Hal Colebatch
Encyclopedia
Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch CMG
(29 March 1872–12 February 1953), better known as Sir Hal Colebatch, was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australia
n politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
for nearly 20 years, the twelfth Premier of Western Australia
for a month in 1919, agent-general in London for five years, and a federal senator
for four years.
in Herefordshire
, England
, on 29 March 1872. His family migrated to Australia
in 1878, settling at Goolwa in South Australia
. Colebatch left school in 1883 at the age of 11, because his father could not afford to continue his education. He then found work as an office boy and junior reporter for a local newspaper
, the Norwood Free Press. When this paper collapsed, he worked for a series of short-lived papers on the South Australian goldfield
s. In 1888, he moved to Broken Hill, New South Wales
, where he worked for six years as reporter for the Silver Age. There, he reported on a number of strike
meetings in 1892, and was subsequently summoned as a Crown
witness
in the prosecution of some strike leaders.
In 1894, Colebatch migrated to Western Australia
to take up a position as reporter on the Coolgardie
newspaper Golden Age. After the collapse of the Golden Age the following year, he moved to Kalgoorlie to report on the Kalgoorlie Miner. In 1896, he moved to Perth
to join the Morning Herald as mining
editor and chess
editor. Colebatch was a keen chess player at this time and, in 1898, he won the state title, thereby becoming Western Australia's third chess champion. On 29 April 1896, Colebatch married Mary Maude Saunders in Perth.
between two members
. Information on the fight had been provided by a police inspector who had been on duty in the House, and had been instructed to brief reporters. The information was greatly exaggerated. However, by the time Colebatch discovered this fact, the telegraph office was closed. The Kalgoorlie Miner ran the story on the front page.
The premier
, Sir John Forrest
, was furious about the report because of its potential effect on investment
in the state. The government subsequently sued
the proprietors of the Kalgoorlie Miner for publishing a libel, but the case was unsuccessful. Forrest then ordered Colebatch to be barred from the press gallery. On 19 October, the sergeant-at-arms forcibly ejected Colebatch and, the following day, the latter indicated his intention to sue for assault
. Colebatch subsequently received plenty of support in the House from members who felt that he had been unfairly treated; and, shortly afterwards, his suspension was lifted.
, where he bought the Northam Advertiser. He ran the paper until 1923, when he gave it to his sons as a reward for their war service. He would continue contributing to the paper for the rest of his life.
In Northam, Colebatch met and became friends with James Mitchell
. Colebatch encouraged Mitchell to stand for parliament and, in 1905, he managed Mitchell's successful campaign for election to the Legislative Assembly
seat of Northam
. Mitchell would hold the seat until 1933, and this would later prevent Colebatch from contesting the lower house seat himself. From 1909 to 1912, Colebatch was the mayor of Northam. In February 1912, he formed a Northam branch of the Liberal League.
for the then upper-house
rural seat of East Province. The following year, he contested the Legislative Assembly seat of Avon
but was again unsuccessful. On 14 May 1912, he was elected to the Legislative Council seat of East Province in a by-election. There, he played a key role in the Legislative Council's persistent opposition to much of the more radical legislation put forward by John Scaddan
's Labor
government
. When Scaddan's government fell in 1916, Colebatch was appointed Colonial Secretary
and minister for education
in Frank Wilson's government. The following year, he became deputy premier under Henry Lefroy
. That year also, he oversaw the establishment of the first high school
s in regional Western Australia
.
was sweeping the world but had not yet broken out in Western Australia. As minister for health, Colebatch was responsible for quarantine. This presented a series of challenges. Late in 1918, with Lefroy absent and Colebatch acting as premier as well as health minister, the troopship Boonah returned to Western Australia carrying soldiers infected with the Spanish flu. Colebatch was required to maintain a balance between the conflicting requirements of maintaining an effective quarantine while treating and repatriating the returned troops. Once the Boonah crisis
was over, Colebatch was widely seen to have handled it responsibly and effectively.
