Lance Herbert Barnard AO

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 (1 May 1919 – 6 August 1997), Australian politician, was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Australia. The Deputy Prime Ministership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1968, and the Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime...

 for most of the 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 of 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...

.

A Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

n by birth, raised in Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

, Barnard was the son of Claude Barnard

Claude Barnard

Herbert Claude Barnard was an Australian politician and government minister.Barnard was born at Mole Creek, Tasmania and was educated at Invermay State School, but left school at 14. In 1909 he began working for Tasmanian Government Railways, first as an engine cleaner and eventually as a driver...

, who was a Labor MP from Tasmania 1934–49 and a Minister in the Chifley

Ben Chifley

Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...

 government. He was a teacher before being elected in 1954 to the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 for the Division of Bass

Division of Bass

The Division of Bass is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and is named for the explorer George Bass. It has always been based on the city of Launceston and surrounding rural areas, and its boundaries have changed very little in the century since its...

, his father's old seat. In 1967 he became Deputy Leader of the Labor Party and when it won office under Whitlam in 1972 Barnard was Deputy Prime Minister.

For the first two weeks of Whitlam's government, before the full electoral result was known, Whitlam and Barnard formed a two-man ministry

First Whitlam Ministry

The First Whitlam Ministry, often known as the "two-man Ministry" or the "Duumvirate", was the forty-eighth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 5 to 19 December 1972....

, known as a duumvirate

Duumvirate

A duumvirate is an alliance between two equally powerful political or military leaders. The term can also be used to describe a state with two different military leaders who both declare themselves to be the sole leader of the state....

, to govern until a full ministry could be announced. Barnard held 14 portfolios including Defence and Immigration. Following the announcement of a complete ministry, Barnard served as Minister for Defence.

Following the 1974 election Barnard lost the Labor Deputy Leadership to Dr. Jim Cairns

Jim Cairns

James Ford "J. F." Cairns , Australian politician, was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government...

 and shortly thereafter he retired from politics. He became Ambassador to Norway

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...

, Finland, and Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. Labor's loss at the 1975 Bass by-election

Bass by-election, 1975

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Bass on 28 June 1975. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP Lance Barnard.The by-election was won by Liberal Party candidate Kevin Newman.-Results:...

caused by Barnard's resignation was seen by many as the beginning of the end for the Whitlam government.