Alexander Mair
Encyclopedia
Alexander Mair was an Australia
n politician and served as the Premier of New South Wales from 5 August 1939 to 16 May 1941. Born in Melbourne, working in various businesses, Mair moved to Albury, New South Wales
and went on to be a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for fourteen years. In 1932, Mair was elected to the seat of Albury and went on to be re-elected a further four times. He rose quickly through the cabinet of Bertram Stevens' United Australia Party
government, becoming an Assistant Minister in April 1938, Minister for Labour and Industry in June and Colonial Treasurer
in October.
A staunch supporter of Stevens throughout his Premiership, Mair became his successor as Premier in August 1939 following Stevens' defeat in a no-confidence motion
moved by renegade Minister, Eric Spooner
. Becoming Premier at a difficult time for the government, Mair's leadership was marked by his unification of his formerly fractious party, the reining-in of government expenditure and increased taxes to reduce debt, and new labor laws to reduce unemployment. When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, Mair mobilised the state towards the war effort but found it difficult to communicate his message to the voters. He served as Premier until losing the May 1941 election
to the Labor Party under William McKell
, losing 20 seats.
Remaining as Opposition Leader, with the UAP shattered, Mair became leader of the new Democratic Party and was involved in the negotiations to unite the broken conservative parties and form the Liberal Party of Australia
in 1945. When Reginald Weaver
died in November 1945, only months after becoming the first leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales, Mair was selected to succeed him. Mair remained as leader until he resigned in March 1946 to contest the Australian Senate
. He was unsuccessful and thereafter retired back to Melbourne, where he died in 1969, aged 79.
suburb of North Carlton
, Victoria, the eldest child of Victorian-born parents Alexander Mair, a timber and steel merchant, and his wife Florence Mair (née Hunter). Mair was educated at Wesley College
, where he excelled in sports, and then later at Bradshaw's Business College. Upon leaving education, Mair was employed in his father's company, Alexander Mair & Co, timber, iron and steel merchants. On 29 October 1913, Mair married Grace Lennox at the Scots' Church, Melbourne
and together had two sons, John and Sandy, and a daughter, Margaret.
When his father also died in that year, Mair took charge of the company, which expanded into hardware. He involved himself in every facet of the company, often visiting overseas suppliers. However, a bout of influenza in the 1919 epidemic and subsequent asthma led him gradually to withdraw from business. In 1922 he sold the steelyard and then in 1925 sold the rest of the company's other assets to James McEwan & Co. Pty Ltd, serving as a director of the latter until 1927. In 1928, Mair purchased 'Rockwood', a grazing property outside of Albury
, New South Wales
, where the Mairs raised sheep and cattle as well as grain.
, when he stood as the United Australia Party
candidate for the local seat of Albury in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
. The election campaign was noted for having occurred not long after the dismissal of Premier Jack Lang
, and was affected by violence by the right-wing New Guard
. Despite this, Mair gained the seat from the Labor party
member, Joseph Fitzgerald. Despite only gaining 30.65% of the primary vote to Fitzgerald's 40.07%, Mair was able to secure the seat with Country Party preferences, on a 58-41% margin.
As the local member, Mair became interested in helping those affected by the Great Depression
and fulfilled his election promise to give most of his paliamentary salary to the poor in his own electorate, a practice which he continued until 1938. Serving on the backbench, Mair was noted for being a strong supporter of Premier Bertram Stevens at a time when party discipline within the UAP was non-existent. Mair soon built up a reputation for being a loyal, yet also strongly independent member of parliament, and a powerful debater in the House.
At the May 1935 election
, Mair was returned in his seat with an increased margin of 59.03%. In 1937, he visited Britain with his wife for the coronation of King George VI
and later attempted to enter the Soviet Union
, in an attempt to study the social problems associated with a communist system, as a sailor on a Norwegian
ship, but was refused entry.
