Rex Connor
Encyclopedia
Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor (26 January 1907 – 22 August 1977), Australian politician, was a minister in the Whitlam
government and promoted government investment to support national development. Surreptitious attempts to raise foreign loans led to his forced resignation and the fall of the Whitlam Government in 1975.
The journalist Paul Kelly
wrote in his book November 1975: "It was the national interest that drove Rex Connor. He can be criticised for his naivety and poor judgement. But there is no charge against Connor's integrity... The Opposition implied in the lobbies that ministers were chasing personal gain. There is no evidence for this." Nevertheless, by the time Labor returned to office in 1983
, Connor's economic nationalism and dreams of massive state investment in energy projects had been totally rejected.
, where he lived all his life and which he represented in the New South Wales
and Australian Parliaments
. Descended from Irish Catholics (though not himself a practising Catholic in adulthood), he was educated at state schools, including Wollongong High School
, of which he graduated as dux
, despite contracting pneumonia
in his final year.
Due to his father's death in 1925, he gave up his intention of becoming an analytical chemist and became an articled clerk. He qualified in law, but was twice rejected for registration as a solicitor, the result of his dismissal by his former employer. Instead he went into business as a car dealer and later took up farming. Despite these middle-class occupations he was a dedicated socialist. In 1931 he married Amelia Searl. From 1938 to 1945 he was an Alderman on the Wollongong City Council
.
for the so-called "Hughes-Evans Labor Party
", the left-wing faction which had split from the recently reunified ALP in NSW, led by William (Bill) McKell. Subsequently, some members of the State Labor Party joined the Communist Party of Australia, and some have been shown to have held "dual tickets" throughout the period. Nevertheless, when most of the Hughes-Evans faction were expelled in 1941, Connor remained in the ALP.
In 1950 Connor was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for the seat of Wollongong-Kembla
, where he served for 13 years. He was partly responsible for the introduction of the state's Clean Air Act 1961. Since he was not a supporter of the dominant Catholic right-wing of the NSW ALP, he remained a backbencher.
for the Wollongong-based seat of Cunningham
at the 1963 election. In Canberra
, Connor developed a reputation as an eccentric. A large, shabbily dressed man who always wore a hat long after hats had gone out of fashion, Connor seldom spoke in the House and never spoke to journalists. He kept his real age a secret (several obituarists assumed that he had actually been born no earlier than 1908). Sometimes he would reveal an ungovernable temper, and after an incident in which he ripped a clock off a wall in Parliament House
and threw it across the room in a rage, he was unofficially known as "The Strangler". His earlier socialism had evolved into a fierce economic nationalism, directed mainly at foreign-owned banks and mining companies.
Labor came to power under Gough Whitlam
, and Connor was elected to the front-bench and appointed Minister for Minerals and Energy
. In this portfolio he sought to develop an Australian-controlled mining and energy sector, one not controlled by the mining companies he disliked. Among his plans were a national energy grid and a gas pipe-line across Australia from the North-West Shelf gasfields to the cities of the south-east. He liked to recite a piece of poetry by Sam Walter Foss
(who was, ironically, American):
Connor's economic nationalism was popular with the Labor rank-and-file, and the 1973 oil crisis
seemed to many to be a vindication of his views. After the 1974 election he topped the Caucus
ballot for the second Whitlam ministry. But the flood of petrodollar
s which accompanied the energy crisis proved to be Connor's undoing.
During 1974 Connor sought to bypass the usual loan raising processes and raise money in the Middle East through an intermediary, a mysterious Pakistan
i banker called Tirath Khemlani. Because of strong opposition from the Treasury and the Attorney-General's Department about the legality of the loan (and about Khemlani's general bona fides), Cabinet decided in May 1975 that only the Treasurer, not Connor, was authorised to negotiate foreign loans in the name of the Australian government. Nevertheless, Connor went on negotiating through Khemlani for a huge petrodollar loan for his various development projects, confident that if he succeeded no-one would blame him, and if he failed no-one would know.
Unfortunately for Connor, Khemlani proved to be a false friend and sold the story of Connor's activities to the Liberal
Opposition for a sum which has never been disclosed. Connor denied the Liberals' accusations, both to Whitlam personally and to Parliament. When the Liberal Deputy Leader, Phillip Lynch
tabled letters from Connor to Khemlani, Connor was forced in October to resign in disgrace. The Opposition proclaimed the Loans Affair
a "reprehensible circumstance" which justified the blocking of supply in the Senate, leading to the dismissal of the Whitlam government
a few weeks later by Governor-General
, Sir John Kerr.
