Albert Gardiner

2025-07-11T20:54:04Z

2001:8003:3F51:1A01:75E6:A324:E398:42BA: Sydney link

{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{distinguish|Albert Gardner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name = Albert Gardiner
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Albert Gardiner.jpg
| office = Deputy Leader of the [[Australian Labor Party]]
| leader = [[Frank Tudor]]<br/>[[Matthew Charlton]]
| term_start = 14 November 1916
| term_end = 30 June 1926
| predecessor = [[George Pearce]]
| successor = [[James Scullin]]
| office1 = [[Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Australia)|Leader of the Opposition in the Senate]]
| term_start1 = 17 February 1917
| term_end1 = 30 June 1926
| predecessor1 = [[Edward Millen]]
| successor1 = [[Ted Needham]]
| title2 = [[Australian Senate|Senator]] for [[New South Wales]]
| term_start2 = 1 July 1910
| term_end2 = 30 June 1926
| predecessor2 = [[John Neild]]
| successor2 = [[Walter Massy-Greene]]
| term_start3 = 5 June 1928
| term_end3 = 16 November 1928
| predecessor3 = [[John Grant (Australian politician)|John Grant]]
| successor3 = [[John Dooley (politician)|John Dooley]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1867|7|30}}
| birth_place = [[Orange, New South Wales]], Australia
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1952|8|14|1867|7|30}}
| death_place = [[Bondi Junction]], [[New South Wales]], Australia
| nationality = [[Australia]]n
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Ada Jewell|1892|1897}}
* {{marriage|Theresa Clayton|1902}}
}}
| party = [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Goldminer
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Albert "Jupp" Gardiner''' (30 July 1867 – 14 August 1952) was an Australian politician who served as a [[Australian Senate|Senator]] for [[New South Wales]] from 1910 to 1926 and again briefly in 1928. A member of the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]], he served in cabinet as [[Vice-President of the Executive Council]] under [[Andrew Fisher]] and [[Billy Hughes]], and from 1916 to 1926 was his party's Senate leader; he was its only senator from 1920 to 1922. Before entering federal politics he had served in the [[Parliament of New South Wales]] from 1891 to 1895 and from 1904 to 1907.

==Early life==
Gardiner was born on 30 July 1867 in [[Orange, New South Wales]].<ref name=adb/> He was the seventh son and one of twelve children born to Charlotte (née Davis) and William Gardiner. His father, born in [[Tasmania]], was a [[wheelwright]]. His mother was illiterate at the time of his birth.<ref name=senatebio/>

Gardiner was educated at Flanagan's School in Orange until the age of 15, when he was apprenticed to a carpenter. He moved to [[Parkes, New South Wales|Parkes]] in 1890 and began working at the Hazlehurst gold battery. He was nicknamed "Jupp" after the English cricketer [[Harry Jupp]], whom he was supposed to resemble; both were large men with broad shoulders.<ref name=senatebio>{{cite news|url=http://biography.senate.gov.au/albert-gardiner/|title=GARDINER, ALBERT (1867–1952)|publisher=Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate|year=2000|author=Ann Millar}}</ref>

Gardiner played [[rugby union]] as a forward and represented New South Wales against New Zealand and Queensland in 1897 and against England in 1899.<ref name=adb/>

==New South Wales politics==
[[1891 New South Wales colonial election|In 1891]], Gardiner was elected to the [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly]] with the support of the Labor Electoral League, the [[New South Wales Labor Party|Labor Party's]] predecessor. He topped the poll in the seat of [[Electoral district of Forbes|Forbes]], although he refused to sign Labor's solidarity pledge in 1893. In 1894, with the abolition of Forbes, he was elected the member for [[Electoral district of Ashburnham|Ashburnham]], but was defeated in 1895. He stood unsuccessfully for Ashburnham in 1898 for the [[Free Trade Party]] and [[Electoral district of Orange|Orange]] in 1901 as an independent.<ref name=nsw>{{cite NSW Parliament |title=Mr Albert Gardiner (1867-1952) |id=1184 |former=Yes |access-date=13 May 2019}}</ref> He was elected member for Orange in 1904, but lost the seat in 1907.<ref name=nsw/>

==Federal politics==
===Early years===
[[File:Albert Gardiner - T. Humphrey & Co.jpg|thumb|upright|Undated photo, T. Humphrey & Co.]]
Gardiner was elected to the Senate at the [[1910 Australian federal election|1910 federal election]], winning a six-year term commencing on 1 July 1910.<ref name=aph>{{cite news|url=https://handbook.aph.gov.au/parliamentarians/KKZ|title=Gardiner, the Hon. Albert|publisher=Parliament of Australia|work=Parliamentary Handbook|access-date=14 June 2025}}</ref> He was one of the parliamentary representatives of Australia at the [[coronation of King George V]] in 1911. In the Senate, Gardiner spoke on a wide range of topics and was known for his "forceful delivery, 'rapid in utterance, fiery in tone'",<ref name=adb/> as well as for his independence of mind including deviation from decisions of the ALP caucus on some occasions. He was a prominent opponent of the [[Cook government]] from 1913 to 1914, which had secured a narrow one-seat majority in the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] but faced a hostile Senate dominated by the ALP.<ref name=senatebio/>

===Ministerial career===
Following a [[double dissolution]], Gardiner was re-elected to the Senate at the [[1914 Australian federal election|1914 election]] and was subsequently appointed [[Vice-President of the Executive Council]] in the [[Fisher government (1914–1915)|Fisher government]]. He was also made assistant minister for defence in July 1915, under defence minister and Senate leader [[George Pearce]], retaining both roles after [[Billy Hughes]] replaced [[Andrew Fisher]] as prime minister in October 1915.<ref name=senatebio/> As assistant defence minister he "took a close interest in the conditions of military camps".<ref name=adb/>

Gardiner supported [[Australia in World War I|Australian involvement in World War I]] but was unequivocally opposed to [[Conscription in Australia|compulsory overseas service for conscripts]]. He nonetheless supported the government's decision to hold the [[1916 Australian conscription referendum]], in the interests of [[cabinet solidarity]]. On 27 October 1916, a day before the referendum, Gardiner discovered that Hughes had authorised the distribution of a compulsory questionnaire aimed at detecting [[conscription evasion|conscription evaders]], despite the fact that he and fellow ministers [[William Higgs (politician)|William Higgs]] and [[Edward Russell (Australian politician)|Edward Russell]] had expressly withheld consent for such a measure. They resigned from the ministry on the same date, not before Gardiner had released an account of the incident to the press.<ref name=senatebio/>

===Senate leader===
In November 1916, the [[Australian Labor Party split of 1916|ALP formally split]] over conscription and expelled Hughes from the party, who remained as prime minister at the head of a [[National Labor Party]] ministry and later merged with the opposition [[Liberal Party (Australia, 1909)|Liberal Party]] to form a [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist]] government. Gardiner remained loyal to the ALP, now led by [[Frank Tudor]],<ref name=senatebio/> and on 29 November 1916 replaced Pearce as the party's Senate leader and [[Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Australia)|leader of the opposition in the Senate]].<ref name=aph/>

The [[1917 Australian federal election|1917 federal election]] saw a landslide victory for the Nationalists, with the ALP failing to win any Senate seats and being left without a Senate majority for the first time since 1910. Gardiner played a key role in the diminished ALP opposition's attempts to thwart Hughes' agenda. In November 1918, he mounted a [[filibuster]] against the ''[[Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918]]'', which introduced [[preferential voting]] for House of Representatives. He spoke on the bill for 12 hours and 40 minutes, reading the entire bill and its schedule, and setting a record for the longest parliamentary speech in Australia.<ref name=senatebio/> The Senate subsequently amended its standing orders to introduce a time limit for speeches.<ref name=adb/>