At the March 1938 election
, Mair was returned with a slightly reduced margin of 57.76%. On this occasion, however, Mair was appointed to Premier Steven's new cabinet as an Assistant Minister on 13 April 1938. He served in this capacity for ten weeks until 1 June 1938, when he was promoted as the Minister for Labour and Industry, which had been vacated by the death of his predecessor, John Dunningham. Despite serving only a brief time in this portfolio, Mair was largely successful, gaining a reputation as understanding and sympathetic to worker's views, leading to the resolution of several industrial disputes.
He served until 13 October, when Premier Stevens promoted him as Colonial Treasurer
. Upon taking office, Mair immediately proposed drastic cuts in expenditure to bring the budget back into balance, and to find new sources of taxation income. As part of this, he issued a circular to all government Ministers to declare any expenditure over £3000 to Treasury for approval. All complied except Deputy Leader and Minister for Public Works and Local Government, Eric Spooner
, who sought to undermine confidence in Steven's leadership. In July 1939, Stevens and Mair attempted to prevent Spooner's disruptive tactics by creating a committee of four, consisting of Mair, Stevens, Spooner and Country Party Leader, Michael Bruxner
, to approve all expenditure. Furious at this gesture, Spooner resigned on 21 July 1939 as Minister and Deputy Leader, citing a 'disagreement in government policy on relief works' as the reason.
On 1 August 1939, Spooner carried a motion of no confidence
in Stevens in the house, which unexpectedly passed by two votes, owing to the absence of several ministers. On 3 August Stevens tendered his resignation to the Governor, Lord Wakehurst, but was granted several days to remain until his successor was chosen.
Upon the resignation, Spooner was touted as Stevens' possible successor until Deputy Premier Bruxner refused to form a coalition government with Spooner, who was opposed to Country Party influence, while Stevens attempted to gather support for Mair. At a party meeting on 5 August, Spooner chose not to nominate and Mair defeated Athol Richardson
18 votes to 6, becoming Leader of the United Australia Party and was sworn in as Premier by Lord Wakehurst on the same day.
Mair extensively reshuffled his cabinet, announcing the new ministry on 16 August. Among the appointments included Athol Richardson
as Colonial Treasurer, Lewis Martin took up Spooner's former roles of Public Works and Local Government and the relatively new Vernon Treatt
as Minister for Justice. Faced with a population of 53,000 registered unemployed, on 30 August Mair made plans to combat youth unemployment by providing generous pension schemes for coalminers and introducing compulsory retirement at age 60, thereby halving the unemployment rate. Despite attempts to reassure business speculation over the outbreak of war, on 3 September 1939 the Second World War erupted. At the cabinet meeting the next day, Mair, both of his sons having enlisted, reaffirmed the need to support Britain and the Allies. Mair personally also took on this responsibility by contributing £4000 in war loans. In December, Mair's Government refused to register refugee German doctors and Mair later criticised Prime Minister Robert Menzies
for not acting to intern enemy aliens. When Parliament returned in March 1940, the Opposition Leader, William McKell
, moved a censure motion on the government, citing its ineffectiveness to act on unemployment and housing. Mair responded by tearing apart their arguments in a one hour and a half long speech.
Mair's choice in Justice Minister Vernon Treatt proved problematic when it was alleged that he had acted to reduce fines for certain companies that had sold low-quality bread to the Defence Department. Despite a Royal Commission clearing Treatt of any wrongdoing, public confidence in the Mair Government had plummeted. At the campaign for the 10 May 1941 election
, Mair performed poorly, finding it difficult to distinguish himself from his predecessor and proposing policies but only promising action after the war. McKell's Labor Party did the opposite, leaving war matters to the federal government and promising current reforms. At the election, the Labor Party polled more than half the vote while Bruxner's Country Party lost nine seats and Mair's UAP lost twenty seats: twelve to Labor, seven to independents and one to redistribution. Mair himself retained his seat with 52.47%. The conservative political forces would not take government again until under Robert Askin
in 1965.
