Queensland's Cold Warrior: the Turbulent Days Of
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Queensland's Cold War Warrior: The Turbulent Days of Vincent Clair Gair, 1901-1980 Author Stevenson, Brian F Published 2007 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Department of Politics and Public Policy DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1554 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367090 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au QUEENSLAND’S COLD WARRIOR: THE TURBULENT DAYS OF VINCENT CLAIR GAIR, 1901-1980 BY BRIAN F STEVENSON DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own independent research, and that all sources which have been consulted are acknowledged in the bibliography. The material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. ------------------------------------ 2 DEDICATION This is for Carol 3 Certain facts, however, which have eluded most writers altogether, or have been mentioned only haphazardly by others, or are recorded only in decrees or in ancient votive inscriptions, I have tried to collect with care. In doing this my object is not to accumulate useless detail, but to hand down whatever may serve to make my subject’s character and temperament better understood. Plutarch, Nicias 1. 1 1 Plutarch. The rise and fall of Athens: nine Greek lives by Plutarch. London: Penguin, 1960, p 208. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. 4 …of Vincent Clair Gair it may well be said that he was a man who walked with Kings and lost the common touch. Legion Journal, May 1957. I have walked with kings and queens and never lost the common touch. Vince Gair, Age 6 December 1977. Christ enjoins us to love our enemies. Vincent Clair Gair belonged to the Old Testament. Father Barney McLaughlin, panegyric for Vince Gair, November 1980. Quoted by Jim Killen in Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates House of Representatives, 25 November 1980 pp 39-40. His critics have bled him to death and bottled his blood. Nell Gair, Herald (Melbourne), 17 October 1981. As a lad I was taught – and I still believe – that: “The harder you’re thrown, the higher you’ll bounce, Be proud of the blackened eye; It isn’t the fact that you’re beaten that counts, But how did you fight – and why?” Vince Gair, after losing his seat in the State election of 1960, Standard (Brisbane) 8 June 1960. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To paraphrase something said on another occasion, and in a far wider context: the finishing of this thesis is one for the true believers. First and foremost among the believers is my gracious wife Carol, who provided me with new leases on all aspects of my life that were so necessary to bring this project to its conclusion after talking about it for almost a quarter of a century. As a native born American, the quarrels of Australian politicians of over a generation ago should have meant little to her, but she gave up much of her time with me and gave me support and encouragement in all areas until I thought my work was properly done. My supervisor, John Wanna, also believed, though at times he may have rued the day in 1998 that he suggested the project, the university and the supervisor. His suggestions, corrections and guidance were invaluable, and his patience with my frustratingly slow start would have tested lesser supervisors. My thanks also to two anonymous examiners for their perceptive comments and suggestions. Mum and Dad, you believed as well, and gave me support through some interesting times till I was ready to tackle this properly. Thanks for your hospitality in Brisbane on my frequent research visits once the project was properly underway. I only regret that even the ninety-one years and four days that Dad was alive were not a long enough time for him to see the project completed. He left us suddenly on the evening of 12 October 2006. Dad, till we meet together again in the happy hunting grounds, to part no more – I love you. 6 As always, librarians, a fraternity to which I am proud to belong, were cheerful and forthcoming with their assistance to one of their own – they are like that with everybody! From the State Library of Queensland, State Librarian Lea Giles-Peters was generous with the resources of that institution, and Lynn Meyers, Angelo Comino, Dianne Byrne were generous with their reference and retrieval skills. I have forgiven Dr Leanne Day for her temerity in earning her doctorate before I did and thank her for her assistance and her wonderful example, which inspired me to finish as well (eventually.) Rosemary Mammino unearthed unusual material for me at Education Queensland’s History Unit on the Gair government and Queensland education: more extensive use of this material will be made in a forthcoming article in the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society