Albert Field

Albert Patrick Field (11 October 1910 - 1 July 1990) was an Australian who was a French polisher plucked from obscurity to become a Senator in 1975. The circumstances of his appointment were instrumental in precipitating the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.

Queensland ALP Senator Bertie Milliner died suddenly on 30 June 1975. It was longstanding tradition that, when a casual vacancy occurred in the Senate, the relevant political party would nominate the replacement to the state premier, and the state parliament would formally appoint the replacement senator. As was usual practice, the Labor Party nominated only one name, Mal Colston, to replace Milliner. The Country Party Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen asked for a list of three names, from which he would choose the replacement; he was possibly relying on a 1962 precedent when his predecessor Frank Nicklin had also required such a list of names. The Labor Party refused to provide a list, and insisted on Colston being appointed. Bjelke-Petersen responded by appointing Albert Field. Although he had been a member of the Labor Party for 30 years, Field was of a conservative and religious bent and was openly critical of the Whitlam government. He was an honorary official of the Furnishing Trade Union.. He was certainly not an active politician, and he had never sought to become one; Gough Whitlam described him as "an individual of the utmost obscurity, from which he rose and to which he sank with equal speed". The appointment was formally made by the Parliament of Queensland on 3 September 1975. Field was expelled from the party as a result of accepting the appointment.

Field had resigned from the Queensland Public Service immediately prior to his Senate appointment, but there was a dispute about whether he remained a public servant when appointed. This may have made him constitutionally ineligible to be chosen as a senator, so the Labor Party challenged his appointment in the High Court. Consequently he was on leave from the Senate, unable to exercise a vote, from 1 October 1975. However, going against tradition, the opposition parties refused to provide a "pair" to maintain the relative positions of the Government and Opposition. This gave the Coalition a majority in the Senate, allowing them to pass motions to defer consideration of supply and force the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.

The beginning of the end of Field's Senate term came on 11 November 1975 when the parliament was dissolved in a double dissolution. He stood at the consequent 13 December election that resulted in part from his appointment, but was defeated. Field's Senate term officially ended on June 30, 1976. The controversy surrounding his and Cleaver Bunton's appointments prompted an amendment to the Constitution requiring that casual Senate vacancies be filled by a member of the same party.^[1]

References

1. ^ Gerard Newman (14 May 2002). "Senate Casual Vacancies". Research Note no.35 2001-2001. Commonwealth of Australia. http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2001-02/02rn35.htm. Retrieved 23 March 2010. 

External links

• Four Corners Reflections from the Seventies
• Parliamentary Library paper Candidates, Members and the Constitution (see section "The Field Affair")