for the shattered conservative parties on 19 May 1941 and, despite the electoral defeat, pledged his full support for the government in war matters. However, with the very poor results of the federal United Australia Party under Billy Hughes
at the 1943 Federal election
, the UAP disintegrated. A large number of former UAP members then formed the Democratic Party in New South Wales, led by Mair, while others moved into the Commonwealth Party
and the Liberal Democratic Party. The Democratic Party then merged with the Commonwealth Party in January 1944. With the conservative vote split in half, Mair had little chance, and resigned as Democratic Party Leader on 10 February 1944, to be replaced by Deputy Leader Reginald Weaver
, who then became Leader of the Opposition, with Mair becoming Deputy Leader. Weaver and Mair led the hopelessly divided conservative forces to defeat at the 27 May 1944 election
, losing another three seats. It was also the last state election contested by Mair, which he retained his seat for the last time with 53.06%.
Following the electoral defeat, Mair played a central role in the negotiations to merge the conservative parties to form Robert Menzies
' newly created Liberal Party of Australia
, becoming a delegate for the Canberra Conference in October 1944 and hosting the second party conference in his seat in Albury at Mate's Department Store. Despite initial efforts to merge the Democratic Party with the Liberal Democratic Party becoming deadlocked over questions of party organisation and by acrimony between Weaver and the LDP leader, Ernest K White, they were ultimately successful and the Liberal party was born in early 1945. Serving on the Liberals' New South Wales executive from 1945 to 1946, when first party leader Weaver died suddenly on 12 November 1945, Mair was chosen to succeed him.
He served as the second Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
only briefly until he resigned as leader on 21 March 1946, being succeeded by his former Minister for Justice, Vernon Treatt. On 14 August 1946, after serving fourteen years in the New South Wales Parliament, Mair resigned his seat to run for a place in the Australian Senate
for New South Wales. At the federal election
held on 28 September 1946, the Liberal Party was defeated and failed to win any Senate seats up for election, as the electoral system up to the 1949 election
tended to give all seats in each state to the party that won the most votes.
. Mair, however, then assisted in returning his seat to the Liberal Party at the May 1947 election
. In 1948, he sold 'Rockwood'.
Returning to Melbourne in 1949, Mair took up various business and organisation positions, including as a board member of the Melbourne Dental Hospital, a national councillor for the Young Men's Christian Association, Vice-President of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and Vice-President of the Guide Dogs for the Blind
. On 12 January 1949, King George VI
, on the advice of the Governor of New South Wales, John Northcott
, granted him retention of the title "The Honourable
" for life, for having served more than three years on the Executive Council of New South Wales
.
Almost a quarter of a century after he left Parliament, Mair died on 3 August 1969 in his St Kilda
home, survived by his wife, two sons and daughter. He was buried at Springwood Cemetery after a funeral at Scots' Church, Melbourne
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician and served as the Premier of New South Wales from 5 August 1939 to 16 May 1941. Born in Melbourne, working in various businesses, Mair moved to Albury, New South Wales
Albury, New South Wales
Albury is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Albury Local Government Area...
and went on to be a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
for fourteen years. In 1932, Mair was elected to the seat of Albury and went on to be re-elected a further four times. He rose quickly through the cabinet of Bertram Stevens' United Australia Party
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
government, becoming an Assistant Minister in April 1938, Minister for Labour and Industry in June and Colonial Treasurer
Treasurer of New South Wales
The Treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856–1959 as the Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales, is the minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising and is the head of the New South Wales Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in...
in October.
A staunch supporter of Stevens throughout his Premiership, Mair became his successor as Premier in August 1939 following Stevens' defeat in a no-confidence motion
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
moved by renegade Minister, Eric Spooner
Eric Spooner
Eric Sydney Spooner was an Australian politician.Spooner was born in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo and educated at Christ Church St Laurence School. At 14 he became a telegraph messenger and studied at night at the University of Sydney to gain a diploma in economics and commerce. He married...
