Bertie Milliner
Encyclopedia
Bertie Milliner was an Australia
n trade unionist, politician and Senator
, representing the Australian Labor Party
(ALP). He would have been a minor figure in Australia’s political history but for the events that followed his sudden death. These circumstances contributed to the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, which culminated in the dismissal of the Prime Minister
, Gough Whitlam
, by the Governor-General
, Sir John Kerr.
, Brisbane
. He attended the local state school, served an apprenticeship as a compositor at the Queensland Government Printing Office and became a linotype-operator. On 26 March 1938 he married Thelma Elizabeth Voght, a schoolteacher.
He joined the Queensland Printing Employees' Union and was elected in 1934 to the board of management. A delegate to the Trades and Labor Council of Queensland, he was a member of the executive (from 1952) and treasurer (1960-67). As trade-union adviser on the Australian delegations, he travelled to Geneva
to attend the thirty-seventh (1954) and forty-eighth (1964) sessions of the International Labour Conference.
Milliner represented Small Unions (1947-50) and his own union (from 1950) on the Queensland central executive of the ALP. An active and influential State party manager, he chaired the rules committee, held office as vice-president for a term, and was president in 1963-68. At the meeting called in April 1957 to consider the situation of the then Labor Premier of Queensland
, Vince Gair
, he moved that there be further negotiations before the premier's expulsion from the ALP was discussed; when his proposal was rejected, he voted with the TLC group to expel Gair.
Milliner was a competent chairman who tried to achieve unity, to broaden the party's electoral base, and to encourage the involvement of women and the young. His leadership proved decisive in winning party support in Queensland for Gough Whitlam
in his confrontation with the ALP's federal executive in February 1966.
In 1962 Milliner had unsuccessfully sought party nomination as one of two candidates to be considered by the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for a casual vacancy in the Senate
. At the 1967 election
he won a seat in the Senate. His term began on 1 July 1968. He sat on ten parliamentary committees and in 1974 was appointed temporary Chairman of Committees in the Senate.
- that of Mal Colston
. Bjelke-Petersen asked for a list of three names, which the ALP refused to supply. He then chose as Milliner’s replacement Albert Field
, who was nominally a member of the Labor Party but was openly critical of the Whitlam government. The Queensland Legislative Assembly duly appointed Field to the vacancy. The ALP immediately expelled Field from the party on the grounds that he accepted an appointment contrary to its wishes, and challenged his appointment in the High Court
on the grounds that he was still technically employed by the Queensland Public Service (an office of profit under the Crown) at the time of his acceptance of the appointment - he had resigned, but without giving the required two weeks' notice. He was on leave from the Senate for his entire term, and the Opposition coalition chose not to provide a pair (a convention whereby, when a senator is absent for reasons beyond their control, the opposing party arranges for one their senators not to vote in divisions). Consequently, the numbers in the Senate were weighted against Labor. This was one of the factors that enabled the Senate to block the Whitlam government’s Supply bills, which in turn led to the government's dismissal.
Milliner's son Glen was a member (1977-98) of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
.
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 trade unionist, politician and Senator
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,...
, representing the Australian 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...
(ALP). He would have been a minor figure in Australia’s political history but for the events that followed his sudden death. These circumstances contributed to the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, which culminated in the dismissal of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
, by the Governor-General
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
, Sir John Kerr.
Biography
Bertie Richard Milliner was born at Kelvin GroveKelvin Grove
Kelvin Grove is the name of various places:*Kelvin Grove, Calgary, a neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada*Kelvin Grove, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia*Kelvin Grove, Palmerston North, a suburb of Palmerston North, New Zealand...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. He attended the local state school, served an apprenticeship as a compositor at the Queensland Government Printing Office and became a linotype-operator. On 26 March 1938 he married Thelma Elizabeth Voght, a schoolteacher.
He joined the Queensland Printing Employees' Union and was elected in 1934 to the board of management. A delegate to the Trades and Labor Council of Queensland, he was a member of the executive (from 1952) and treasurer (1960-67). As trade-union adviser on the Australian delegations, he travelled to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
to attend the thirty-seventh (1954) and forty-eighth (1964) sessions of the International Labour Conference.
Milliner represented Small Unions (1947-50) and his own union (from 1950) on the Queensland central executive of the ALP. An active and influential State party manager, he chaired the rules committee, held office as vice-president for a term, and was president in 1963-68. At the meeting called in April 1957 to consider the situation of the then Labor Premier of Queensland
Premiers of Queensland
Before the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and...
, Vince Gair
Vince Gair
Vincent Clare "Vince" Gair was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Australian Labor Party. He was elected to the Australian Senate and led the Democratic Labor Party...
, he moved that there be further negotiations before the premier's expulsion from the ALP was discussed; when his proposal was rejected, he voted with the TLC group to expel Gair.
Milliner was a competent chairman who tried to achieve unity, to broaden the party's electoral base, and to encourage the involvement of women and the young. His leadership proved decisive in winning party support in Queensland for Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
in his confrontation with the ALP's federal executive in February 1966.
In 1962 Milliner had unsuccessfully sought party nomination as one of two candidates to be considered by the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Queensland Legislative Assembly
The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...
for a casual vacancy in the 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,...
. At the 1967 election
Australian Senate election, 1967
Half-senate elections were held in Australia on 25 November 1967.Independent: Reg Turnbull -See also:*Candidates of the Australian Senate election, 1967*Members of the Australian Senate, 1968–1971-References:...
he won a seat in the Senate. His term began on 1 July 1968. He sat on ten parliamentary committees and in 1974 was appointed temporary Chairman of Committees in the Senate.
Death and replacement
Bertie Milliner died suddenly of a heart attack on 30 June 1975 in his Brisbane office. The question of his replacement then arose. It had been a previously unbroken convention that when a casual vacancy arose through the resignation or death of a senator mid-term, the relevant state parliament would replace the senator with a nominee chosen by the departed senator's political party. The ALP provided one name to Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-PetersenJoh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG , was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived Premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, a period that saw considerable economic development in the state...
- that of Mal Colston
Mal Colston
Malcolm Arthur "Mal" Colston , Australian politician, was a Senator in the Parliament of Australia representing the state of Queensland between 1975 and 1999...
. Bjelke-Petersen asked for a list of three names, which the ALP refused to supply. He then chose as Milliner’s replacement Albert Field
Albert Field
Albert Patrick Field was an Australian who was a French polisher plucked from obscurity to become a Senator in 1975. The circumstances of his appointment were instrumental in precipitating the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.Queensland ALP Senator Bertie Milliner died suddenly on 30 June 1975...
, who was nominally a member of the Labor Party but was openly critical of the Whitlam government. The Queensland Legislative Assembly duly appointed Field to the vacancy. The ALP immediately expelled Field from the party on the grounds that he accepted an appointment contrary to its wishes, and challenged his appointment in the High Court
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
on the grounds that he was still technically employed by the Queensland Public Service (an office of profit under the Crown) at the time of his acceptance of the appointment - he had resigned, but without giving the required two weeks' notice. He was on leave from the Senate for his entire term, and the Opposition coalition chose not to provide a pair (a convention whereby, when a senator is absent for reasons beyond their control, the opposing party arranges for one their senators not to vote in divisions). Consequently, the numbers in the Senate were weighted against Labor. This was one of the factors that enabled the Senate to block the Whitlam government’s Supply bills, which in turn led to the government's dismissal.
Milliner's son Glen was a member (1977-98) of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Queensland Legislative Assembly
The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...
.