William Horace Longeran (11 February 1909 – 27 June 1981) was a politician in

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 ...

, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Early life

William Horace Longeran was born on 11 February 1909 at Malbon (near

Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is informally known by local people as The Curry. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known as the ''Friendl ...

), the son of Horace Longeran and his wife, Jessie (née Grant). He had a varied career including stints as a postmaster, grazier, railway worker, miner, construction worker, hotel keeper and car dealer.

Politics

Longeran won the 1957 Queensland state election (held on 3 August 1957) in Flinders as a member of the Country/National Party, defeating the sitting

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 ...

member

Frank Forde Francis Michael Forde (18 July 189028 January 1983) was an Australian politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945, in a caretaker capacity following the death of John Curtin. He was deputy leader of th ...

(a former

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

) by one vote. Forde contested the result, arguing that some votes had been wrongly disallowed. The judge of the electoral tribunal declared the election void on 4 March 1958. Longeran was returned at a by-election held on 17 May 1958 in which Longeran defeated Forde by over 400 votes. Longeran served as Government Whip from 1971 to 1972. On 2 August 1972, he was elected Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly against the wishes of the then

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

; Longeran is alleged to have contested the position because he believed that North Queensland was not adequately represented in the Bjelke-Petersen Ministry. Longeran represented Flinders until 1974. On 10 October 1974 he had a heart attack while crossing Alice Street between

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

and the former Bellevue Hotel. He was treated at the Chermside Hospital and returned to work the following week. However, on 28 October 1974, he resigned due to his illness.

Later life

Longeran died on 27 June 1981 in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longeran, Bill Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1909 births 1981 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland