Robert Richards (Australian Politician)
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Robert Stanley Richards (31 May 1885 – 24 April 1967) was an Australian politician. He served as
premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...
for two months in 1933, leading the Parliamentary Labor faction of 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) in the aftermath of a major party split. His government was defeated in a landslide at the 1933 state election. He returned as leader of the reunited ALP from 1938 to 1949, leading the party to three consecutive electoral defeats as
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 ...
in the face of severe electoral malapportionment. He later served as
administrator of Nauru This article lists the colonial governors of Nauru, from the establishment of the German Empire, German German colonial empire, colonial presence in 1888 (as part of German New Guinea), through the Empire of Japan, Japanese Japanese occupati ...
, a UN trust territory administered by Australia, from 1949 to 1951.


Early life

Born in Moonta Mines, South Australia, the youngest of twelve children to Cornish miner Richard Richards and his wife Mary, Richards was locally educated before leaving school at age 13 to work in the Moonta mines, initially in menial jobs and later as a carpenter. In his early twenties Richards moved to
Burnie, Tasmania Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...
to manage a
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
mine before returning to Moonta, where he married Ada Dixon on 31 January 1914.


Politics

Richards became involved with the labour movement and was elected vice-president of the Federated Mining Employees Association in 1916. When that union merged into the
Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...
in 1917, he became president of the AWU's mining section, proving himself to be a forceful and competent leader. A lay
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
preacher,
Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
and keen
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er and
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er, Richards was a popular and well known local identity and it came as no surprise when he sought Labor preselection. Elected to the Electoral district of Wallaroo (which covered Moonta) in the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...
at the 1918 election, Richards quickly gained a reputation in parliament for his leadership and debating abilities and following Labor's victory at the 1924 election, Richards was named Chairman of Committees, firstly in the John Gunn led government and, following Gunn's resignation, in
Lionel Hill Lionel Laughton Hill (14 May 1881 – 19 March 1963) was an Australian politician who served as the thirtieth Premier of South Australia, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Early life Born in Adelaide, So ...
's cabinet. Ousted from government at the 1927 election by the
Richard Layton Butler Sir Richard Layton Butler KCMG (31 March 1885 – 21 January 1966) was the 31st Premier of South Australia, serving two disjunct terms in office: from 1927 to 1930, and again from 1933 to 1938. Early life Born on a farm near Gawler, South Aust ...
led
Liberal Federation The Liberal Federation was a South Australian political party from 16 October 1923 to 1932. It came into existence as a merger between the rival Liberal Union and National Party, to oppose Labor. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
first enjoyed the boom of the 1920s and then suffered the onset of the
Great Depression in Australia Australia was affected badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street crash of 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia had years of high unemployment, poverty, ...
. The 1930 election was highlighted by Butler's warning to voters that the Depression would worsen before it improved and Labor leader Hill's promise of a master plan to solve the problems of the Depression. Labor was swept to power and Richards appointed to the positions of Commissioner of Crown Lands, Minister of Mines and Marine and Minister of Labour and Employment. Unfortunately, Labor did not have a master strategy to combat the Depression, and was instead forced to institute wage cuts and sweeping retrenchments in the public service as part of implementing the frugal measures of the 1931
Premiers' Plan The Premiers' Plan was a deflationary economic policy agreed by a meeting of the Premiers of the Australian states in June 1931 to combat the Great Depression in Australia that sparked the 1931 Labor split. Background The Great Depress ...
enacted to fight the Depression. The Premier's Plan saw widespread discontent in South Australia, particularly within traditional working-class Labor supporters, resulting in the ALP state executive expelling 23 of the 30 members of the parliamentary caucus—including Richards and the entire cabinet—from the Labor Party later in 1931. The 23 expelled MPs formed the
Parliamentary Labor Party The Parliamentary Labor Party (also known as the Premiers' Plan Labor Party or Ministerial Labor Party) was a political party active in South Australia from August 1931 until June 1934. The party came into existence as a result of intense dispu ...
