a High Court appeal in 1947, which decided that compensation was a capital payment. In his retirement Bennett worked for welfare for children and old men and was general secretary of the Australian Child Welfare Association. He died at the wheel of his car at

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

of coronary vascular disease in 1963 and was cremated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Alfred 1889 births 1963 deaths Australian broadcasters People from Balwyn, Victoria Businesspeople from Melbourne Politicians from Melbourne Australian film production company founders