David Arblaster
Encyclopedia
David Amos Arblaster, was a New South Wales
politician, Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Tourism in the cabinet of Sir Eric Willis
until the Liberal party lost the 1976 election
. Arblaster was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for the Electoral district of Mosman
in 1972 and served until his retirement in 1984.
. Upon graduating, he studied accountancy but had a varied career, becoming a salesman for Larke Hoskins Ltd in Sydney, and then a grazier in outback New South Wales and Cunnamulla
in south-west Queensland
. On 17 July 1954, Arblaster married Mary Ann Roberts, and had two daughters, Ann and Fiona. In 1968, Arblaster became a director of Noble Lowndes Australia, and later the Managing Director of Mitchell's Marina at Church Point
.
in 1956 and held various party positions, including as a member of the State executive and then a country and metropolitan vice-president. He was actively involved in encouraging youth involvement in the Liberal Party and he was the last appointed Liberal Youth Council chairman before the Young Liberals
was reconstituted in 1964 as an independent wing of the Liberal Party. During this time, his Vice-Chairman was future Prime Minister of Australia
, John Howard
.
Arblaster contested the 1967 Australian Senate election
on the NSW Liberal ticket but was on third position
and failed to gain a seat.
Arblaster then stood for, and was elected to the seat of Mosman
at a July 1972 by-election
caused by the mid-term retirement of former Liberal Leader and Minister of the Crown, Pat Morton
. He went on to be re-elected with a significant majority a further five times. During the Askin and Lewis Government he remained on the backbenches, but following the poor performance of Premier Lewis, despite a federal swing towards the Coalition after the 1975 Federal election
, Arblaster, along with fellow backbenchers Neil Pickard
(Hornsby) and Keith Doyle
(Vaucluse), all of whom had supported Sir Eric Willis
in previous ballots, moved against Premier Lewis. At the party room meeting on 20 January 1976, Pickard moved the motion that the leadership be declared vacant. This was carried 22 votes to 11 and Willis was made Leader and Premier unopposed. Willis then appointed Arblaster to the cabinet as Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Tourism, being sworn in on 23 January 1976.
. On 5 April, Arblaster announced the implementation of a 3 million dollar per annum scheme of funding for state sporting organisations and the establishing of a State Sporting Secretariat, to provide administrative assistance to those sporting bodies. He held this post to 14 May 1976 when the Liberal Party lost the 1976 election
to the Australian Labor Party
under Neville Wran
. Thereafter he was appointed as Shadow Minister for Public Works, Ports and Housing under Opposition leader Willis until his resignation on 16 December 1977. Arblaster then announced his intention to contest the vacant leadership against John Maddison
, Peter Coleman
and Kevin Rozzoli
. However, Coleman eventually emerged successful and Arblaster remained as Shadow Minister for Public Works and Ports from 20 December 1977 to 7 October 1978 when Coleman lost his seat at the 1978 election
.
, Arblaster then decided to contest the Deputy Leadership against John Dowd
, Rozzoli, Jim Cameron and Bruce McDonald
. However, McDonald emerged as the new Deputy and Mason then appointed Arblaster as the Shadow Minister for Transport, a position he held from 2 November 1978 to 12 October 1981, lasting through the successive leaderships of Bruce McDonald and John Dowd.
During a heated debate in the Legislative Assembly on 8 November 1979 over the Minister for Transport, Peter Cox's
decision to reverse the decision to retain Alan Reiher as Commissioner of the New South Wales Public Transport Commission
, Arblaster accused the Government of being influenced by the NSW Labor Council in reaching the decision. After Cox denied this, Arblaster was given several warnings for interjecting before the Speaker, Laurie Kelly
, expelled him from the House for 24 hours. From 29 October 1981 to 15 March 1983, Dowd appointed Arblaster as Shadow Minister for Police Services and Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, it was to be his last appointment. After Nick Greiner
became leader, Arblaster returned to the backbenches until he retired on 5 March 1984.
In retirement, Arblaster continued his interest in sailing and yachting as a Member of the Middle Harbour Yacht Club and later as patron of the New South Wales 16-foot skiff club. The Arblasters returned to their farm in Cunnamulla, Queensland and thereafter to Singleton
, New South Wales. They then moved to Corlette
in Port Stephens
, and then to Mangerton
in Wollongong. He died at his Wollongong residence on 10 August 2006. On his death, during a condolence motion in the House, his former parliamentary colleague, Ian Armstrong
, paid tribute to Arblaster:
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...
politician, Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Tourism in the cabinet of Sir Eric Willis
Eric Willis
Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE, CMG was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a...
until the Liberal party lost the 1976 election
New South Wales state election, 1976
A general election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 1 May 1976. The result was a narrow win for the Australian Labor Party under Neville Wran—the party's first in the state in more than a decade.- Issues :The incumbent...