. Becoming Premier at a difficult time for the government, Mair's leadership was marked by his unification of his formerly fractious party, the reining-in of government expenditure and increased taxes to reduce debt, and new labor laws to reduce unemployment. When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, Mair mobilised the state towards the war effort but found it difficult to communicate his message to the voters. He served as Premier until losing the May 1941 election
New South Wales state election, 1941
The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting....
to the Labor Party under William McKell
William McKell
Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....
, losing 20 seats.
Remaining as Opposition Leader, with the UAP shattered, Mair became leader of the new Democratic Party and was involved in the negotiations to unite the broken conservative parties and form the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
in 1945. When Reginald Weaver
Reginald Weaver
Reginald Walter Darcy Weaver was an Australian conservative parliamentarian who served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 28 years. Serving from 1917 in the backbenches, he entered the cabinet of Thomas Bavin in 1929 as Secretary for Mines and Minister for Forests until he returned to...
died in November 1945, only months after becoming the first leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales, Mair was selected to succeed him. Mair remained as leader until he resigned in March 1946 to contest the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
. He was unsuccessful and thereafter retired back to Melbourne, where he died in 1969, aged 79.
Early life
Alexander Mair was born on 25 August 1889 in the MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of North Carlton
Carlton North, Victoria
Carlton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra...
, Victoria, the eldest child of Victorian-born parents Alexander Mair, a timber and steel merchant, and his wife Florence Mair (née Hunter). Mair was educated at Wesley College
Wesley College, Melbourne
Wesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...
, where he excelled in sports, and then later at Bradshaw's Business College. Upon leaving education, Mair was employed in his father's company, Alexander Mair & Co, timber, iron and steel merchants. On 29 October 1913, Mair married Grace Lennox at the Scots' Church, Melbourne
Scots' Church, Melbourne
The Scots' Church, a Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia, was the first Presbyterian Church to be built in the Port Phillip District . It is located in Collins Street and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia...
and together had two sons, John and Sandy, and a daughter, Margaret.
When his father also died in that year, Mair took charge of the company, which expanded into hardware. He involved himself in every facet of the company, often visiting overseas suppliers. However, a bout of influenza in the 1919 epidemic and subsequent asthma led him gradually to withdraw from business. In 1922 he sold the steelyard and then in 1925 sold the rest of the company's other assets to James McEwan & Co. Pty Ltd, serving as a director of the latter until 1927. In 1928, Mair purchased 'Rockwood', a grazing property outside of Albury
Albury, New South Wales
Albury is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Albury Local Government Area...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, where the Mairs raised sheep and cattle as well as grain.
Early political career
Mair first entered politics at the 11 June 1932 electionNew South Wales state election, 1932
The 1932 New South Wales state election was held on 11 June 1932. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 30th New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting...
, when he stood as the United Australia Party
United Australia Party
The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
candidate for the local seat of Albury in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
. The election campaign was noted for having occurred not long after the dismissal of Premier Jack Lang
Jack Lang (Australian politician)
John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...
, and was affected by violence by the right-wing New Guard
New Guard
The New Guard was a fascist movement in Australia formed in 1931. It was opposed to communism and democracy, called for class collaboration to replace class conflict, and engaged in street fighting against opponents and in plans for a coup d'etat against the Australian government...
. Despite this, Mair gained the seat from the Labor party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member, Joseph Fitzgerald. Despite only gaining 30.65% of the primary vote to Fitzgerald's 40.07%, Mair was able to secure the seat with Country Party preferences, on a 58-41% margin.
As the local member, Mair became interested in helping those affected by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and fulfilled his election promise to give most of his paliamentary salary to the poor in his own electorate, a practice which he continued until 1938. Serving on the backbench, Mair was noted for being a strong supporter of Premier Bertram Stevens at a time when party discipline within the UAP was non-existent. Mair soon built up a reputation for being a loyal, yet also strongly independent member of parliament, and a powerful debater in the House.
At the May 1935 election
New South Wales state election, 1935
The 1935 New South Wales state election was held on 11 May 1935. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 31st New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting....