Early in the new year, another crisis eventuated when the Spanish flu broke out in Victoria
and South Australia
. Both states initially declined to declare infection and close their borders, so Colebatch closed Western Australia's borders unilaterally. His decision greatly angered the acting prime minister
William Watt
, but he was strongly supported in Western Australia.
Within two weeks, Colebatch had yet another crisis to deal with: the Fremantle wharf crisis of 1919. The labour crisis dragged on for almost a month, culminating in one of the most violent confrontations in Western Australian history. Lumpers objected to goods being unloaded by non-union labour from the ship Dimboola. Colebatch was the target of a barrage of projectiles when he personally confronted the unionists. One of the unionists, Tom Edwards, was killed by police. Unlike previous crises, Colebatch was not seen to have handled the crisis well, and he sustained heavy criticism during and after it.
On 17 May, Colebatch resigned, having been premier for exactly one month. It remains the state's shortest premiership term on record. His decision to resign was influenced by the stress of the wharf crisis and extensive subsequent criticism. However his health was an issue, and he had been unable to find a Legislative Assembly seat in a country electorate as desired. H.G.P. Colebatch (2004) also asserts that Colebatch resigned as premier because he was not ambitious and had not wanted the job in the first place.
Colebatch handed over the premiership to his friend Mitchell. He retained the public health and education portfolios, and added that of agriculture
. He continued as deputy dremier and leader of the government in the Legislative Council. He was responsible for the creation of a North West department and became its minister a month later. In April 1921, he relinquished agriculture and public health portfolios, instead taking on the justice
portfolio. After the 1921 election, Colebatch was the only government minister in the Legislative Council, thus assuming a substantial workload.
in the New Year's Honours of 1923 and, shortly afterwards, resigned his seat to take up appointment as the state's agent-general in London
, in which role he attracted this praise from a Perth newspaper: . . . the Agent-General (Mr H.P. Colebatch) is regarded in England as one of the most able representatives this country has ever had in London.
He was due to finish his term in November 1926, but an election was due in Western Australia at that time, and neither Colebatch nor the incumbent Labor government wished Colebatch to return during the election campaign. Colebatch's term was therefore extended into 1927, in which year he was made Knight bachelor
and travelled widely in Europe
, having a meeting with Benito Mussolini
.
When Colebatch returned to Western Australia in 1927, the premier Philip Collier
commissioned him to produce a book commemorating the state's centenary. A Story of a Hundred Years: Western Australia 1829–1929, edited by Hal Colebatch, was published in 1929.
While he was working on A Story of a Hundred Years, Colebatch was asked by prime minister
Stanley Bruce
to sit on a royal commission
into the Constitution of Australia
. The commission travelled throughout Australia and held 198 sittings but its conclusions were of little or no consequence.
In 1928, Colebatch was elected as a federal senator
. He took his seat on 1 July 1929, holding it until 20 March 1933, when he was again offered the position of agent-general for Western Australia in London. Colebatch's time as a senator was a frustrating period for him, as his advocacy of free trade
as a means of international co-operation and peace was extremely unpopular at the time. His most important contribution was the establishment of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances, whose purpose is to vet government regulations made by executive action without reference to parliament, to ensure that they do not adversely affect the rights of citizens. Later, he became heavily involved in the Western Australian secession campaign and, after becoming agent-general for the second time, he was asked to lead a delegation which unsuccessfully petitioned the British parliament
for secession.
According to his memoirs, he made contact with anti-Nazi
Germans who were trying to forestall the rise of Adolf Hitler
. After returning to Western Australia
, he worked tirelessly to awaken Australia to the necessity of preparing for war. He was widowed early in 1940. On 11 May 1940 he was elected to the Legislative Council for the Metropolitan Province
. In 1944 he married Marion Frances Gibson. He held his Legislative Council seat until the election of 1948 when the Liberal Party failed to dissuade him from nominating, and then endorsed both him and its preferred candidate, H. Hearn, who won comfortably.
