Albert Field
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Albert Patrick Field (1910 - 1 July 1990) was a Senator representing Queensland whose appointment was instrumental in precipitating the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, known as The Dismissal. Field was appointed by the Queensland state parliament as a replacement senator following the sudden death of Bert Milliner, on 30 June
Field, while a member of the Labor Party, was openly critical of the Whitlam Government. His appointment by Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen instead of the candidate offered by the Labor Party went against longstanding tradition. He was expelled from the Party as a result of accepting the appointment.
Field was a french-polisher of conservative and religious bent, deeply offended by the secularizing reforms of the Whitlam Government.
Field's appointment came under challenge in the High Court, and he was on leave from the Senate, unable to exercise a vote, for the period of the crisis. However, going against tradition, the opposition parties refused to provide a ‘pair’ to maintain the relative positions of the Government and Opposition. This along with New South Wales's appointment of an independent Cleaver Bunton to replace Labor Senator Lionel Murphy on his appointment to the High Court, left the Whitlam Government is a precarious position.
Field was, ironically, defeated in the 1975 election that resulted in part from his appointment.
External links
- [Four Corners Reflections from the Seventies]
- Parliamentary Library paper [Candidates, Members and the Constitution] (see section The Field Affair)
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