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 tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Par ...

and

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, 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. 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 (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 ...

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. History The practice of having a government officia ...

in the

Lyons government The Lyons government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. It was made up of members of the United Australia Party in the Australian Parliament from January 1932 until the death of Joseph Lyons in ...

from 1938 to 1939. He replaced Earle Page as leader of the Country Party in September 1939, and in March 1940 led the party back into

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 United Australia Party (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 Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

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. For example, while the political systems ...

). 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 Happy Valley, South Australia, 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 warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

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

An early member of the Country Party, Cameron unsuccessfully stood for the

seat of Wooroora at the 1924 state election. He reprised his candidacy in Wooroora at the 1927 state election and was elected. Cameron was elected state leader of the Country Party in 1928. Prior to the 1931 federal election he was involved in the formation of the Emergency Committee of South Australia as a united anti-

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

party. In 1932 he led his party into a merger with the Liberal Federation to form the

Liberal and Country League The South Australian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division), and often shortened to SA Liberals, is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. It was formed as the Lib ...

. The Country Party's terms were stiff; among them, Cameron sought to transfer to federal politics, and wanted a safe seat in which to run at the next election. Accordingly, Cameron resigned from state parliament in 1934 in order to run in that year's federal election.

Federal politics

Early years

Cameron was elected to 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 ...

at the 1934 federal election, standing as the LCL candidate in the seat of Barker. He joined the parliamentary Country Party upon his election, in accordance with LCL rules which allowed their federal MPs to choose to sit with either the Country Party or the United Australia Party (UAP). Shortly after taking his seat he moved a motion to expel Lang Labor MP

Jock Garden John Smith "Jock" Garden (13 August 188231 December 1968) was an Australian clergyman, trade unionist and politician. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Australia. Early life Garden was born on 13 August 1882 in Nigg, Aber ...

from parliament for his former Communist affiliation, which caused a "near-riot". 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; 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 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. The Country Party lost three seats to Labor 1940 election, costing the Coalition its majority. Country Party MPs tired of Cameron's domineering style, and removed him as leader. Arthur Fadden was chosen as interim leader and after Page and McEwen deadlocked on three ballots. Cameron then immediately resigned from the ministry, and from the Country Party: he joined Menzies's party, the United Australia Party. 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 (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, Adair Blain, was an independent, but did not have full voting rights). During World War II, Cameron was a strong supporter of mass internment of enemy aliens. In November 1940, shortly after his resignation from the ministry, the Australian War Cabinet decided to allow interned aliens the right to appeal their internment to a tribunal. While remaining a government backbencher, Cameron unsuccessfully moved for the disallowance of the relevant regulation by the House of Representatives and in April 1941 moved a no-confidence motion in the army minister Percy Spender for his handling of internment. Cameron argued that enemy aliens "enjoy no rights whatever" during war-time and were a "danger to the nation" unless proven otherwise, with the appeals tribunals placing the government "in the hopelessly ridiculous position of appearing before a tribunal to defend its own actions". His motion was not put to a vote as no other MP was willing to second it, but in response Spender defended his actions and stated Cameron's intent was to "indulge his peculiar megalomania in order to get some notoriety out of his action".

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 died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in August in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, 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 historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

, but later converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, which was his wife's religion. The ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' reported in 1950 that he was a "deeply religious man". In parliament, he attracted attention for choosing to make an affirmation rather than swear the oath of office. He did so each time he was elected and was the only member of the House of Representatives to do so during his time in office; after his death no other MPs chose to make an affirmation until 1969. He told an interviewer that "if a man's word is worthless no amount of oath-taking will make him worthy".

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 Australian Roman Catholics Converts from Presbyterianism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Presbyterianism Postmasters-general of Australia Australian MPs 1934–1937 Australian MPs 1937–1940 Australian MPs 1940–1943 Australian MPs 1943–1946 Australian MPs 1946–1949 Australian MPs 1949–1951 Australian MPs 1951–1954 Australian MPs 1954–1955 Australian MPs 1955–1958