Arthur Edward Moore
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Arthur Edward Moore (9 February 1876 – 7 January 1963) was an Australian politician. He was the
Country and Progressive National Party The Country and Progressive National Party was a short-lived conservative political party in the Australian state of Queensland. Formed in 1925, it combined the state's conservative forces in a single party and held office between 1929 and 1932 u ...
Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...
, from 1929 to 1932. He was the only
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
Premier not to come from the ranks of the Labor Party between 1915 and 1957. Although successful in achieving the unity of the conservative forces in Queensland for an extended period, Moore's abilities were tested by the onset of 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 ...
and like many other governments in Australia and elsewhere his was unable to endure the formidable challenges it posed.


Early career

Moore was born in
Napier, New Zealand Napier ( ; ) is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive Art D ...
in 1876. His family moved to Australia in 1887 when his father became a bank manager in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. The younger Moore arrived in Queensland in 1898, where he was a dairy farmer on the
Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...
and the owner of two
cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
factories. He followed what was to be the standard National Party road to office for many years – a career in local government, becoming member of
Rosalie Shire Council The Shire of Rosalie was a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, immediately northwest of the regional city of Toowoomba. The shire, administered from the town of Goombungee, covered an area of , and existed ...
in 1905 and its chairman from 1911-1929 and the president of the Queensland Local Authorities Association. Moore entered the
Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...
in 1915 representing the Farmers Union (a forerunner to the Country Party) in the seat of Aubigny. This election saw the defeat of the government of
Digby Denham Digby Frank Denham (25 January 1859 – 10 May 1944) was a politician and businessman in Queensland, Australia. He was a Premier of Queensland and Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He was the first of only two Queensland Premiers t ...
and the election of the Labor government of Thomas J. Ryan. The non-Labor forces in Queensland were in a period of chronic disunity, with the Country Party coming into conflict with what was then known as the Queensland Liberal Party but would later also be called the
National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
and then the United Party. Bitter strife within and between these various parties was a contributing factor to Labor's election victories in 1920, and 1923. Moore, who had been made Deputy Leader of the Opposition in 1920, was among those Country Party members who, suspicious of United Party motives, refused to join a proposed Country-United merger mooted in the January 1923. The feuding had begun to subside by 1924, when on 9 April Moore was elected Leader of the Opposition, and then in the next year the Country and United parties joined to form the Country Progressive Party, amid criticisms from members of the organisational wings of both former organisations. The Party changed its name in December 1925 to the Country and Progressive National Party (CPNP). The CPNP gained sixteen seats in the elections of 1926 without winning government, and in 1929, amid threats of further division within the CPNP ranks, Moore won a large victory against William McCormack, plagued with his own internal problems, to become Premier.


The Moore government

Moore's government soon had to deal with the effects of 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 ...
that was wreaking havoc on the economy throughout Australia. Moore responded by following a policy of
deflation In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% and becomes negative. While inflation reduces the value of currency over time, deflation increases i ...
, limiting government expenditure and attempting to scale back wages and worker's entitlements. In order to assist the state's finances he implemented an
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
, much to the chagrin of many supporters. His proposals for economic assistance to wool growers in 1931 met with opposition from banks and financial institutions. He also came under fire in 1931 when divisions in the CPNP's parliamentary party emerged over the restoration of the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
, abolished in 1921. Moore came under repeated attack from the conservative ''
Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...
''. During his term, Moore also redrew the electoral boundaries, becoming one of the many Queensland premiers accused of
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
. The size of the Legislative Assembly was reduced from 72 to 62 seats, mainly accomplished by the abolition of sitting Labor members' seats. In 1932 Moore instituted a
Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...
to investigate former Labor Premier E. G. Theodore over his alleged corruption in what was known as the
Mungana affair The Mungana affair involved the sale to the Government of Queensland, Australia, in 1922, of some mining properties in the Chillagoe- Mungana districts of northern Queensland, at a grossly inflated price. At that time, Ted Theodore was Premier of ...
. Moore was accused by many in the Labor movement of orchestrating the Commission's activities in such a way as to deal maximum political damage to the Scullin federal government. The elections of that year confirmed his party's loss of standing with the onset of the Great Depression, as well as continued internal bickering. The CPNP was defeated by Labor under
William Forgan Smith William Forgan Smith (15 April 188725 September 1953) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of the state of Queensland from 1932 to 1942. He came to dominate politics in the state during the 1930s, and his populism, firm leadershi ...
.


After defeat

Moore kept the CPNP together as leader until the disastrous defeat of 1935, where it won sixteen out of 62 seats. In the aftermath, the CPNP split, and most of its rural members refounded the Country Party. Holding Moore responsible for the 1935 debacle, Country Party MPs insisted on Moore's resignation as leader. Moore stood down in favour of
Ted Maher Theodore Maher (born June 9, 1958) is a former Special Forces (United States Army), Green Beret turned registered nurse who was convicted of arson in a 1999 fire that killed Edmond Safra and another nurse, Vivian Torrente, at Safra's Monaco pent ...
. He remained on the opposition front bench until his retirement in 1941. Moore died in 1963. He was accorded a
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
at
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
's St John's Anglican Cathedral and later
cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
.Moore, Arthur Edward (1876–1963)
– ''
Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
'' Retrieved 1 February 2015.


See also

* Moore Ministry (Queensland)


References


Further reading

*Costar, Brian. "Arthur Edward Moore: Odd Man In". In Murphy D, Joyce R, Cribb M, and Wear, R (Ed.), ''The Premiers of Queensland'' pp. 184–206. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. .


External links


Australian Dictionary of Biography entry


{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Arthur Edward 1876 births 1963 deaths Premiers of Queensland Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George People from Napier, New Zealand Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Leaders of the opposition in Queensland New Zealand emigrants to Australia National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland