Robert Joshua, MC (6 June 1906 – 2 June 1970) was an Australian politician, and a key figure in the 1955 split in the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

which led to the formation of the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) and, subsequently, the Democratic Labor Party.

Early life

Joshua was born on 6 June 1906 in

Prahran, Victoria Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnin ...

. He was the son of Mary Inglis () and Edward Cecil Joshua. His father was born in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, where there was a branch of the family's Melbourne-based Joshua Brothers Distillery. His paternal grandfather Saul Joshua was a member of the Solomon family and had married Ada Montefiore, the daughter of financier

Joseph Barrow Montefiore Joseph Barrow Montefiore (24 June 1803 – 8 September 1893), merchant and financier, was the youngest son of Eliezer Montefiore, merchant, of Barbados and London, and his wife, Judith (née Barrow). Montefiore was born on 24 June 1803 in Londo ...

. Joshua attended Caulfield State School and Wesley College, was briefly a

motor mechanic An auto mechanic is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more automobile brands or sometimes working with any brand. In fixing cars, their main role is to diagnose and repair the problem accuratelS ...

, and became a teller at the

Bank of Australasia The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951. Headquartered in London, the bank was incorporated by royal charter in March 1834. It had initially been planned to additionally include first South Africa and then ...

. He married schoolteacher Alma Agnes Watson at Glen Iris on 27 November 1929.

Military service

Joshua served in the

Citizens Military Force The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

from 1924 to 1930 and from 1936 to 1940, rising to the rank of captain. Subsequently, he joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1940 and was posted to the Middle East. He led a successful raid during the defence of

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. Promoted from major to lieutenant colonel in 1942, he commanded the 2/43rd Battalion, which fought around

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and Finschafen in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. He was twice wounded in action.

Federal politics

Upon returning to civilian life, Joshua began to reshape his previously

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

political views. He became drawn to the

, and became president of the

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

branch. In 1951, he was elected to 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 set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

for the seat of Ballaarat. He was known as a fierce anti-communist. In 1955, Joshua, together with six other federal parliamentarians, was expelled from the Labor Party. Together, they formed the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), later the Democratic Labor Party. Joshua cited his "distrust" and "sympathy with Communist ideas" of Labor leader

H.V. Evatt Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 194 ...

as reasons for his disenchantment with the ALP. Joshua became the leader of the new party in the federal parliament. He would also become the first federal president of the DLP. He was one of only two non-

Catholic 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 ...

parliamentary members in the new party, the other being Jack Little, who became leader of the party in the Victorian Legislative Council. Joshua's religious affiliation had been described at school as being "theist", although his background and views were described as "resist ngeasy classification"; he eventually became an Anglican. He denied any connection with B. A. Santamaria. Together with all of the other Anti-Communist members, Joshua was defeated at the 1955 election, having declined an offer from Prime Minister

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 ...

not to run a Liberal candidate in his seat. Following his defeat, he became an accountant and stockbroker at Ballarat and continued to contest Ballarat as a DLP candidate until 1969.

Death

Joshua died of cancer on 2 June 1970 at Ballarat, four days before his 64th birthday, survived by his wife, son and five daughters. He had continued working until a few days before his death, when he notified his doctors: "I'm dying – what are you going to do about it?"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua, Bob 1906 births 1970 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Converts to Anglicanism Democratic Labour Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Ballarat Members of the Australian House of Representatives Politicians from Melbourne Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian colonels People from Prahran, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne Australian MPs 1951–1954 Australian MPs 1954–1955