Edmund Bede "Ted" Maher (8 June 1891 – 31 December 1982) was an Australian politician, Leader of the Opposition in the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

1936 to 1941 and Federal senator 1950 to 1965. Born in

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, New South Wales, he was educated at

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schools before becoming a post office worker and stock agent. In 1921, he moved to

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 ...

, becoming a grazier, as well as a businessman and company director. In 1929 he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

as the Country Party member for

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, transferring to

West Moreton West Moreton is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, consisting of the entire rural western portion of South East Queensland. It sits inland from both the Brisbane metropolitan area and the Gold Coast and to the east of the Darling D ...

in 1932. He served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Country Party from 1936 to 1941. Maher was the last leader of his party who did not become Premier until Mike Horan (served 2001-2003, with the party now being known as the National Party). In 1949 he left the Assembly and 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 Country Party Senator for Queensland. He remained in the Senate until his retirement in 1964, taking effect in 1965. Maher died in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Ted National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Members of the Australian Senate 1891 births 1982 deaths Leaders of the opposition in Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire