John Royston Siddons (5 October 1927 – 22 September 2016) was an Australian politician. He was a businessman and the executive chairman of Siddons Industries Ltd. before entering politics.

Early life

Siddons was born 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 ...

on 5 October 1927. He was the second of three children born to Agnes Emily (née Smith) and

Royston Siddons Royston Siddons (15 December 1899 – 24 November 1976) was an Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, ...

. His father was an industrialist who founded the Sidchrome line of tools. Siddons spent his early years in the suburb of

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

, attending Ivanhoe State School and Preston Technical School. He completed his secondary education at Wesley College from 1943 to 1945, but did not

matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

as he had always intended on joining his father's business.

Business career

In 1945, Siddons began working for one of his father's firms, Siddons Drop Forging Pty Ltd,

drop forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at whic ...

hammers at its factory in Clifton Hill. He was groomed to take over the business and worked across all departments of his father's conglomerate, starting at factory level to gain an understanding of manual labour. Siddons was sent to the United States on a research tour in 1949, where he was introduced to the newly created Ramset gun – "a powder-actuated tool gun that greatly sped up the process of fastening slabs of concrete or steel". He acquired the Australian franchise rights and in 1952 incorporated Ramset Fasteners (Australia) Pty Ltd as a division of Siddons Drop Forging, with himself as general manager. Due to import restrictions the firm had to manufacture Ramset guns in Australia, quickly ramping up production and later establishing subsidiaries in New Zealand and South Africa. By 1955 profits from the Ramset line had surpassed the rest of the Siddons' tool-making divisions.

Politics

Siddons' first involvement in politics was through the

Australia Party The Australia Party was a minor centrist political party in Australia from 1969 to 1986. It was most influential in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The party was established in 1969 under the leadership of Senator Reg Turnbull, as a merger o ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the party at three federal elections, standing for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the seat of Diamond Valley at the 1972 election and for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

at the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and 1975 elections. He was elected to succeed

Gordon Barton Gordon Page Barton (30 August 19294 April 2005) was an Australian businessman and political activist. Biography Barton was born in Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) of a Dutch mother and Australian father. He showed his intellig ...

as national convenor of the Australia Party in December 1974, defeating Ian Gilfillan. In 1980, he was elected 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 Democrats senator for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He was defeated at the 1983 election, when he was required to take second place on the Democrats ticket in deference to party leader

Don Chipp Donald Leslie Chipp, AO (21 August 1925 – 28 August 2006) was an Australian politician who was the inaugural leader of the Australian Democrats, leading the party from 1977 to 1986. He began his career as a member of the Liberal Party, winnin ...

. He was, however, re-elected in the 1984 election, when seven places were up for election due to the expansion of the Parliament. In 1986, he left the Democrats, claiming that the party had moved too far to the left. In 1987, he registered the

Unite Australia Party The Unite Australia Party (UAP) was a short-lived Australian political party that existed in the late 1980s. In December 1986, senator John Siddons, former deputy leader of the Australian Democrats, quit the Democrats to form the UAP, arguing ...

, amalgamating two other minor parties, the

Advance Australia Party Advance Australia Party may refer to: *Advance Australia Party (1988), a defunct political party *Advance Australia Party (2010), a defunct political party {{disambiguation, political ...

and the remnants of the

. He was joined in the Senate by South Australian Democrat

David Vigor David Bernard Vigor (26 June 1939 – 9 April 1998) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate, representing the Australian Democrats and the Unite Australia Party. Born in Elbeuf, France to an English mother a ...

. The new party contested the 1987 election but received under 1% in all states contested. Siddons and Vigor were both defeated. He died in 2016, aged 88.Myer, Rod.
What made John Siddons one of Australia’s most unusual and enigmatic politicians
. ''The New Daily'', 29 September 2016. Accessed 22 December 2016

References

Sources

*Siddons, John Royston; Gleeson, Russ. "A Spanner in the Works" (autobiography). Macmillan, Melbourne (1990) Australian manufacturing businesspeople Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Members of the Australian Senate 1927 births 2016 deaths People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) Unite Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Officers of the Order of Australia {{Australia-Independent-politician-stub