Charles Ernest Culley CMG (16 April 1877 – 10 June 1949) was an Australian politician. He was a member of 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 ...

(ALP) and served in 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. ...

(1928–1931) and

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

(1934–1948). He was an assistant minister in the federal Scullin government and later became a minister in the Tasmanian state government.

Early life

Culley was born at Broadmarsh, near

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, Tasmania and attended primary school. He worked in stables and was occasionally a jockey. He later worked as a miner at

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

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and

Tullah Tullah is a town in the northern part of the West Coast Range, on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia, about 111 km south of Burnie. The town has a population of approximately 202 people. Town The town is roughly divided into two "subu ...

and married Mary Jane Pope, in 1906. He was elected secretary of the Amalgamated Miners' Association in 1912. He moved to

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

in 1913 and became prominent in the union movement. He was a long-serving secretary of the Builders' Labourers Union and state secretary of the

Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia The Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia (FLAIEU) was an Australian trade union from 1910 to 1992. It represented workers employed in hospitality, catering, breweries and alcohol retailing. The union merged with t ...

; he was also secretary and president of the Tasmanian Female Confectioners Union and state president of the Australian Textile Workers Union. He was president of the Hobart Trades Hall Council for most of the period from 1934 to 1944 and also served as president of the state Labor Party.

Early political career

Culley was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison for the

at the 1922 election. He lost his seat in the 1928 state election, but won the federal seat of Denison at the 1928 federal election. When

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Par ...

resigned from the Scullin Ministry in March 1931, Culley became Assistant Minister for Transport and War Service Homes, but in June he resigned in protest at

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

's support for the fiscally-conservative

Premiers' Plan The Premiers' Plan was a deflationary economic policy agreed by a meeting of the Premiers of the Australian states in June 1931 to combat the Great Depression in Australia that sparked the 1931 Labor split. Background The Great Depress ...

to deal with 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 ...

. He lost his seat at the 1931 election.

Return to state politics

In 1934, Culley was elected to the state seat of Denison. He was chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works from 1934 to 1943. He was Minister for Mines from 1942 to 1943 and then Chief Secretary and Minister for Transport. In 1946, he did not seek re-election to the ministry due to his poor health and he retired from parliament in August 1948. Culley was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG) in 1947. He died at the Hobart suburb of

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

in 1949; a

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was held at St David's' Cathedral and he was cremated at the Cornelian Bay Crematorium. He was survived by his wife, a daughter and four sons.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culley, Charles Ernest Australian miners Australian trade unionists Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Denison Members of the Cabinet of Australia Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 1877 births 1949 deaths Australian MPs 1928–1929 Australian MPs 1929–1931