(also known as Premiers Plan Labor), which stayed in office with the support of the conservative opposition. The Hill Cabinet remained precariously in power until February 1933, when Hill happily resigned as Premier nine weeks before the 1933 election to move to London as Australian Agent-General. Richards reluctantly succeeded Hill as Premier and
Treasurer of South Australia The treasurer of South Australia is the Cabinet (government), Cabinet Minister (government), minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for the financial management of South Australia, that state's budget sector. The Urban ...
. Without public or party support, Richards found himself leading his ministry into an election that, by most accounts, he had virtually no chance of winning. Richards spent his nine weeks as Premier attempting to talk up the achievements of his cabinet.McMullin, R. (1991) ''The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991''. Oxford University Press, South Melbourne. . However, it was nowhere near enough to save him from defeat at the state election. With three Labor factions—Richards'
Parliamentary Labor Party The Parliamentary Labor Party (also known as the Premiers' Plan Labor Party or Ministerial Labor Party) was a political party active in South Australia from August 1931 until June 1934. The party came into existence as a result of intense dispu ...
, the official ALP and the Lang Labor Party—splitting the vote, the revitalised opposition in the guise of the Butler-led
Liberal and Country League The South Australian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division), and often shortened to SA Liberals, is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. It was formed as the Lib ...
(a merging of Butler's Liberal Federation and the Country Party) won a landslide majority. The three Labor factions won only 13 seats between them Richards spent the next year working to reunite the ALP and following his success, served as Deputy Leader of the reunited party from 1934 to 1938 under the leadership of Andrew Lacey (prior to this he was the leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party, separated from the executive, although Richards made efforts with Lacey and the other factions to merge the parties into a united front from the turmoil his predecessor had put them in). Following another heavy defeat at the 1938 state election, where more independents were elected to parliament than Labor members, Richards became Labor leader for a second time. Richards remained opposition leader for 11 years, during which Labor increased its primary vote at three consecutive elections. However, it was unable to dislodge the LCL, now led by Tom Playford, due to the electoral malapportionment known as the
Playmander The Playmander was a pro-rural electoral Apportionment (politics), malapportionment in the Australian state of South Australia, which was introduced by the incumbent Liberal and Country League (LCL) government in 1936, and remained in place for 32 ...
, in which rural votes were worth several times more than votes in
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
. He actually led Labor to a 53.3 percent two-party vote at the 1944 election. In most of the rest of Australia, this would have been enough to make him Premier with a solid majority. However, due to the Playmander, Labor was only able to net a five-seat swing in this election, leaving it with 16 seats, four short of victory. By 1949, Richards had suffered the death of his wife and, with the realisation that the current system gave Labor little chance of returning to government, retired from politics to serve as the Commonwealth Government's Administrator of
Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...
, taking his new bride with him. He returned from Nauru to Adelaide in 1951; served as director of radio station 5KA, then under Methodist control; and was appointed to the South Australian government Forestry Board in 1954. Playford, never afraid to make use of opponents' skills for the greater good, also commissioned Richards to investigate issues relating to delinquent children, mining issues and housing.


Death

Afflicted by
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
, Richards nonetheless lived long enough to see a Labor government returned to South Australia (under the leadership of Premier
Frank Walsh Francis Henry Walsh (6 July 1897 – 18 May 1968) was the 34th Premier of South Australia from 10 March 1965 to 1 June 1967, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Early life One of eight children, Walsh was b ...
) in 1965. He died in Moonta two years later, and received a state funeral.


Family

Richards married Ada Maude Dixon (ca.1883 – 20 July 1948), whose sisters married S. R. Whitford and Oswald Pryor, on 31 January 1914. Their children included two daughters: Joyce and Kathlean.


Notes


References


Australian Dictionary of Biography

Election of Andrew Lacey as Leader (Trove)

Election as Leader (Trove)


Resignation from Parliament (SA Parliament)


External links

*   , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Robert 1885 births 1967 deaths Premiers of South Australia Treasurers of South Australia Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Australian people of Cornish descent People from Moonta, South Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Administrators of Nauru