Beasley James Kearney (2 December 1891 – 11 October 1972) was an Australian politician who represented 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 ...

multi-member An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...

seat of East Torrens from 1930 to 1933. Elected for the Labor Party, he was expelled in the 1931 Labor split, but was readmitted to the party in 1932. Kearney was born at

Wilmington, South Australia Wilmington is a town and locality in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia.The town is located in the District Council of Mount Remarkable Local government in Australia, local government area, north of the state capital, Adelaide. ...

, and was educated at country schools. He became a blacksmith, then joined the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian Natio ...

, where he initially worked as a railway porter. He passed the railway clerical examination and went on to work in the railways' clerical branch, before transferring to the State Children's Department, where he was appointed chief prosecuting officer in 1918. He studied law at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

while working with the department, resigning after six years in order to undertake his articles as a solicitor and then being admitted to the bar. He also played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

for Norwood. Having become a prominent solicitor in

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 ...

, Kearney was elected to the House of Assembly at the 1930 election. Although tipped as a potential

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, he was not appointed to the ministry. Kearney was one of 23 Labor MPs expelled from the party at its June 1931 conference in the 1931 Labor split. In December, he individually appealed against his expulsion, resulting in a special state conference to decide on his case, which rejected the appeal. However, in June 1932, after a further appeal, the federal executive of the party ordered Kearney and Albert Thompson readmitted to the party. He recontested his seat for official Labor at the April 1933 election, but was defeated. In July 1933, he was struck off the roll of legal practitioners over allegations that he had fraudulently taken a large sum of money from a client in a deceased estate case. In August 1933, he was convicted and jailed for three years with hard labour after pleading guilty to separate fraud charges involving a total of £1,591.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Beasley 1891 births 1972 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian politicians convicted of fraud 20th-century Australian politicians