William Folster (27 March 1894 – 23 November 1954) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1930 until 1932, representing the electorate of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

. Folster was born in Brunswick in

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 ...

, but his family moved to

while he was a child. He was educated at Orange East Public School, and undertook an

engineering apprentice An engineering apprenticeship in the United Kingdom is an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering or aeronautical engineering to train craftsmen, technicians, senior technicians, Incorporated Engineers and Chartered Eng ...

ship. He joined the Railways Department in 1915, working as a fitter at

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, but was dismissed after a railway strike. He was re-employed in Wellington from 1917 until 1920, transferred to

Tenterfield Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia, situated at the junction of the New England and Bruxner highways, along the Northern Tablelands, within the New England, New South Wales, New England region. At the , Tenterfield ha ...

from 1920 until 1924, then employed as a steam shed inspector at

Nyngan Nyngan () is a town in the centre of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire local government area within the Orana Region of central New South Wales. At the 2016 census, Nyngan had a population of 1,988 people. Nyngan is situated on th ...

(1924–1926) and

Murrurundi Murrurundi ( ) is a rural town located in the Upper Hunter Shire, in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Murrurundi is situated northwest by road from Newcastle and north from Sydney. At the the town had a population of 8 ...

(1926–1927). He resigned from the Railways Department in 1927 to open an engineering business in Orange. Folster was the Labor candidate for the seat of

at the 1927 state election, but lost to sitting Nationalist MLA John Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick retired in 1930, and Folster was again chosen to contest the seat for Labor. The rural Orange area was suffering badly due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and Folster campaigned on Labor leader Jack Lang's radical proposals for a resolution. It was well received by both Labor traditionalists and the district's increasingly desperate farmers, and Folster narrowly won the traditionally conservative seat. His career was to be short-lived, however; an increasingly controversial Lang was dismissed by the state Governor in 1932, and Folster was defeated by United Australia Party candidate Alwyn Tonking at the resulting election, one of many Labor MLAs to lose their seats that year. He again contested Orange in 1935, but lost to Tonking a second time. Folster joined the left-wing splinter

Industrial Labor Party The Industrial Labor Party or Heffron Labor Party was a short-lived but influential political party active in New South Wales between 1936 and 1939. It was a splinter group of the Labor Party (ALP) and was formed by Bob Heffron after he and C ...

under

Robert Heffron Robert James Heffron (10 September 189027 July 1978), also known as Bob Heffron or R. J. Heffron, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, union organiser and AustralianLabor Party (ALP) Premier of New South Wales from 1959 to 1964. Bor ...

in 1939. Later in life Folster was a boiler inspector for the Western districts, and worked for the government during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He died at Orange in 1954, and was buried at the Orange cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folster, William 1894 births 1954 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians People from Orange, New South Wales