Gardiner was the only ALP senator re-elected at the [[1919 Australian federal election|1919 election]], with the consecutive electoral wipeouts leaving him as the party's sole Senate representative from 1920 to 1923.<ref name=senatebio/> In 1922, he contested the leadership of the Labor Party against [[Matthew Charlton]] who defeated him by 22 votes to 2.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rhodes|first1=Campbell|title=Leadership spills: nothing new to history|date=15 September 2015|url=http://moadoph.gov.au/blog/leadership-spills-nothing-new-to-history/|website=[[Museum of Australian Democracy]]|access-date=23 January 2017|language=en}}</ref> In 1924, Gardiner was the only member of parliament to make "sustained objections" to the introduction of [[compulsory voting]] for federal elections, despite its inclusion in the ALP platform. He stated his opposition to "anything in democracy which savours of compulsion" and described the bill as "a further infringement on the liberty of the individual".<ref>
{{cite book |first=Judith|last=Brett|chapter=How Australia Got Compulsory Voting|editor-first1=Mario|editor-last1=Bonotti|editor-first2=Paul|editor-last2=Strangio|title=A Century of Compulsory Voting in Australia: Genesis, Impact and Future|year=2021|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-981-33-4025-1|pages=28-29}}</ref>

===Final years===
[[File:Senator Albert Gardiner (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Gardiner in later life]]
Gardiner lost his Senate seat at the [[1925 Australian federal election|1925 election]], with his term as a senator and ALP Senate leader expiring on 30 June 1926.<ref name=aph/>

In 1928, Gardiner filled a casual vacancy for five months, despite expulsion from the [[Jack Lang (Australian politician)|Lang]]-led state branch of the party. He unsuccessfully contested [[Division of Dalley|Dalley]] as an independent Labor candidate in 1928. He then unsuccessfully contested the State seats of [[Electoral district of Waverley|Waverley]] in 1932 and [[Electoral district of Canterbury|Canterbury]] in 1935 as an [[Federal Labor Party (NSW)|Official Labor candidate]]—that is, recognised by the Federal Labor Party, but not the State branch.<ref name=adb/>

==Personal life==
Gardiner was married to Ada Evelyn Jewell from 1892 until their divorce in 1897. She was also active in the labour movement and in 1906 was one of the first women elected to the ALP state executive in New South Wales, along with [[Kate Dwyer]], Harriet Powell, [[Selina Siggins]], [[John Grant (Australian politician)|Mary Anne Grant]], [[Edith Bethel]] and [[David Hall (Australian politician)|Maggie Hall]].<ref name=harr>{{Cite web |title=Harriet Powell: Labor Organiser |url=https://www.labourhistory.org.au/hummer/vol-7-no-1/harriet/ |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=Australian Society for the Study of Labour History |language=en-AU}}</ref>

In 1902, Gardiner re-married to Theresa Alice Clayton, with whom he had two children. He died on 14 August 1952 at his home in [[Bondi Junction]], [[Sydney]], aged 85.<ref name=adb>
{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography | first=Mark
| last=Lyons
| title =Gardiner, Albert (Jupp) (1867–1952)
|id2=gardiner-albert-jupp-6275
| access-date = 2014-07-17
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before= [[James McColl (Australian politician)|James McColl]] }}
{{s-ttl|title= [[Vice-President of the Executive Council]] |years=1914–1916 }}
{{s-aft| after=[[William Spence]] }}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef | rows=2 | before=[[George Pearce]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=Deputy Leader of the [[Australian Labor Party]] |years=1916–1926}}
{{s-aft | after=[[James Scullin]] }}
{{s-ttl | title=Leader of the [[Australian Labor Party]] in the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]|years=1916–1926}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Ted Needham]]}}
{{s-par|au-nsw-la}}
{{succession box | title=Member for [[Electoral district of Forbes|Forbes]] | before=[[Henry Harry Cooke|Henry Cooke]] | after=Abolished | years=1891 – 1894 | alongside=[[George Fairhurst Hutchinson|Hutchinson]]}}
{{succession box | title=Member for [[Electoral district of Ashburnham|Ashburnham]] | before=New seat | after=[[Joseph Reymond]] | years=1894 – 1895}}
{{succession box | title=Member for [[Electoral district of Orange|Orange]] | before=[[Harry Newman (politician)|Harry Newman]] | after=[[John Fitzpatrick (New South Wales politician)|John Fitzpatrick]] | years=1904 – 1907}}
{{s-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Albert}}
[[Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia]]
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales]]
[[Category:Australian sportsperson-politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian politicians]]
[[Category:Australian rugby union players]]
[[Category:New South Wales rugby union team players]]

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Albert Gardiner