George Martens

For the American jockey, see George Martens (jockey).

George Martens
Martens c. 1928
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Herbert
In office
17 November 1928 – 16 August 1946
Preceded byLewis Nott
Succeeded byBill Edmonds
Personal details
Born(1872-09-09)9 September 1872
Mount Perry, Queensland, Australia
Died23 August 1949(1949-08-23) (aged 76)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLabor
OccupationUnionist

George William Martens (9 September 1872 – 23 August 1949) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1928 to 1946, representing the electorate of Herbert.

Early life

Martens was born on 9 September 1872 in Mount Perry, Queensland. He attended state schools at Mount Perry and Gayndah, leaving school at a young age to enter the workforce. According to a 1922 article in the Daily Standard, he worked for periods as a stockman, drover, fencer and "general bush worker". He returned to Mount Perry in 1899 to work in the copper smelter and later farmed in the Burnett River district for two years.[1]

Martens also worked at the Pleystowe Sugar Mill west of Mackay for a period, where two of his co-workers were future Prime Minister Arthur Fadden and Queensland state politician Maurice Hynes.[2]

Politics

Martens was active in the trade union movement, notably the Sugar Workers Union, and was an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union, of which he eventually became Queensland secretary. In 1928, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Herbert, defeating the sitting Nationalist Lewis Nott. He held the seat until 1946, when he retired from politics.

During World War II, Martens opposed moves towards mass internment of enemy aliens, with his electorate including a significant Italian-Australian population. He made personal representations on behalf of internees to army minister Frank Forde and attorney-general H. V. Evatt.[3] In 1942 he wrote to Prime Minister John Curtin that he was "astounded to see what was taking place in regard to internments" in North Queensland, citing examples of Italian internees who were naturalised citizens, had lived in Australia since childhood, were members of the Volunteer Defence Corps, or had sons serving in the Australian military.[4]

Later life

After retiring from politics, Martens become director of Commonwealth Oil Refineries.[5] Martens died on 23 August 1949 in Sydney, New South Wales.[6] His death bed request was that there would be no newspaper nor radio announcements of his death and that he should be cremated quietly and privately.[7]

Sources

  • Arklay, T.M. (2016) Arthur Fadden: A Political Silhouette, Australian Scholarly Publishing: North Melbourne. ISBN 978 1 925003 84 0.

References

  1. ^ "G. W. Martens". Daily Standard. Brisbane. 2 December 1922.
  2. ^ Arklay, p.3.
  3. ^ Bevege, Margaret (1993). Behind Barbed Wire: Internment in Australia During World War II (PDF). University of Queensland Press. p. 164. ISBN 0702224928.
  4. ^ Bevege 1993, p. 169.
  5. ^ Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  6. ^ "GEORGE MARTENS DEAD AT 75". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. LXX. Queensland, Australia. 29 August 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "EX-MP'S DEATHBED REQUEST". The Northern Miner. Queensland, Australia. 12 September 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 21 December 2016 – via National Library of Australia.

Media related to George Martens at Wikimedia Commons

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Herbert
1928–1946 		Succeeded by


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