, in which Labor was heavily defeated, Connor was unexpectedly re-elected to the Opposition front bench. This was seen as a gesture of defiance to the Murdoch press
, which had played a leading role in bringing down Whitlam's government.
Connor's wife died in April 1977 and he died suddenly in Canberra of a coronary occlusion
in August of that year. He was survived by their three sons.
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...
government and promoted government investment to support national development. Surreptitious attempts to raise foreign loans led to his forced resignation and the fall of the Whitlam Government in 1975.
The journalist Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (journalist)
Paul John Kelly is an Australian political journalist and historian from Sydney. He has worked in a variety of roles, principally for The Australian newspaper, and is currently its Editor-at-large. He has written several books on political events since the 1970s including on the Australian...
wrote in his book November 1975: "It was the national interest that drove Rex Connor. He can be criticised for his naivety and poor judgement. But there is no charge against Connor's integrity... The Opposition implied in the lobbies that ministers were chasing personal gain. There is no evidence for this." Nevertheless, by the time Labor returned to office in 1983
Australian federal election, 1983
Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...
, Connor's economic nationalism and dreams of massive state investment in energy projects had been totally rejected.
Early life
Connor was born in Wollongong, New South WalesWollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
, where he lived all his life and which he represented in the New South Wales
Parliament of New South Wales
The Parliament of New South Wales, located in Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney, is the main legislative body in the Australian state of New South Wales . It is a bicameral parliament elected by the people of the state in general elections. The parliament shares law making powers with...
and Australian Parliaments
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
. Descended from Irish Catholics (though not himself a practising Catholic in adulthood), he was educated at state schools, including Wollongong High School
Smith's Hill High School
Smith's Hill High School is the only academically selective school in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the heart of Wollongong city.120 year 6 students get offered a place at the school for the next year after sitting a test.-History:...
, of which he graduated as dux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
, despite contracting pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in his final year.
Due to his father's death in 1925, he gave up his intention of becoming an analytical chemist and became an articled clerk. He qualified in law, but was twice rejected for registration as a solicitor, the result of his dismissal by his former employer. Instead he went into business as a car dealer and later took up farming. Despite these middle-class occupations he was a dedicated socialist. In 1931 he married Amelia Searl. From 1938 to 1945 he was an Alderman on the Wollongong City Council
City of Wollongong
The City of Wollongong is a Local Government Area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Freeway and the South Coast railway line....
.
State politics
In 1940, when the NSW ALP was split into three factions, he contested the federal seat of WerriwaDivision of Werriwa
The Division of Werriwa is a Federal Electoral Division for the Australian House of Representatives.The name Werriwa derives from a local Aboriginal name for Lake George, which was located in the division when it was established in 1900. The division was one of the original 75 divisions first...
for the so-called "Hughes-Evans Labor Party
State Labor Party
The State Labor Party , was an Australian political party which operated exclusively in the state of New South Wales in the early 1940s. The party was initially a far-left faction of the Australian Labor Party, strongly opposed to the right-wing faction of the party dominated by Jack Lang, former...
", the left-wing faction which had split from the recently reunified ALP in NSW, led by William (Bill) McKell. Subsequently, some members of the State Labor Party joined the Communist Party of Australia, and some have been shown to have held "dual tickets" throughout the period. Nevertheless, when most of the Hughes-Evans faction were expelled in 1941, Connor remained in the ALP.
In 1950 Connor 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 seat of Wollongong-Kembla
Electoral district of Wollongong-Kembla
Wollongong-Kembla was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It was created in 1941, and abolished in 1968, being split into Wollongong and Kembla.-Members for Wollongong-Kembla:...
, where he served for 13 years. He was partly responsible for the introduction of the state's Clean Air Act 1961. Since he was not a supporter of the dominant Catholic right-wing of the NSW ALP, he remained a backbencher.
Federal politics
In 1963 Connor quit state politics and was elected to the Australian House of RepresentativesAustralian 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 Wollongong-based seat of Cunningham
Division of Cunningham
The Division of Cunningham is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham, a 19th century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland. It is located on the coast of New South Wales between southern Sydney and Wollongong, and...
at the 1963 election. In Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Connor developed a reputation as an eccentric. A large, shabbily dressed man who always wore a hat long after hats had gone out of fashion, Connor seldom spoke in the House and never spoke to journalists. He kept his real age a secret (several obituarists assumed that he had actually been born no earlier than 1908). Sometimes he would reveal an ungovernable temper, and after an incident in which he ripped a clock off a wall in Parliament House
Old Parliament House, Canberra
Old Parliament House, known formerly as the Provisional Parliament House, was the house of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 as a temporary base for the Commonwealth Parliament after its relocation from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra,...
and threw it across the room in a rage, he was unofficially known as "The Strangler". His earlier socialism had evolved into a fierce economic nationalism, directed mainly at foreign-owned banks and mining companies.
