Charles Arthur Wheeler (1880-1977), John Newlands (detail), 1928, Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection. View full image
President, 1 July 1926 to 13 August 1929
Australian Labor Party, 1913 to 1916;
National Labour, 1916 to 1917;
Nationalist Party, 1917 to 1932
Born and educated in Scotland, John Newlands (1864-1932) immigrated to SA in 1883. He married Theresa Glancy the following year, after they met on the voyage. He found work on the railways, first as a lamp-cleaner and eventually as a conductor, and joined the Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Service Association, serving in various roles including as chairman. Newlands made his first foray into politics as a member of the Terowie District Council (1899-1905) before he was elected as a Labor candidate to the SA House of Assembly (1906-12).1
After losing his marginal seat at the 1912 election, Newlands was elected to federal Parliament the following year as a senator for SA. Like many politicians of the time, he soon became caught up in the conscription debate, which in 1916 led to a split in the Labor government. As a supporter of conscription with two sons who had enlisted, Newlands followed Prime Minister Billy Hughes into the newly-formed Nationalist Party.
As a senator, Newlands took up the cause of the ‘North Territory’, which was annexed to SA between 1863 and 1911. He unsuccessfully proposed a Royal Commission into the administration of the Territory and pushed for it to have direct representation in federal Parliament, as well as advocating infrastructure improvements and support for Territory settlers. In 1922, as part of the Joint Public Works Committee’s inquiry into the north-south railway extension, Newlands led a sub-committee which toured the Territory, travelling some 11,700 miles in five months over at times rough terrain by a mix of car, rail, steamer, horseback and buggy.2
Newlands became Chair of Committees in 1923 and was elected President of the Senate three years later. As President he participated in the public and parliamentary ceremonies for the opening of Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927. Knighted that day, he agreed to adjourn the Senate early and so prevented the tabling of a committee report critical of the government’s plans to privatise the Commonwealth shipping line. Although former President Givens rebuked him for allowing the government to arrange the Business of the Senate, Newlands maintained that he was unaware of the political implications of his actions, being both caught up in the excitement of the day and unwell.3
Having served three terms in the Senate and battling ill-health, Newlands reluctantly decided not to stand for re-election. He made his last speech in the Senate in 1931 and died the following year.4 He was remembered by Senate colleagues for his fairness and conscientiousness as President.5
Charles Arthur Wheeler OBE DCM
New Zealand-born artist and art teacher Charles Wheeler (1880-1977) moved to Melbourne with his family in about 1891. At age 15 he was apprenticed as a lithographic artist and later studied at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School under Frederick McCubbin and Bernard Hall. In 1912 he travelled to Europe, where he exhibited at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français in Paris. Enlisting in the Royal Fusiliers in World War I, he was awarded the DCM (1916) for his actions at Vimy Ridge. Discharged in 1919, Wheeler resumed his painting practice in London, exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts. The following year, he returned to Melbourne and continued to exhibit and to teach at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. Well known for his portraits and nudes, he won the Archibald Prize in 1933 for his portrait of writer Ambrose Pratt. In 1951 he was awarded an OBE for his contribution to art. He continued painting mostly impressionistic landscapes until he died and in 1979, the Victoria College of the Arts held a retrospective exhibition of his work. He is represented in national and state collections across Australia.6
John Newlands
by Charles Arthur Wheeler
1928
Oil on canvas
134.5 x 104.5 cm
Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection
References
1. Unless otherwise noted, information is sourced from ‘Newlands, Sir John (1864–1932)’, The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate Online Edition, Department of the Senate, Parliament of Australia, published first in hardcopy 2004; G Grainger, ‘Newland, Sir John (1864–1932)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988; Parliamentary Library, ‘Newlands, Sir John, KCMG, CBE’, Parliamentary Handbook Online. Websites accessed 7 June 2021.
2. Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, ‘Report together with the minutes of evidence relating to the following proposed railways: a) Northern Territory Railwayextension from Mataranka to Daly Waters; and b) extension of the Port Augusta–Oodnadatta Railway from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs’, Commonwealth of Australia, 5 October 1922, p. xi.
3. J Newlands, ‘Adjournment’, Senate, Debates, 9 May 1927, p. 13; T Givens, ‘Privileges’, Senate, Debates, 6 October 1927, p. 281; ‘Newlands, Sir John (1864–1932)’, The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, op. cit.
4. J Newlands, ‘John Newlands’s Good Wishes’, The Advertiser, 4 December 1931, p. 24, accessed 2 August 2021.
5. ‘Death of Senator Sir John Newlands’, Senate, Debates, 20 May 1932, pp. 1115–17.
6. ‘Wheeler, Charles Arthur’, A McCulloch, S McCulloch and E McCulloch Childs, eds, The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Aus Art Editions in association with The Miegunyah Press, 2006, p. 1017; ‘Charles Wheeler 1881–1977’, National Portrait Gallery; MWH Pennings, ‘Wheeler, Charles Arthur (1880–1977)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1990. Websites accessed 27 April 2021.