Journal. At the Queensland Parliamentary Library, Parliamentary Librarian Nick Bannenberg was kindly, encouraging and profoundly empathetic during the early stages of this project. His successor, Mary Seefried, gave generous access to an ex-staff member, and researchers Tim Moroney, Suzanne Campbell, Zachary Dadic and Ros Bailey all found material for me. Deb Stumm and other staff at the Fryer Library, University of Queensland, provided access to the wealth of unpublished information in theses written for that institution, and Laurie McNeice went above and beyond the call of duty by looking for, finding and sending on an important document (atypically misfiled in the system) weeks after I had forgotten even asking for it. Niles Elvery, Kevin Brown and Elizabeth Hawkins at the Queensland State Archives all provided valuable assistance. At the National Library of Australia, I am indebted to Bronwyn Ryan and Sue McNeill and others of the Manuscripts Section and the Petherick 7 Reading Room. Shona Dewar from the State Library of Victoria facilitated my access to the Democratic Labor Party papers held in that institution. I had a few fruitful days in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, and the librarians there showed me the same courtesy and professionalism that their colleagues elsewhere displayed. Thanks are due also to Carolyn Tredrea, and the staff at the James Cook University, Townsville for their assistance with key extracts from the papers of Senator Ian Wood. Scholars Tracey Arklay, Brian Costar, David Gibson and Maurice French were all generous in the loan of research materials from their own projects. Manfred Cross and Tim Moroney gave generously of their time to read the manuscript and make suggestions. Connie Healey provided me with some valuable and interesting recollections. Paul Reynolds provided some guidance in matters relating to the DLP. In other areas, the generous contributions of my wise and valued friends Colin Walls and Kerry Muston, along with Grace Kerr and Rosemary Byers, daughter of Frank Waters, were indispensable. My thanks to them all. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the assiduous groundwork and the inspirational publications of that giant among Queensland political historians, the late (and much missed) Dr Denis Murphy. My hope for the present work is that it displays some indication of the knowledge and research techniques he imparted to me, both in person, and through his published works, which will stand forever as testimony to his diligence, integrity and scholarship. 8 A SPECIAL NOTE ON QUOTATIONS I have quoted extensively from all sorts of sources in this work, and while every effort has been made to keep quotes scrupulously accurate, some slight tinkering has been necessity in the interests of clarity. Until well into the 1960s the Courier-Mail insisted on referring to Australia’s oldest political party as the Labour Party, in the British fashion, although the Americanised spelling of Labor had been officially in use since 1918. Rather than littering the landscape with [sic]s, I have simply used the conventional spelling where appropriate, and without annotating the change. Gair’s breakaway group, the Queensland Labor Party used the American spelling, as did the Democratic Labor Party into which it was merged. I have not been able to find any reference as to why the American spelling was preferred, and doubt that this crucial issue was ever discussed. Of course, when referring to the labour movement, or divisions of labour, etc, the ‘u’ in the word has been retained. Occasionally a quotation has included a misspelt name or other word, or required a strategically placed comma for greater clarity. Archaic spellings such as ‘phantasy’ have been modernised. The writers and printers of two generations ago were a lot fonder of capitalizing nouns such as state, government, and parliament than are we: in adhering to more modern forms of usage I have dispensed with many such capitalisations. I have made such corrections without comment on most occasions. 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW…12 1.1 INTRODUCTION…12 1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW…23 CHAPTER TWO: THE EARLY YEARS, 1901-1932…45 2.1 ORIGINS OF THE GAIR FAMILY…46 2.2 THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG VINCENT…52 2.3 PARENTAL INFLUENCE AND POLITICAL EXPERIENCES…58 2.4 CATHOLICS AND THE LABOR PARTY…62 2.5 ROCKHAMPTON IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY…64 2.6 WILLIAM KIDSTON…66 2.7 GAIR’S EARLY RAILWAY CAREER…70 2.8 AN ACTIVE YOUNG MAN…72 2.9 THE MOORE GOVERNMENT AND MCGROARTY IN SOUTH BRISBANE…76 2.10 CANDIDATE FOR SOUTH BRISBANE…80 2.11 RINGBARKING MCGROARTY…84 CHAPTER THREE: THE BACKBENCH YEARS, 1932-1942: ‘A YOUNG, VIGOROUS AND WIDE-EYED POLITICIAN’…87