Arthur Nieberding Fuller (24 October 1893 – 21 March 1987) was a long-serving member of 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 established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Austra ...
.
Born in
Gundagai
Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Hon ...
to a goldminer and his wife, Fuller spent his childhood in the
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
goldfields. He later managed a clothing store in
Cobar
Cobar is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier ...
before moving to
Tumut
Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River.
Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgal ...
in 1919 to open a clothing store of his own. In 1921, Fuller met and married Vera Hoad, with whom he had two daughters, and established a
Labor Party branch in Tumut (for which he served as secretary until 1971).
Political career
With his wife as his campaign manager, Fuller first contested the
Division of Hume
The Division of Hume is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
Geography
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed ...
at the
1940 election as the official Labor candidate, but lost to
Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...
, the sitting
Country Party member, due partly to candidates from the
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.
Following the expulsion of the N ...
and New South Wales Labor factions standing and splitting the Labor vote.
Fuller successfully contested Hume at the
1943 election as part of the
Curtin Curtin may refer to:
Places
*Curtin, Australian Capital Territory
*Curtin, Oregon, U.S.
*Curtin Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
*Curtin, Nicholas County, West Virginia, U.S.
*Curtin, Webster County, West Virginia, U.S.
*RAAF Base Curtin ...
Labor landslide. In his maiden speech, Fuller stated his full support for the nationalisation of airlines and banks and that "the Commonwealth Parliament should assume supreme control of land and all other national resources, including money." However, Fuller was not averse to criticising Labor policy when it detrimentally affected his constituents, such as in April 1944 when he accused Labor leaders of stifling the economic development of the New South Wales
Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
district (which encompassed Hume).
In parliament, Fuller quickly gained a reputation as one of its quirkier members. A tall, thin man with a long neck, Fuller was nicknamed "Pilsener" due to his resemblance to long thin pilsener bottles. His inclination for long, loud speeches led one reporter to write that Fuller was "at times likely to rant about things he was passionate about without thought for tact", while his idiosyncratic dress sense became a subject of mirth for the Canberra Press Gallery.
Following his successful re-election in
1946, Fuller was given the official job of Government
Whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...
and the unofficial job of chief heckler of opposition speakers, particularly
Jack Lang.
Fuller lost to his Country Party opponent
Charles Anderson by 767 votes at the
1949 election, following a campaign by the Country Party linking Fuller to the Communist menace. In
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
, he regained Hume by 796 votes but lost it to Anderson again by 1715 votes in
1955
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yiji ...
before regaining it again from Anderson by 704 votes at the
1961 election.
By the
1963 election Fuller, in failing health, no longer had to face his old opponent Anderson but had lost much of his support base, with long-time supporter ''The Tumut and Adelong Times'' urging a vote against "our grand old man of politics".
[''Tumut and Adelong Times'', 28 November 1963.]
Following his loss to his Country Party opponent
Ian Pettitt
John Alexander "Ian" Pettitt (25 September 1910 – 25 December 1977) was an Australian politician. Born in Geelong, Victoria, he was educated at Geelong College before becoming a farmer at Harden, New South Wales. He served in the military from ...
, Fuller retired to Tumut.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Arthur Nieberding
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hume
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
1893 births
1987 deaths
20th-century Australian politicians