Early Political Career
Mair first entered politics at the 11 June 1932 election, when he stood as the United Australia Party candidate for the local seat of Albury in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. The election campaign was noted for having occurred not long after the dismissal of Premier Jack Lang, and was affected by violence by the right-wing New Guard. Despite this, Mair gained the seat from the Labor party member, Joseph Fitzgerald. Despite only gaining 30.65% of the primary vote to Fitzgerald's 40.07%, Mair was able to secure the seat with Country Party preferences, on a 58-41% margin.
As the local member, Mair became interested in helping those affected by the Great Depression and fulfilled his election promise to give most of his paliamentary salary to the poor in his own electorate, a practice which he continued until 1938. Serving on the backbench, Mair was noted for being a strong supporter of Premier Bertram Stevens at a time when party discipline within the UAP was non-existent. Mair soon built up a reputation for being a loyal, yet also strongly independent member of parliament, and a powerful debater in the House.
At the May 1935 election, Mair was returned in his seat with an increased margin of 59.03%. In 1937, he visited Britain with his wife for the coronation of King George VI and later attempted to enter the Soviet Union, in an attempt to study the social problems associated with a communist system, as a sailor on a Norwegian ship, but was refused entry.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Mair
Famous quotes containing the words early, political and/or career:
“I taught school in the early days of my manhood and I think I know something about mothers. There is a thread of aspiration that runs strong in them. It is the fiber that has formed the most unselfish creatures who inhabit this earth. They want three things only; for their children to be fed, to be healthy, and to make the most of themselves.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving to the citizen as much freedom of action and of being, as comports with order and the rights of others, the institutions render him truly a freeman. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his own manner.”
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851)
“What exacerbates the strain in the working class is the absence of money to pay for services they need, economic insecurity, poor daycare, and lack of dignity and boredom in each partner’s job. What exacerbates it in upper-middle class is the instability of paid help and the enormous demands of the career system in which both partners become willing believers. But the tug between traditional and egalitarian models of marriage runs from top to bottom of the class ladder.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)