William Scully (Australian politician)

William James "Bill" Scully (1 February 1883 – 19 March 1966) was an Australian politician and farmer.


William Scully
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Gwydir
In office
8 May 1937  10 December 1949
Preceded byAubrey Abbott
Succeeded byThomas Treloar
Personal details
Born(1883-02-01)1 February 1883
Sydney
Died19 March 1966(1966-03-19) (aged 83)
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Spouse(s)Grace Myrtle Kilbride
ChildrenJim Scully and two other sons
OccupationContractor

Personal life

Born in Sydney to Thomas James Scully and his wife Sarah Lucy Rutherford, he was educated at a small school near Tamworth. He and his brothers worked as contract labourers, and by the age of 21 Scully was a contractor. In 1912 he became a justice of the peace. He was also involved with the Tamworth Progress Association and the Primary Producers' Union of New South Wales.[1] At Tamworth in 1925 he married Grace Myrtle Kilbride.[2]

NSW politics

In 1903, Scully joined the Tamworth Political Labor League and soon rose to become president. After three unsuccessful attempts to enter the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, in succeeded his brother Patrick,[3] in the electorate of Namoi in 1923. Although he agreed with many of the views of New South Wales Premier Jack Lang, Scully remained loyal to the Prime Minister, James Scullin, and to the Australian Labor Party. He lost Namoi in 1932.[1][2]

Federal politics

Having bred horses for five years, Scully stood in a 1937 by-election for the federal seat of Gwydir, which he won. When Labor won government in 1941, the Prime Minister, John Curtin, appointed him Minister for Commerce, to which was added Agriculture in 1942. He held this position under Curtin, Frank Forde and Ben Chifley, and chaired the Australian Food Council. "The Scully Plan", which aimed to guarantee wheat farmers a minimum price of four shillings per bushel, was introduced in 1942.[1]

Scully was appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council in 1946, a post he held until 1949, when he was defeated at the elections. He retired to Tamworth, where he grew lucerne and served on Tamworth City Council. He was also involved with the New England University College, the Tamworth and District Workmen's Club, and the Tamworth Cricket Association. Renowned for his integrity, sincerity and directness, Scully died on 19 March 1966 and was given a state funeral.[1]

gollark: - If a foreign country's relations with our own are poor, it should be removed from all maps and not acknowledged by government policy.
gollark: - I think markets are a reasonably good resource allocation system, and to ensure liquidity would support requiring any property someone owns whatsoever to be put up for auction if someone requests it.
gollark: - I believe our country should construct its own god to reduce reliance on foreign imports, and maintain a stock of reality anchors to remove other gods if necessary.
gollark: - I think that consumption, possession, distribution and production of all drugs should be legal everywhere for everyone at all times.- I support an improved tax system, where everyone in the country is directly billed `country's yearly operating expenses / population` each year, to increase fairness.
gollark: - I believe we should end racial discrimination by replacing computer monitors with 1-bit black and white displays so race cannot be distinguished.

References

  1. Boyle, Janice (2002). "Scully, William James (1883–1966)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 25 August 2007 via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  2. "Mr William James Scully (1885-1966)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  3. "Mr Patrick Charles Scully (1887–1951)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 May 2019.

 

New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Patrick Scully
Member for Namoi
1923–1932
Served alongside: Frank Chaffey/none, Walter Wearne/none
Succeeded by
Colin Sinclair
Political offices
Preceded by
Earle Page
Minister for Commerce (and Agriculture)
1941–1946
Succeeded by
Reginald Pollard
Preceded by
Joe Collings
Vice-President of the Executive Council
1946–1949
Succeeded by
Enid Lyons
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Aubrey Abbott
Member for Gwydir
1937–1949
Succeeded by
Thomas Treloar
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