. Arblaster was elected to 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 the Electoral district of Mosman
Electoral district of Mosman
Mosman was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1913 and named after and including the Sydney suburb of Mosman. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Middle Harbour. Mosman...
in 1972 and served until his retirement in 1984.
Early life
Arblaster was born in Sydney in 1929, the only child of Hugh and Ivy Arblaster, and was educated at Manly Village Public School and then later at Sydney Church of England Grammar SchoolSydney Church of England Grammar School
Sydney Church of England Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
. Upon graduating, he studied accountancy but had a varied career, becoming a salesman for Larke Hoskins Ltd in Sydney, and then a grazier in outback New South Wales and Cunnamulla
Cunnamulla, Queensland
Cunnamulla is a small town that lies on the Warrego River in south west Queensland, Australia, south of Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane....
in south-west Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. On 17 July 1954, Arblaster married Mary Ann Roberts, and had two daughters, Ann and Fiona. In 1968, Arblaster became a director of Noble Lowndes Australia, and later the Managing Director of Mitchell's Marina at Church Point
Church Point, New South Wales
Church Point is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Church Point is located 32 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region.-History:Thomas Langford was the...
.
Political career
Arblaster joined the Liberal Party of AustraliaLiberal 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 1956 and held various party positions, including as a member of the State executive and then a country and metropolitan vice-president. He was actively involved in encouraging youth involvement in the Liberal Party and he was the last appointed Liberal Youth Council chairman before the Young Liberals
Young Liberals
Young Liberals can mean the following:*Young Liberals , the youth wing of the Liberal Party of Australia* Young Liberals , a liberal party in Austria...
was reconstituted in 1964 as an independent wing of the Liberal Party. During this time, his Vice-Chairman was future Prime Minister of Australia
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...
, John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
.
Arblaster contested the 1967 Australian Senate 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:...
on the NSW Liberal ticket but was on third position
Candidates of the Australian Senate election, 1967
This article provides information on candidates who stood for the 1967 Australian Senate election. The election was held on 25 November 1967.-Labor:*Senator Archie Benn *Senator Nick McKenna *Senator Theo Nicholls -Liberal:...
and failed to gain a seat.
Arblaster then stood for, and was elected to the seat of Mosman
Electoral district of Mosman
Mosman was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1913 and named after and including the Sydney suburb of Mosman. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Middle Harbour. Mosman...
at a July 1972 by-election
Mosman state by-election, 1972
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Mosman on Saturday, 29 July 1972.It was triggered by the retirement of the former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and Minister of the Crown, The Hon. Pat Morton....
caused by the mid-term retirement of former Liberal Leader and Minister of the Crown, Pat Morton
Pat Morton
Philip Henry Morton was an Australian businessman and politician. Born in Lismore in Northern New South Wales to a prominent political family and educated at Lismore High School, Morton left school at fourteen to be employed in a legal firm, before branching out into various businesses...
. He went on to be re-elected with a significant majority a further five times. During the Askin and Lewis Government he remained on the backbenches, but following the poor performance of Premier Lewis, despite a federal swing towards the Coalition after the 1975 Federal election
Australian federal election, 1975
Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....
, Arblaster, along with fellow backbenchers Neil Pickard
Neil Pickard
Neil Edward William Pickard was a New South Wales politician and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Sir Eric Willis and Nick Greiner...
(Hornsby) and Keith Doyle
Keith Doyle (politician)
Keith Ralph Doyle is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1965 to 1978, representing the electorate of Vaucluse....
(Vaucluse), all of whom had supported Sir Eric Willis
Eric Willis
Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE, CMG was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a...
in previous ballots, moved against Premier Lewis. At the party room meeting on 20 January 1976, Pickard moved the motion that the leadership be declared vacant. This was carried 22 votes to 11 and Willis was made Leader and Premier unopposed. Willis then appointed Arblaster to the cabinet as Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Tourism, being sworn in on 23 January 1976.
Minister of the Crown
As Minister for Sport, Arblaster was responsible for the introduction of on-the-spot fines, by increasing the power of the trustees, for unruly fans during Sports events at the Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. On 5 April, Arblaster announced the implementation of a 3 million dollar per annum scheme of funding for state sporting organisations and the establishing of a State Sporting Secretariat, to provide administrative assistance to those sporting bodies. He held this post to 14 May 1976 when the Liberal Party lost the 1976 election
New South Wales state election, 1976
A general election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 1 May 1976. The result was a narrow win for the Australian Labor Party under Neville Wran—the party's first in the state in more than a decade.- Issues :The incumbent...
to 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...
under Neville Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
. Thereafter he was appointed as Shadow Minister for Public Works, Ports and Housing under Opposition leader Willis until his resignation on 16 December 1977. Arblaster then announced his intention to contest the vacant leadership against John Maddison
John Maddison
John Clarkson Maddison, was a New South Wales politician, Attorney General, Minister for Justice and Deputy Leader for the Liberal Party of New South Wales in the cabinets of Robert Askin, Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis until the Liberal party lost the 1976 election...