In his final years, Colebatch applied himself to writing an autobiography, which has never been published. He died on 12 February 1953 after a brief illness and was honoured with a state funeral the following day. He was survived by his second wife and three sons. His third son, also named Hal Colebatch
, is a well-known poet, solicitor and writer on legal and political subjects. He is unique in Australian letters in having written a biography of his father.
Order 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....
(29 March 1872–12 February 1953), better known as Sir Hal Colebatch, was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
n politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
for nearly 20 years, the twelfth Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
for a month in 1919, agent-general in London for five years, and a federal 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,...
for four years.
Early life
Hal Colebatch was born in WolferlowWolferlow
Wolferlow is a village in northern Herefordshire, England, north of Bromyard....
in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on 29 March 1872. His family migrated to Australia
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...
in 1878, settling at Goolwa in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. Colebatch left school in 1883 at the age of 11, because his father could not afford to continue his education. He then found work as an office boy and junior reporter for a local newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, the Norwood Free Press. When this paper collapsed, he worked for a series of short-lived papers on the South Australian goldfield
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
s. In 1888, he moved to Broken Hill, New South Wales
Broken Hill, New South Wales
-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...
, where he worked for six years as reporter for the Silver Age. There, he reported on a number of strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
meetings in 1892, and was subsequently summoned as a Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
in the prosecution of some strike leaders.
In 1894, Colebatch migrated to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
to take up a position as reporter on the Coolgardie
Coolgardie, Western Australia
Coolgardie is a small town in the Australian state of Western Australia, east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 800 people....
newspaper Golden Age. After the collapse of the Golden Age the following year, he moved to Kalgoorlie to report on the Kalgoorlie Miner. In 1896, he moved to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
to join the Morning Herald as mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
editor and chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
editor. Colebatch was a keen chess player at this time and, in 1898, he won the state title, thereby becoming Western Australia's third chess champion. On 29 April 1896, Colebatch married Mary Maude Saunders in Perth.
The press gallery ban
In 1898, Hal Colebatch telegraphed to the Kalgoorlie Miner a report on a fist-fight in the state parliamentParliament of Western Australia
The Parliament of Western Australia consists of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly . The Parliament sits at Parliament House in Harvest Terrace, Perth....
between two members
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. Information on the fight had been provided by a police inspector who had been on duty in the House, and had been instructed to brief reporters. The information was greatly exaggerated. However, by the time Colebatch discovered this fact, the telegraph office was closed. The Kalgoorlie Miner ran the story on the front page.
The premier
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, Sir John Forrest
John Forrest
Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
, was furious about the report because of its potential effect on investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
in the state. The government subsequently sued
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
the proprietors of the Kalgoorlie Miner for publishing a libel, but the case was unsuccessful. Forrest then ordered Colebatch to be barred from the press gallery. On 19 October, the sergeant-at-arms forcibly ejected Colebatch and, the following day, the latter indicated his intention to sue for assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
. Colebatch subsequently received plenty of support in the House from members who felt that he had been unfairly treated; and, shortly afterwards, his suspension was lifted.
In Northam
In 1904, Colebatch moved to NorthamNortham, Western Australia
Northam is a town in Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2006 census, Northam had a population of 6,009. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region...
, where he bought the Northam Advertiser. He ran the paper until 1923, when he gave it to his sons as a reward for their war service. He would continue contributing to the paper for the rest of his life.
In Northam, Colebatch met and became friends with James Mitchell
James Mitchell (Australian politician)
Sir James Mitchell GCMG was the 13th Premier of Western Australia, serving on two occasions, the Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia for 15 years and the 22nd Governor of Western Australia....
. Colebatch encouraged Mitchell to stand for parliament and, in 1905, he managed Mitchell's successful campaign for election to the Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
seat of Northam
Electoral district of Northam
Northam was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1890 to 1974.The district was based on the town of Northam lying to the east of Perth. It was one of the original 30 seats contested at the 1890 state election. The district was abolished...
. Mitchell would hold the seat until 1933, and this would later prevent Colebatch from contesting the lower house seat himself. From 1909 to 1912, Colebatch was the mayor of Northam. In February 1912, he formed a Northam branch of the Liberal League.
