Ernest Durack (10 August 1882 – 16 November 1967) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1913 until 1917, and the leader of the Labor Party (ALP) in New South Wales for three months until February 1917. Durack was born near Bathurst. He was the son of a storekeeper and was educated at

All Saints' College, Bathurst All Saints' College was an Independent school, independent, co-educational Christian college in the Anglican tradition. It was established in 1874, and closed in 2018 to merge with The Scots School, Bathurst, to form Scots All Saints' College, w ...

. In 1903, he married Cora Armstrong at Rydal and had two sons and three daughters with her. He found employment as a farmer and clerk until his entry to parliament at the

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

election when he won the seat of Bathurst. In parliament his strong oratory skills were quickly noticed and he became Chairman of Committees (deputy Speaker). In 1916, the ALP split over the question of conscription in World War I. Labor premier

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Labor Party, but was expelled from the party in the split o ...

supported Prime Minister

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...

in opposing the party's anti-conscription policy and he and 28 supporters were expelled from the party. Holman and his followers remained in power by forming a coalition government with the Liberal Reform Party of

Charles Wade Sir Charles Gregory Wade KCMG, KC, JP (26 January 1863 – 26 September 1922) was Premier of New South Wales – 21 October 1910. According to Percival Serle, "Wade was a public-spirited man of high character. His ability, honesty and cour ...

on 15 November 1916 and the ALP became the opposition with 21 supporters in a house of 90 members. Durack defeated John Storey in the ballot for leadership of the Labor Party and became the

Leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. It was said that he was a much harder worker than Storey. In early 1917, Holman called a snap general election. Durack was scheduled to deliver the ALP's policy speech on 21 February but on that morning he announced his resignation from the party leadership and as the ALP candidate for Bathurst. Mystery surrounded his actions for some years until it was discovered that he had fathered a daughter, born in August 1916, with Winifred McNab, and he had resigned because of a fear that this would become a public scandal during the election campaign. He was succeeded as ALP leader by Storey. After leaving parliament, Durack enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1917 and saw service in Great Britain. He was invalided back to Australia in August 1918 and his movements from then until 1950, when he was a storekeeper near Bathurst, are unknown. Cora Armstrong died in 1956 and Durack subsequently married McNab.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durack, Ernest 1882 births 1967 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Leaders of the opposition in New South Wales Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians