Herbert Henry Styants (20 October 1893 – 2 December 1982) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1936 to 1956, representing the seat of Kalgoorlie. He served as a minister in the government of

Albert Hawke Albert Redvers George Hawke (3 December 1900 – 14 February 1986) was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 23 February 1953 to 2 April 1959. He represented the Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch ...

. Styants was born in

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many type ...

, a town in Western Australia's

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

region. After leaving school, he was employed by

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra respon ...

, working variously as an engine cleaner, a fireman, and then a driver. He came to

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

in 1915, having earlier lived in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, and became a prominent member of the union movement there. In 1923, Styants left the goldfields to live in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, going on to serve on the

Perth City Council The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. The City covers the Perth city centre and sur ...

from 1927 to 1930.Herbert Henry Styants
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 29 May 2016. He was elected to parliament at the 1936 state election, defeating two other Labor candidates (including the sitting member, James Cunningham) in Kalgoorlie. Styants enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1940, while still serving in parliament, and during the war served as a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

in machine gun, cavalry, and education units. After Labor's victory at the 1953 state election, he was named Minister for Railways,

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, and Minister for Police in the new ministry formed by Albert Hawke. However, prior to the 1956 election, Styants lost Labor

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

to Tom Evans, a 26-year-old schoolteacher, forcing his retirement. After leaving parliament, he served as chairman of the Betting Control Board from 1958 to 1960, and later retired to

, where he died in 1982.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Styants, Herbert 1893 births 1982 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of World War II Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Trade unionists from Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Collie, Western Australia Perth City Councillors 20th-century Australian politicians