In Western Australian politics
In 1910, Colebatch unsuccessfully contested a by-electionBy-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the then upper-house
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
rural seat of East Province. The following year, he contested the Legislative Assembly seat of Avon
Electoral district of Avon
Avon was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1911 to 2008. The name of the district was changed to Avon Valley in 1950, but reverted back to its original name in 1962....
but was again unsuccessful. On 14 May 1912, he was elected to the Legislative Council seat of East Province in a by-election. There, he played a key role in the Legislative Council's persistent opposition to much of the more radical legislation put forward by John Scaddan
John Scaddan
John Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...
's Labor
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...
government
Government of Western Australia
The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
. When Scaddan's government fell in 1916, Colebatch was appointed Colonial Secretary
Colonial Secretary of Western Australia
The Colonial Secretary of Western Australia was one of the most important and powerful public offices in Western Australia, in the time when Western Australia was a British colony. The Colonial Secretary was the representative of the British Colonial Office in Western Australia, and was usually...
and minister for education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
in Frank Wilson's government. The following year, he became deputy premier under Henry Lefroy
Henry Lefroy
Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy KCMG was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia.-Biography:Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia for over 30 years...
. That year also, he oversaw the establishment of the first high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s in regional Western Australia
Regions of Western Australia
Regionalisations of Western Australia are systems by which Western Australia is divided into distinct geographic regions. The most commonly known regionalisation is the governmental division of the state into regions for economic development purposes, of which there are nine.Other regionalisations...
.
The Spanish flu crises
In the latter half of 1918, Spanish fluSpanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
was sweeping the world but had not yet broken out in Western Australia. As minister for health, Colebatch was responsible for quarantine. This presented a series of challenges. Late in 1918, with Lefroy absent and Colebatch acting as premier as well as health minister, the troopship Boonah returned to Western Australia carrying soldiers infected with the Spanish flu. Colebatch was required to maintain a balance between the conflicting requirements of maintaining an effective quarantine while treating and repatriating the returned troops. Once the Boonah crisis
Boonah crisis
The HMAT Boonah was the last Australian troop ship to leave Fremantle, Western Australia bound for the Middle East in October 1918, near the end of the World War I. Carrying about 1200 AIF soldiers, she arrived in Durban, South Africa just three days after the armistice was signed and on hearing...
was over, Colebatch was widely seen to have handled it responsibly and effectively.
Early in the new year, another crisis eventuated when the Spanish flu broke out in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. Both states initially declined to declare infection and close their borders, so Colebatch closed Western Australia's borders unilaterally. His decision greatly angered the acting 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...
William Watt
William Watt
William Alexander Watt PC was an Australian politician who was the 24th Premier of Victoria, and later a leading federal politician and Speaker of the House of Representatives....
, but he was strongly supported in Western Australia.
Premiership
On 17 April 1919, Lefroy resigned as premier, and Colebatch succeeded him. He remains the only premier of Western Australia to have governed from the Legislative Council, having done so on the understanding that an Assembly seat would be found for him. Colebatch continued as colonial secretary and minister for education, and also took on the treasury and railways portfolios. He brought Mitchell into the ministry as minister for lands.Within two weeks, Colebatch had yet another crisis to deal with: the Fremantle wharf crisis of 1919. The labour crisis dragged on for almost a month, culminating in one of the most violent confrontations in Western Australian history. Lumpers objected to goods being unloaded by non-union labour from the ship Dimboola. Colebatch was the target of a barrage of projectiles when he personally confronted the unionists. One of the unionists, Tom Edwards, was killed by police. Unlike previous crises, Colebatch was not seen to have handled the crisis well, and he sustained heavy criticism during and after it.
On 17 May, Colebatch resigned, having been premier for exactly one month. It remains the state's shortest premiership term on record. His decision to resign was influenced by the stress of the wharf crisis and extensive subsequent criticism. However his health was an issue, and he had been unable to find a Legislative Assembly seat in a country electorate as desired. H.G.P. Colebatch (2004) also asserts that Colebatch resigned as premier because he was not ambitious and had not wanted the job in the first place.