, Peter Coleman
Peter Coleman
William Peter Coleman is an Australian writer/journalist, former politician and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis. Following Willis' resignation as leader he was made Leader of the New South Wales Opposition...
and Kevin Rozzoli
Kevin Rozzoli
Kevin Richard Rozzoli is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1973 until 2003, representing the electorate of Hawkesbury. He also served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 1995, during the Greiner and...
. However, Coleman eventually emerged successful and Arblaster remained as Shadow Minister for Public Works and Ports from 20 December 1977 to 7 October 1978 when Coleman lost his seat at the 1978 election
New South Wales state election, 1978
A general election was held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 7 October 1978. The result was the "Wranslide": a landslide victory for the Australian Labor Party under Neville Wran....
.
Later life
When Coleman was formally replaced by John MasonJohn Mason (Australian politician)
John Marsden Mason is a former Australian politician, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 16 years.-Early life:Mason was born in Rose Bay in Sydney in 1928, the son of Kay Mason and Stella Marsden...
, Arblaster then decided to contest the Deputy Leadership against John Dowd
John Dowd (politician)
John Robert Arthur Dowd AO QC , a former Australian politician and jurist, is the Chancellor of Southern Cross University and the President of ActionAid Australia, an international aid organisation.-Early years and background:...
, Rozzoli, Jim Cameron and Bruce McDonald
Bruce McDonald (Australian politician)
Bruce John McDonald, AM was a New South Wales politician, Leader of the Opposition and Leader for the Liberal Party of New South Wales. McDonald was Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales, Australia from 1 June 1981 to 12 October 1981, when he lost the election to Labor Premier, Neville Wran...
. However, McDonald emerged as the new Deputy and Mason then appointed Arblaster as the Shadow Minister for Transport, a position he held from 2 November 1978 to 12 October 1981, lasting through the successive leaderships of Bruce McDonald and John Dowd.
During a heated debate in the Legislative Assembly on 8 November 1979 over the Minister for Transport, Peter Cox's
Peter Cox (politician)
Peter Francis Cox, AO was an Australian politician.-Early life:Cox was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, and educated at Marist Brothers College in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe. His father, Edwin, was a plumber with the NSW railways. Ben Chifley, the future prime minister, helped the Cox family...
decision to reverse the decision to retain Alan Reiher as Commissioner of the New South Wales Public Transport Commission
New South Wales Public Transport Commission
The Public Transport Commission was a state government agency responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia between 1972 and 1980.-History:...
, Arblaster accused the Government of being influenced by the NSW Labor Council in reaching the decision. After Cox denied this, Arblaster was given several warnings for interjecting before the Speaker, Laurie Kelly
Laurie Kelly (politician)
Lawrence Borthwick "Laurie" Kelly is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Corrimal in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1968 to 1988, and served as Speaker from 1976 to 1988....
, expelled him from the House for 24 hours. From 29 October 1981 to 15 March 1983, Dowd appointed Arblaster as Shadow Minister for Police Services and Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, it was to be his last appointment. After Nick Greiner
Nick Greiner
Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married...
became leader, Arblaster returned to the backbenches until he retired on 5 March 1984.
In retirement, Arblaster continued his interest in sailing and yachting as a Member of the Middle Harbour Yacht Club and later as patron of the New South Wales 16-foot skiff club. The Arblasters returned to their farm in Cunnamulla, Queensland and thereafter to Singleton
Singleton, New South Wales
-Industry & Commerce:Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, energy generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production. Dairying was once a mainstay in the area, but has declined....
, New South Wales. They then moved to Corlette
Corlette, New South Wales
Corlette is a suburb of the Port Stephens Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located just west of Nelson Bay on the shores of Port Stephens. It was named after Captain James Corlette who skippered the cutter Lambton which was the first privately owned...
in Port Stephens
Port Stephens
Port Stephens is a large natural harbour located about north-east of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It lies wholly within the Port Stephens Local Government Area although its northern shoreline forms the boundary between the Port Stephens and Great Lakes LGAs...
, and then to Mangerton
Mangerton, New South Wales
Mangerton is an inner western suburb of the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Mount Mangerton is the name of the hill on which Mangerton resides mostly...
in Wollongong. He died at his Wollongong residence on 10 August 2006. On his death, during a condolence motion in the House, his former parliamentary colleague, Ian Armstrong
Ian Armstrong (Australian politician)
Ian Morton Armstrong, AM, OBE is a former Deputy Premier of New South Wales.-Parliametary career:Armstrong was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Lachlan from 19 September 1981 to March 2007. He was Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs from 1988 to 1993...
, paid tribute to Arblaster: