Arthur Rylah
Encyclopedia
Sir Arthur Gordon Rylah KBE CMG (3 October 190920 September 1974) was an Australia
n politician and lawyer.
, Melbourne
. He was educated at Trinity Grammar and the University of Melbourne
, graduating with a law degree from this university in 1932. Five years later he married Ann Flora Flashman, a veterinarian, with whom he had two children.
In 1940 he was appointed major in the Australian Imperial Force
(AIF) serving in the Northern Territory
, New Guinea
and on New Britain
. He was mentioned in despatches.
. In May 1950 he was elected to the Victorian parliament for the Legislative Assembly seat of Kew
, which he was to hold for the next 21 years.
Rylah's political colleagues quickly recognised his talents and in 1953 he was appointed deputy leader of the party. This was the position which he was to hold under the party's leader, Sir Henry Bolte
, for the next 18 years.
Following the Victorian election of 1955, the Liberal Party gained office. On 7 June Rylah was appointed Deputy Premier of Victoria
, Chief Secretary
and Government Leader in the Legislative Assembly.
Described as a "human dynamo", Rylah had great capacity for work: during his time as Chief Secretary he introduced legal off-course betting (1960), setting up the first Totalizator Agency Board
in the world; allowed cinemas to open on Sundays (1964); did away with six o'clock closing
of hotels, thereby permitting alcohol to be served till 10pm (1965); allowed sport to be played on Sundays (1967); and prepared legislation for compulsory wearing of seat-belts for motorists (1970) and to provide for random breath-testing of motorists (1971).
In contrast to all this dynamism, Rylah's attitudes to morality and censorship were seen by many to be reactionary and repressive. His remark in 1964 that he would not allow his 'teenage daughter' to read Mary McCarthy
's novel The Group
became notorious. When it was pointed out to him that he did not have a teenage daughter (his sole daughter was fully adult), he replied that he could always imagine one. He zealously took on his role of public censor, banning everything from James Joyce
's Ulysses
to Rudyard Kipling
's Barrack-Room Ballads
("No, I haven't read it, but with a title like that it must be dirty"). He was also responsible for prohibiting performances of the play The Boys in the Band
(which he condemned as obscene) and for the covering of immodest public statues of David
.
In 1968 he separated from his wife, who in March 1969 was found dead in her garden. An autopsy found that she had died of a stroke
; and the state coroner, in an unusual move which generated considerable controversy at the time, allowed her remains to be cremated without an inquest into the sudden death. Within seven months Rylah had married for a second time, this time to a divorcee 17 years his junior.
In February 1971 he announced that would resign from parliament in the following month. However he collapsed at his desk on 5 March and spent the next four months in hospital. He retired to his rural property, pursued his interest in horse-racing, and became a director of several companies. Survived by his second wife, and by the children of his first marriage, he died on 20 September 1974 in hospital in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy
. He was accorded a state funeral.
(CMG) in the New Years Day honours of 1965. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(KBE) in the Queen's Birthday honours of 1968.
He is commemorated in the name of the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
.
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 lawyer.
Background
Rylah was born in KewKew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
, Melbourne
Melbourne
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...
. He was educated at Trinity Grammar and the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, graduating with a law degree from this university in 1932. Five years later he married Ann Flora Flashman, a veterinarian, with whom he had two children.
In 1940 he was appointed major in the Australian Imperial Force
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
(AIF) serving in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and on New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
. He was mentioned in despatches.
Politics
After being demobilised in January 1946, he returned to practising law, and joined the newly formed Liberal PartyLiberal 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 May 1950 he was elected to the Victorian parliament for the Legislative Assembly seat of Kew
Electoral district of Kew
The Electoral district of Kew is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It lies a few kilometres east of Melbourne and is centred around the suburb of Kew and also contains parts of Balwyn and Canterbury....
, which he was to hold for the next 21 years.
