Joseph Herbert Gander (1888 – 22 November 1954) was an Australian politician. He was a member of 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. ...

from 1931 to 1940, representing the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

-based seat of

Reid Reid is a surname of Scotland, Scottish origin. It means "red". People with the surname * Alec Cunningham-Reid (1895–1977), British politician * Alan Reid (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Reid (disambiguation), multiple people * Alexan ...

for the first

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. It controlled the New South Wale ...

(1931–1936), 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 ...

(1936–1940) and the second Lang Labor (1940). Gander was born in the regional town of

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

and educated at Wellington Public School. Prior to entering politics, he was a billiard marker in a saloon and was a

Municipality of Newtown The Municipality of Newtown was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed as a borough in 1862 and, with an area of 1.9 square kilometres, was centred on the suburb of Newtown, including part ...

councillor for Camden Ward from 1929 until 1931, when both Gander and fellow Jack Lang supporter Lilian Fowler lost Labor preselection to recontest their seats in the early stages of the 1931 Labor split. He was also the president of the Pony Owners' and Trainers' Association and a successful grade cricketer. In 1931, he was elected to the

as the member for

for the splinter

party, defeating incumbent Labor MP

Percy Coleman Percy Edmund Creed Coleman (23 October 1892 – 25 May 1934) was an Australian union organiser and politician. Born at Surry Hills, New South Wales, Surry Hills in Sydney to Thomas Coleman and Ellen, née Creed, Coleman was orphaned when st ...

. Gander was widely viewed as a "seat-warmer" for Lang should he choose to enter federal politics, but this never occurred during Gander's time in office. He was the Lang Labor whip for four years. In March 1936, Lang Labor merged back into the official Labor Party, and Gander with it. In 1940, the Labor Party split again, and Gander was among the members to join the second Lang Labor split, the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), resuming his old position as whip of the splinter party. However, he was defeated in the election of that year by the federal Labor candidate, Charles Morgan. Following his political defeat, he was appointed as a federal industrial investigator to police industrial awards in August 1940. He was accepted back into the official Labor Party in 1946. He was also a successful billiards player. Gander made a late attempt to return to politics in 1953, seeking Labor preselection for a seat on the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

council. Gander died suddenly at his home in Enmore in November 1954 and was buried at

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, Australia. It is the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest remaining operating cemetery from the ...

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Lang Labor members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Reid Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1888 births 1954 deaths Australian MPs 1931–1934 Australian MPs 1934–1937 Australian MPs 1937–1940 {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub