Hal Colebatch - Later Years

Later Years

Colebatch's second term as agent-general for Western Australia was from 1933 until 1939. During this time, he again travelled widely throughout Europe. In 1934 the Western Australian Secession Delegation arrive in London, Colebatch made many speeches and argued for the cause. His focus was on the preamble to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act in particular the word "indissoluble" questioning as to whether the British Parliament could bind a person to a country for all time.

According to his memoirs, he made contact with anti-Nazi Germans who were trying to forestall the rise of Adolf Hitler. After returning to Western Australia, he worked tirelessly to awaken Australia to the necessity of preparing for war. He was widowed early in 1940. On 11 May 1940 he was elected to the Legislative Council for the Metropolitan Province. In 1944 he married Marion Frances Gibson. He held his Legislative Council seat until the election of 1948 when the Liberal Party failed to dissuade him from nominating, and then endorsed both him and its preferred candidate, H. Hearn, who won comfortably.

In his final years, Colebatch applied himself to writing an autobiography, which has never been published. He died on 12 February 1953 after a brief illness and was honoured with a state funeral the following day. He was survived by his second wife and three sons. His third son, also named Hal Colebatch, is a well-known poet, novelist, solicitor and writer on legal and political subjects. He is unique in Australian letters in having written a biography of his father.