Minister
At the 1972 electionAustralian federal election, 1972
Federal elections were held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The Liberal Party of Australia had been in power since 1949, under Prime Minister of Australia William McMahon since March 1971 with coalition partner the Country Party...
Labor came to power under 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...
, and Connor was elected to the front-bench and appointed Minister for Minerals and Energy
Minister for Resources and Energy (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Resources and Energy is Martin Ferguson, appointed on 3 December 2007. The Minister administers his portfolios through the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.-List of Ministers for Resources:...
. In this portfolio he sought to develop an Australian-controlled mining and energy sector, one not controlled by the mining companies he disliked. Among his plans were a national energy grid and a gas pipe-line across Australia from the North-West Shelf gasfields to the cities of the south-east. He liked to recite a piece of poetry by Sam Walter Foss
Sam Walter Foss
Sam Walter Foss was an American librarian and poet whose works included The House by the Side of the Road and The Coming American.-Biography:...
(who was, ironically, American):
- Give me men to match my mountains,
- Give me men to match my plains,
- Men with freedom in their visions
- And creation in their veins.
Connor's economic nationalism was popular with the Labor rank-and-file, and the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
seemed to many to be a vindication of his views. After the 1974 election he topped the Caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
ballot for the second Whitlam ministry. But the flood of petrodollar
Petrodollar
A petrodollar is a United States dollar earned by a country through the sale of petroleum. The term was coined by Ibrahim Oweiss, a professor of economics at Georgetown University, in 1973...
s which accompanied the energy crisis proved to be Connor's undoing.
During 1974 Connor sought to bypass the usual loan raising processes and raise money in the Middle East through an intermediary, a mysterious Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i banker called Tirath Khemlani. Because of strong opposition from the Treasury and the Attorney-General's Department about the legality of the loan (and about Khemlani's general bona fides), Cabinet decided in May 1975 that only the Treasurer, not Connor, was authorised to negotiate foreign loans in the name of the Australian government. Nevertheless, Connor went on negotiating through Khemlani for a huge petrodollar loan for his various development projects, confident that if he succeeded no-one would blame him, and if he failed no-one would know.
Unfortunately for Connor, Khemlani proved to be a false friend and sold the story of Connor's activities to the Liberal
Liberal 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...
Opposition for a sum which has never been disclosed. Connor denied the Liberals' accusations, both to Whitlam personally and to Parliament. When the Liberal Deputy Leader, Phillip Lynch
Phillip Lynch
Sir Phillip Reginald Lynch KCMG was an Australian Liberal politician.Lynch held the House of Representatives seat of Flinders from 1966 to 1982. Between 1968 and 1972, he served variously as Minister for the Army, Minister for Immigration, and Minister for Labour and National Service, under Prime...
tabled letters from Connor to Khemlani, Connor was forced in October to resign in disgrace. The Opposition proclaimed the Loans Affair
Loans Affair
The Loans Affair, also called the Khemlani Affair, is the name given to the political scandal involving the Whitlam Government of Australia in 1975, in which it was accused of attempting to borrow money illegally from Middle Eastern countries by bypassing standard procedure as dictated by the...
a "reprehensible circumstance" which justified the blocking of supply in the Senate, leading to the dismissal of the Whitlam government
Australian constitutional crisis of 1975
The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis has been described as the greatest political crisis and constitutional crisis in Australia's history. It culminated on 11 November 1975 with the removal of the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party , by Governor-General Sir John Kerr...
a few weeks later by 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.
After the dismissal
After the 1975 general electionAustralian 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....
, in which Labor was heavily defeated, Connor was unexpectedly re-elected to the Opposition front bench. This was seen as a gesture of defiance to the Murdoch press
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, which had played a leading role in bringing down Whitlam's government.
Connor's wife died in April 1977 and he died suddenly in Canberra of a coronary occlusion
Coronary occlusion
A coronary occlusion is the partial or complete obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition may cause a heart attack.In some patients coronary occlusion causes only mild pain, tightness or vague discomfort which may be ignored: the myocardium is however damaged....
in August of that year. He was survived by their three sons.