Herbert Claude Barnard (16 October 18906 December 1957) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms ...

(ALP) and represented the Division of Bass in federal parliament from 1934 to 1949. He served as

Minister for Repatriation The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is an Australian Government position. In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowe ...

in the Chifley Government from 1946 to 1949. His son

Lance Barnard Lance Herbert Barnard AO (1 May 19196 August 1997) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1974 and held senior ministerial office in the Whitlam Government, most n ...

also entered federal politics and served as

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy chief executive and the second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968, altho ...

in the 1970s.

Early life

Barnard was born at

Mole Creek Mole Creek is a town in the upper Mersey Valley, in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. Mole Creek is well known for its honey and accounts for about 35 percent of Tasmania's honey production. The locality is in the Meander Valley Coun ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and was educated at Invermay State School, but left school at 14. In 1909 he began working for

Tasmanian Government Railways The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the Rail transport in Tasmania, mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorp ...

, first as an engine cleaner and eventually as a driver. In March 1912 he married Martha Melva McKenzie and they raised three sons and a daughter in

East Launceston East Launceston is a residential locality in the local government area (LGA) of Launceston in the Launceston LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about east of the town of Launceston. The 2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (num ...

. In 1920 he helped found the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen.

Federal politics

Barnard stood unsuccessfully at the 1931 election as the

candidate for the seat of

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

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 established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Austra ...

. In 1933, he became state secretary of the party and at the 1934 election he won Bass. From 1941 to 1946, he was chairman of the joint parliamentary committee on social security, which developed much of the Curtin and Chifley governments' social policy agenda. In November 1946, he was appointed

in the second Chifley Ministry. Although one of his sons was killed in the war and the other two were injured, he was under constant attack from service organisations and others for not delivering more for war veterans and, like his predecessor, Charles Frost, in 1946, he lost his seat at the 1949 election.

Later life

In 1950, Barnard was elected to represent the

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 Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 ...

division of Bass and held it until his death in 1957. He died of cancer in Launceston Public Hospital, survived by his wife and two sons, one of whom,

, was

1972–74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnard, Herbert Claude Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bass Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Australian trade unionists 1890 births 1957 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Train drivers