, Mair was returned in his seat with an increased margin of 59.03%. In 1937, he visited Britain with his wife for the coronation of King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and later attempted to enter the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, in an attempt to study the social problems associated with a communist system, as a sailor on a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
ship, but was refused entry.
Minister of the Crown
New South Wales state election, 1938
The 1938 New South Wales state election was held on 26 March 1938. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 32nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting....
, Mair was returned with a slightly reduced margin of 57.76%. On this occasion, however, Mair was appointed to Premier Steven's new cabinet as an Assistant Minister on 13 April 1938. He served in this capacity for ten weeks until 1 June 1938, when he was promoted as the Minister for Labour and Industry, which had been vacated by the death of his predecessor, John Dunningham. Despite serving only a brief time in this portfolio, Mair was largely successful, gaining a reputation as understanding and sympathetic to worker's views, leading to the resolution of several industrial disputes.
He served until 13 October, when Premier Stevens promoted him as Colonial Treasurer
Treasurer of New South Wales
The Treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856–1959 as the Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales, is the minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising and is the head of the New South Wales Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in...
. Upon taking office, Mair immediately proposed drastic cuts in expenditure to bring the budget back into balance, and to find new sources of taxation income. As part of this, he issued a circular to all government Ministers to declare any expenditure over £3000 to Treasury for approval. All complied except Deputy Leader and Minister for Public Works and Local Government, Eric Spooner
Eric Spooner
Eric Sydney Spooner was an Australian politician.Spooner was born in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo and educated at Christ Church St Laurence School. At 14 he became a telegraph messenger and studied at night at the University of Sydney to gain a diploma in economics and commerce. He married...
, who sought to undermine confidence in Steven's leadership. In July 1939, Stevens and Mair attempted to prevent Spooner's disruptive tactics by creating a committee of four, consisting of Mair, Stevens, Spooner and Country Party Leader, Michael Bruxner
Michael Bruxner
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Frederick Bruxner KBE, DSO, JP was an Australian politician and soldier, serving for many years as Leader of the Country Party and its predecessors...
, to approve all expenditure. Furious at this gesture, Spooner resigned on 21 July 1939 as Minister and Deputy Leader, citing a 'disagreement in government policy on relief works' as the reason.
On 1 August 1939, Spooner carried a motion of no confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
in Stevens in the house, which unexpectedly passed by two votes, owing to the absence of several ministers. On 3 August Stevens tendered his resignation to the Governor, Lord Wakehurst, but was granted several days to remain until his successor was chosen.
Upon the resignation, Spooner was touted as Stevens' possible successor until Deputy Premier Bruxner refused to form a coalition government with Spooner, who was opposed to Country Party influence, while Stevens attempted to gather support for Mair. At a party meeting on 5 August, Spooner chose not to nominate and Mair defeated Athol Richardson
Athol Richardson
Athol Railton Richardson OBE, QC was an Australian politician and judge. Richardson represented the Electoral district of Ashfield for the United Australia Party and the Liberal Party of Australia from 26 March 1938 until 5 February 1952.-Early life:Richardson was born to parents Stephen Arthur...
18 votes to 6, becoming Leader of the United Australia Party and was sworn in as Premier by Lord Wakehurst on the same day.
Premier of New South Wales
Inheriting an increasingly dysfunctional government and a deteriorating financial situation, Mair moved swiftly to combat party disunity but re-establishing the backbench policy committees that had fallen into disuse under Stevens. Mair called regular party meetings and his conciliatory manner soon united his formerly dysfunctional party. It was this party discipline and unity that was to be the hallmark of Mair's premiership. Identifying several key areas of reform, Mair moved to combat the economic situation by steeply raising taxation but also provided for a certain proportion of capital raised by wages and income tax to be spent on unemployment and social relief. Other areas included amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act, assistance for country racing clubs and the providing of health and safety measures in coal mines. Despite this, Mair remained loyal to former leader Bertram Stevens. While speaking in Albury on 14 August, he commented: "What I learned under his capable leadership will be turned to the benefit of New South Wales."Mair extensively reshuffled his cabinet, announcing the new ministry on 16 August. Among the appointments included Athol Richardson
Athol Richardson
Athol Railton Richardson OBE, QC was an Australian politician and judge. Richardson represented the Electoral district of Ashfield for the United Australia Party and the Liberal Party of Australia from 26 March 1938 until 5 February 1952.-Early life:Richardson was born to parents Stephen Arthur...
