Arthur Manning

Arthur Gibson Manning (1 January 1872 - 3 April 1947) was an Australian politician who served in both the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Born to pastroralists Frederick and Jane Belle Manning in Wagga Wagga, Manning was educated in public schools in Wagga and Yass before purchasing grazing land in Narrabri and West Wyalong and marrying Florence Hogarth in 1899; they had no children. He became a vocal proponent for the rights of farmers and served as President of the Australian Meat Council and on the boards of the Farmers and Settlers' Association and the Graziers' Association. Manning then gained Nationalist Party of Australia pre-selection for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Electoral district of Albury, which he won at the 1917 election. Defeated at the 1920 election, Manning remained involved in the Nationalist Party and rural affairs and was chosen as the Nationalist candidate for the federal Division of Macquarie for the 1922 election. Manning was victorious, narrowly defeating sitting Australian Labor Party representative Samuel Nicholls by less than 100 votes after preferences from an independent were distributed.

Manning faced controversy during his first term in federal parliament when it was revealed in 1924 that he and fellow parliamentarian farmer William Killen had signed cheques on behalf of the government to the Australian meat industry (in which they both had interests). This was considered by some to be in breach of section 44(v) of the Australian constitution, whereby members of parliament were banned from deriving a benefit from government actions. Following a lively parliamentary debate, a motion that Manning and Killen were in breach of section 44(v) was defeated.

Despite this, Manning retained his seat at the 1925 election, defeating Labor candidate and future Prime Minister Ben Chifley. In 1926, Manning was a member of the Australian delegation to the League of Nations General Assembly, discussing, amongst other issues, Australia's administration of New Guinea.

In 1928, Manning was opposed by Chifley again and narrowly lost following a Labor campaign that painted Manning a friend of Asian immigrants. Chifley argued that he would help keep Australia white and while Manning used his campaign speeches to deny that he was in favour of Asian immigration, the electorate was in no mood for someone they considered soft on immigration.

Out of parliament, Manning remained on the executive of the Nationalist Party and stood as the official Nationalist Party candidate for the suburban Sydney federal Division of Wentworth at the 1929 election following the expulsion of the sitting member Walter Marks from the party. Manning lost and returned to his life as a gentleman grazier while remaining involved in farming and political issues, including a stint as a United Australia Party (the successor to the Nationalist Party) councillor from 1933 to 1935. He died in Sydney.