Colebatch handed over the premiership to his friend Mitchell. He retained the public health and education portfolios, and added that of agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. He continued as deputy dremier and leader of the government in the Legislative Council. He was responsible for the creation of a North West department and became its minister a month later. In April 1921, he relinquished agriculture and public health portfolios, instead taking on the justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
portfolio. After the 1921 election, Colebatch was the only government minister in the Legislative Council, thus assuming a substantial workload.
Agent-general for Western Australia
Colebatch was appointed a Commander (CMG) 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....
in the New Year's Honours of 1923 and, shortly afterwards, resigned his seat to take up appointment as the state's agent-general in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in which role he attracted this praise from a Perth newspaper: . . . the Agent-General (Mr H.P. Colebatch) is regarded in England as one of the most able representatives this country has ever had in London.
He was due to finish his term in November 1926, but an election was due in Western Australia at that time, and neither Colebatch nor the incumbent Labor government wished Colebatch to return during the election campaign. Colebatch's term was therefore extended into 1927, in which year he was made Knight bachelor
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
and travelled widely in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, having a meeting with Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
When Colebatch returned to Western Australia in 1927, the premier Philip Collier
Philip Collier
Philip Collier was Premier of Western Australia for nine years, the longest ever term for an Australian Labor Party premier....
commissioned him to produce a book commemorating the state's centenary. A Story of a Hundred Years: Western Australia 1829–1929, edited by Hal Colebatch, was published in 1929.
In federal politics
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...
Stanley Bruce
Stanley Bruce
Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...
to sit on a royal commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
into the Constitution of Australia
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
. The commission travelled throughout Australia and held 198 sittings but its conclusions were of little or no consequence.
In 1928, Colebatch was elected as a federal 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,...
. He took his seat on 1 July 1929, holding it until 20 March 1933, when he was again offered the position of agent-general for Western Australia in London. Colebatch's time as a senator was a frustrating period for him, as his advocacy of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
as a means of international co-operation and peace was extremely unpopular at the time. His most important contribution was the establishment of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances, whose purpose is to vet government regulations made by executive action without reference to parliament, to ensure that they do not adversely affect the rights of citizens. Later, he became heavily involved in the Western Australian secession campaign and, after becoming agent-general for the second time, he was asked to lead a delegation which unsuccessfully petitioned the British parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
for secession.
Later years
Colebatch's second term as agent-general for Western Australia was from 1933 until 1939. During this time, he again travelled widely throughout Europe. In 1934 the Western Australian Secession Delegation arrive in London, Colebatch made many speeches and argued for the cause. His focus was on the preamble to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act in particular the word "indissoluble" questioning as to whether the British Parliament could bind a person to a country for all time.According to his memoirs, he made contact with anti-Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Germans who were trying to forestall the rise of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. After returning to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, he worked tirelessly to awaken Australia to the necessity of preparing for war. He was widowed early in 1940. On 11 May 1940 he was elected to the Legislative Council for the Metropolitan Province
Metropolitan Province
The Metropolitan Province was a multi-member electoral province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the metropolitan region of Perth. It was created by the Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1893, and became effective on 22 May 1894 following the first council elections following...
. In 1944 he married Marion Frances Gibson. He held his Legislative Council seat until the election of 1948 when the Liberal Party failed to dissuade him from nominating, and then endorsed both him and its preferred candidate, H. Hearn, who won comfortably.
In his final years, Colebatch applied himself to writing an autobiography, which has never been published. He died on 12 February 1953 after a brief illness and was honoured with a state funeral the following day. He was survived by his second wife and three sons. His third son, also named Hal Colebatch
Hal Gibson Pateshall Colebatch
Hal Gibson Pateshall Colebatch , also known as Hal G. P. Colebatch and Hal Colebatch is an Australian author, poet, lecturer, journalist, editor, and lawyer.-Personal history:...
, is a well-known poet, solicitor and writer on legal and political subjects. He is unique in Australian letters in having written a biography of his father.