as Colonial Treasurer, Lewis Martin took up Spooner's former roles of Public Works and Local Government and the relatively new Vernon Treatt
Vernon Treatt
Sir Vernon Haddon Treatt KBE, MM, QC was an Australian lawyer, soldier, Rhodes Scholar and politician. Born in Singleton, New South Wales and educated at Shore School, Treatt interrupted his studies at the University of Sydney to enlist at the outbreak of the First World War...
as Minister for Justice. Faced with a population of 53,000 registered unemployed, on 30 August Mair made plans to combat youth unemployment by providing generous pension schemes for coalminers and introducing compulsory retirement at age 60, thereby halving the unemployment rate. Despite attempts to reassure business speculation over the outbreak of war, on 3 September 1939 the Second World War erupted. At the cabinet meeting the next day, Mair, both of his sons having enlisted, reaffirmed the need to support Britain and the Allies. Mair personally also took on this responsibility by contributing £4000 in war loans. In December, Mair's Government refused to register refugee German doctors and Mair later criticised Prime Minister Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
for not acting to intern enemy aliens. When Parliament returned in March 1940, the Opposition Leader, William McKell
William McKell
Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....
, moved a censure motion on the government, citing its ineffectiveness to act on unemployment and housing. Mair responded by tearing apart their arguments in a one hour and a half long speech.
Mair's choice in Justice Minister Vernon Treatt proved problematic when it was alleged that he had acted to reduce fines for certain companies that had sold low-quality bread to the Defence Department. Despite a Royal Commission clearing Treatt of any wrongdoing, public confidence in the Mair Government had plummeted. At the campaign for the 10 May 1941 election
New South Wales state election, 1941
The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting....
, Mair performed poorly, finding it difficult to distinguish himself from his predecessor and proposing policies but only promising action after the war. McKell's Labor Party did the opposite, leaving war matters to the federal government and promising current reforms. At the election, the Labor Party polled more than half the vote while Bruxner's Country Party lost nine seats and Mair's UAP lost twenty seats: twelve to Labor, seven to independents and one to redistribution. Mair himself retained his seat with 52.47%. The conservative political forces would not take government again until under Robert Askin
Robert Askin
Sir Robert William Askin GCMG, was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but always disliked his first name and changed it by deed poll in 1971...
in 1965.
Opposition
Mair now became Leader of the OppositionLeader of the Opposition (New South Wales)
The role of the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in New South Wales is a title held by the leader of the largest minority party in the state lower house, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly...
for the shattered conservative parties on 19 May 1941 and, despite the electoral defeat, pledged his full support for the government in war matters. However, with the very poor results of the federal United Australia Party under Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
at the 1943 Federal election
Australian federal election, 1943
Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 August 1943. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia John Curtin easily defeated the opposition Country Party led...
, the UAP disintegrated. A large number of former UAP members then formed the Democratic Party in New South Wales, led by Mair, while others moved into the Commonwealth Party
Commonwealth Party (New South Wales)
The Commonwealth Party was a short-lived, urban, conservative political party which was active in New South Wales, Australia in 1943-4.Following the defection of Joseph Lyons from the Australian Labor Party to the conservative side of politics in 1931, the opposition Nationalist Party and the five...
and the Liberal Democratic Party. The Democratic Party then merged with the Commonwealth Party in January 1944. With the conservative vote split in half, Mair had little chance, and resigned as Democratic Party Leader on 10 February 1944, to be replaced by Deputy Leader Reginald Weaver
Reginald Weaver
Reginald Walter Darcy Weaver was an Australian conservative parliamentarian who served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 28 years. Serving from 1917 in the backbenches, he entered the cabinet of Thomas Bavin in 1929 as Secretary for Mines and Minister for Forests until he returned to...
