Andrew William Lacey (19 October 1887 – 24 August 1946) was the 22nd

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, House of Assembly (lower house) and the 22-seat South Australian Legislati ...

from 1933 to 1938, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Lacey was previously the Labor member for the seat of

Grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

in 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. ...

from 1922 to 1931.

Early life

Irish Protestant Protestantism is a Christianity, Christian community on the island of Ireland. In the 2011 census of Northern Ireland, 48% (883,768) described themselves as Protestant, which was a decline of approximately 5% from the 2001 census. In the 2011 ...

heritage, Lacey was born in

Terowie, South Australia Terowie (formerly Gottliebs Well and Shebbear) is a small town in the Mid North region of South Australia located north of the state capital of Adelaide. It is located in the Regional Council of Goyder. Terowie retains a number of authentic and ...

to labourer George Lacey and his wife Mary Ellen, attended the local public school and became one of the area's leading sprinters before commencing work in the

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an ex ...

smelters.

Politics

Following his marriage to Helene Clara Welke on 13 October 1908, Lacey became increasingly involved in the trade union movement and was employed as the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...

organiser at the smelter from 1916 to 1922. His high profile in the smelters led to his election to Port Pirie Municipal Council in 1920, a position he held until 1922 when he successfully stood as the Labor candidate for the Federal

Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 ...

against the incumbent

Alexander Poynton Alexander Poynton Order of the British Empire, OBE (8 August 1853 – 9 January 1935) was an Australian politician. He held ministerial office under Prime Minister Billy Hughes, serving as Treasurer of Australia, Treasurer (1916–1917), Departm ...

, a former Labor member who left the party over

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. As a member of the opposition, Lacey was appointed in 1924 to the select committee investigating the operation of the Navigation Act, and served as a member of the Public Works Committee from 1925. Following the ALP victory at the 1929 election, Lacey was made Chair of the Public Works Committee. Lacey was unlucky enough to be in government when the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

affected Australia. He was swept out in Labor's heavy defeat at the 1931 election, but remained involved in politics, being re-elected to Port Pirie Municipal Council in 1932 and elected to the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

Electoral district of Port Pirie Port Pirie was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia from 1915 to 1970. Port Pirie was abolished after a boundary redistribution in 1970 when the Electoral district of Pirie was created. The ...

at the 1933 state election. At this time, the Labor Party was split into three factions; Official Labor, Premiers' Plan Labor and

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. It controlled the New South Wale ...

, who all had different plans on combating the Depression. Lacey was leader of Official Labor, the largest Labor faction following the election, and became

. As leader, Lacey advocated nationalising the banks and greater support for the unemployed. Regarded as "an affable people's man", he also played a leading role in reuniting the three factions in 1934 and remained Labor leader until 1938 when he stepped aside to become deputy leader under Robert Richards.

Death

Lacey died of heart disease in 1946. Survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter, Lacey was buried in

Centennial Park Cemetery Centennial Park Cemetery is a large, cemetery in the southern Adelaide suburb of Pasadena, South Australia, located on Goodwood Road. It is the largest cemetery in the southern suburbs and one of the largest in the Adelaide metropolitan area ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Andrew Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grey 1887 births 1946 deaths People from Port Pirie Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Leaders of the opposition in South Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 1922–1925 Australian MPs 1925–1928 Australian MPs 1928–1929 Australian MPs 1929–1931 People from Terowie, South Australia