Rylah's political colleagues quickly recognised his talents and in 1953 he was appointed deputy leader of the party. This was the position which he was to hold under the party's leader, Sir Henry Bolte
Henry Bolte
Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG was an Australian politician. He was the 38th and longest serving Premier of Victoria.- Early years :...
, for the next 18 years.
Following the Victorian election of 1955, the Liberal Party gained office. On 7 June Rylah was appointed Deputy Premier of Victoria
Deputy Premier of Victoria
The Deputy Premier of Victoria is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Victoria. The Deputy Premiership has been a ministerial portfolio since , and the Deputy Premier is appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier....
, Chief Secretary
Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...
and Government Leader in the Legislative Assembly.
Described as a "human dynamo", Rylah had great capacity for work: during his time as Chief Secretary he introduced legal off-course betting (1960), setting up the first Totalizator Agency Board
Totalizator Agency Board
Totalisator Agency Board in Australia and New Zealand, universally shortened to TAB, is the name given to monopoly totalisator organisations. All were originally government owned...
in the world; allowed cinemas to open on Sundays (1964); did away with six o'clock closing
Six o'clock swill
The six o'clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public bars at 6 p.m. A culture developed of heavy drinking...
of hotels, thereby permitting alcohol to be served till 10pm (1965); allowed sport to be played on Sundays (1967); and prepared legislation for compulsory wearing of seat-belts for motorists (1970) and to provide for random breath-testing of motorists (1971).
In contrast to all this dynamism, Rylah's attitudes to morality and censorship were seen by many to be reactionary and repressive. His remark in 1964 that he would not allow his 'teenage daughter' to read Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy (author)
Mary Therese McCarthy was an American author, critic and political activist.- Early life :Born in Seattle, Washington, to Roy Winfield McCarthy and his wife, the former Therese Preston, McCarthy was orphaned at the age of six when both her parents died in the great flu epidemic of 1918...
's novel The Group
The Group (novel)
The Group is a 1963 novel by American writer Mary McCarthy. It made the New York Times Best Seller list in 1963.- Content :In 1933, eight young female friends graduate from Vassar College. The book describes these women’s lives post-graduation, beginning with the marriage of one of the friends,...
became notorious. When it was pointed out to him that he did not have a teenage daughter (his sole daughter was fully adult), he replied that he could always imagine one. He zealously took on his role of public censor, banning everything from James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
to Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's Barrack-Room Ballads
Barrack-Room Ballads
The Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses are a set of martial songs and poems by Rudyard Kipling originally published in two parts: the first set in 1892, the second in 1896...
("No, I haven't read it, but with a title like that it must be dirty"). He was also responsible for prohibiting performances of the play The Boys in the Band
The Boys in the Band
The Boys in the Band is a 1970 American drama film directed by William Friedkin. The screenplay by Mart Crowley is based on his Off Broadway play of the same title, Crowley penned a sequel to the play years later entitled The Men From The Boys...
(which he condemned as obscene) and for the covering of immodest public statues of David
David (Michelangelo)
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo. It is a marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence...
.
In 1968 he separated from his wife, who in March 1969 was found dead in her garden. An autopsy found that she had died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
; and the state coroner, in an unusual move which generated considerable controversy at the time, allowed her remains to be cremated without an inquest into the sudden death. Within seven months Rylah had married for a second time, this time to a divorcee 17 years his junior.
In February 1971 he announced that would resign from parliament in the following month. However he collapsed at his desk on 5 March and spent the next four months in hospital. He retired to his rural property, pursued his interest in horse-racing, and became a director of several companies. Survived by his second wife, and by the children of his first marriage, he died on 20 September 1974 in hospital in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy
Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
. He was accorded a state funeral.
Honours
Arthur Rylah was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(CMG) in the New Years Day honours of 1965. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(KBE) in the Queen's Birthday honours of 1968.
He is commemorated in the name of the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
The Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research is the biodiversity research organisation for the Department of Sustainability and Environment of the government of Victoria, Australia. It provides advice on ecologically sustainable land and water management issues and with regard to...
.