, who then became Leader of the Opposition, with Mair becoming Deputy Leader. Weaver and Mair led the hopelessly divided conservative forces to defeat at the 27 May 1944 election
New South Wales state election, 1944
The 1944 New South Wales state election was held on 27 May 1944. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1940 redistribution...
, losing another three seats. It was also the last state election contested by Mair, which he retained his seat for the last time with 53.06%.
Following the electoral defeat, Mair played a central role in the negotiations to merge the conservative parties to form Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
' newly created Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, becoming a delegate for the Canberra Conference in October 1944 and hosting the second party conference in his seat in Albury at Mate's Department Store. Despite initial efforts to merge the Democratic Party with the Liberal Democratic Party becoming deadlocked over questions of party organisation and by acrimony between Weaver and the LDP leader, Ernest K White, they were ultimately successful and the Liberal party was born in early 1945. Serving on the Liberals' New South Wales executive from 1945 to 1946, when first party leader Weaver died suddenly on 12 November 1945, Mair was chosen to succeed him.
He served as the second Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
The position of leader of the Liberal Party of Australia's New South Wales division is a formal role held by a Liberal member of the Parliament of New South Wales...
only briefly until he resigned as leader on 21 March 1946, being succeeded by his former Minister for Justice, Vernon Treatt. On 14 August 1946, after serving fourteen years in the New South Wales Parliament, Mair resigned his seat to run for a place in the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
for New South Wales. At the federal election
Australian federal election, 1946
Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 September 1946. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...
held on 28 September 1946, the Liberal Party was defeated and failed to win any Senate seats up for election, as the electoral system up to the 1949 election
Australian federal election, 1949
Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced...
tended to give all seats in each state to the party that won the most votes.
After politics
Mair now retired from politics and returned to his property in Albury, but witnessed the loss of his former seat to the Labor Party at the 9 November by-electionAlbury state by-election, 1946
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Albury on Saturday, 9 November 1946.It was triggered by the resignation of the former Premier of New South Wales and second Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Alexander Mair, in order to run for a place in the...
. Mair, however, then assisted in returning his seat to the Liberal Party at the May 1947 election
New South Wales state election, 1947
The 1947 New South Wales state election was held on 3 May 1947. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1940 redistribution...
. In 1948, he sold 'Rockwood'.
Returning to Melbourne in 1949, Mair took up various business and organisation positions, including as a board member of the Melbourne Dental Hospital, a national councillor for the Young Men's Christian Association, Vice-President of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and Vice-President of the Guide Dogs for the Blind
Seeing Eye Dogs Australia
Seeing Eye Dogs Australia is the only national organisation in Australia to focus on providing Seeing Eye Dogs to people with vision impairment.SEDA's head office is based in Melbourne, Australia - though it has major operations in Queensland....
. On 12 January 1949, King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
, on the advice of the Governor of New South Wales, John Northcott
John Northcott
Lieutenant General Sir John Northcott KCMG, KCVO, CB was an Australian Army general who served as Chief of the General Staff during World War II, and commanded the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in the Occupation of Japan...
, granted him retention of the title "The Honourable
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
" for life, for having served more than three years on the Executive Council of New South Wales
Executive Council of New South Wales
The Executive Council of New South Wales is the cabinet of that Australian state, consisting of the Ministers, presided over by the Governor .-Role and history:...
.
Almost a quarter of a century after he left Parliament, Mair died on 3 August 1969 in his St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
home, survived by his wife, two sons and daughter. He was buried at Springwood Cemetery after a funeral at Scots' Church, Melbourne
Scots' Church, Melbourne
The Scots' Church, a Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia, was the first Presbyterian Church to be built in the Port Phillip District . It is located in Collins Street and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia...
.