John Valentine MacDonald (14 February 1880 – 17 August 1937) was an Australian politician and journalist. He served three terms as a
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
for
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
– in 1922, in 1928 and from 1932 to 1937 – representing 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).
Early life and journalism career
MacDonald was born in
Ōpōtiki
Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council, the mayor of Ōpōtiki and comes under the Bay of Plenty Region ...
, New Zealand, the son of an Australian volunteer in the
New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...
and veteran of the
1891 Australian shearers' strike
The 1891 shearers' strike is one of Australia's earliest and most important industrial disputes.
The dispute was primarily between Trade union, unionised and non-unionised wool workers. It resulted in the formation of large camps of striking wor ...
. He completed his early education in New Zealand before his family migrated to New South Wales, whereafter he attended state schools. He spent time as a shearer in New South Wales and Victoria before returning to New Zealand and entering the printing trade. He began as a journeyman compositor, but shifted into journalism over time, working for the ''Wairoa Guardian'' and the
Napier-based ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' before rising to become chief compositor and acting editor of the ''
Gisborne Herald
''The Gisborne Herald'' is the daily evening newspaper for Gisborne and environs. It was one of only four independently owned daily newspapers in New Zealand but was bought by NZME in 2024.
History
Established in 1874 as the ''Poverty Bay Her ...
''. He was also involved in the Typographical Association in its early days and taught shorthand at the Gisborne Technical College in 1903–04.
MacDonald later returned to Australia and worked as a journalist at ''
The Argus'' and then ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, including a stint in the
parliamentary press gallery
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. T ...
. He was one of the founding members of the
Australian Journalists Association
The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian trade union for journalists from 1910–1992.
In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 19 ...
in 1910, spent time in London and studied at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, before returning to Australia. He was then recruited as editor of the new
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
newspaper ''
The Daily Standard'' in 1912, serving in that role until his appointment to the Senate and also serving as acting manager in 1913–14. He was involved in campaigning against the conscription referendums of
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 ...
, but in 1918 was one of 12 newspaper editors selected by the
Nationalist Party government to visit the World War I front.
Politics
On 26 May 1922, he was appointed to the
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives.
The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...
as a
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
Senator for Queensland, filling the casual vacancy caused by the death of
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
Senator
John Adamson; he had already been preselected as a Labor candidate for the forthcoming election. However, he was defeated at the
1922 election.
MacDonald worked as a freelance journalist in the intervening years. Following the death of another Nationalist Senator,
Thomas Givens
Henry Thomas Givens (12 June 1864 – 19 June 1928) was an Australian politician. He served as a Senator for Queensland from 1904 until his death in 1928 and was President of the Senate from 1913 to 1926. He began his career in the Australian L ...
, MacDonald was again appointed to the Senate on 1 August 1928 but was defeated again at the
1928 election. He then worked as chief compiler for the Queensland Tourist Bureau, promoting the state's tourist opportunities. MacDonald was finally elected in his own right in the
election of 1931, taking his place in the Senate in 1932. He died in office in 1937 after suffering reported "heart trouble" and was cremated at
Mount Thompson Crematorium
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium (formerly Brisbane Crematorium) includes a heritage-listed chapel (the West Chapel), columbaria and other features. It is located on north-western slopes of Mount Thompson (Queensland), Mount Thomp ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, John
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland
Members of the Australian Senate
1880 births
1937 deaths
20th-century Australian politicians
The Argus (Melbourne) people
People from Ōpōtiki