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Speaker, 17 February 1932 to 7 August 1934
Nationalist Party, 1917 to 1931
United Australia Party, 1931 to 1934
George Mackay (1872-1961), businessman and eighth Speaker of the House of Representatives, was born in Copperfield, near Clermont in central Queensland. He was the second child of Scottish immigrants and his father, a carpenter, died suddenly when George was not yet three months old.1
An avid reader, Mackay was largely self-taught. In 1887 he began a printer’s apprenticeship at a local newspaper, eventually becoming its managing editor. In 1896 he married Edith Heard. They had three children but only the youngest, a son, survived. In 1899 Mackay was elected to Clermont Town Council and later served as mayor. After a brief period in Lismore he moved to Gympie in 1905. He was briefly involved in farming but worked principally as an auctioneer.
In 1911 he was elected to Gympie City Council and in 1912 narrowly won the seat of Gympie in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. During his parliamentary term, Mackay promoted the interests of his mining, farming and business constituents. In 1915 he lost his seat. Re-elected to Gympie City Council in 1916, he became mayor in 1917.
Mackay won the federal seat of Lilley for the Nationalist Party in 1917 and held it easily at six subsequent elections. Although boundary changes later placed it outside Lilley, Gympie remained his home. For most of his federal career he was a modest but conscientious back bencher, speaking occasionally on matters directly relevant to his constituents. As a member of the Joint Committee on Public Works from 1920 to 1928 he was involved in the development of Canberra, and as Chair oversaw the committee’s report recommending the construction of the Australian War Memorial.
Following the victory of Joseph Lyons’s newly formed UAP at the 1931 federal election, Mackay was elected unopposed as Speaker. He had friends on both sides of the House and his elevation reflected his reputation for impartiality and calm. He presided firmly but tactfully, demonstrating a sound knowledge of standing orders, and was generally regarded as impartial in his rulings.
Mackay announced in March 1934 that he would retire from Parliament at the next election, surprising his colleagues and the press. He explained that ‘one may remain in Parliament too long’.2 According to Mackay’s son, he was not looking forward to the demands of another parliamentary term. In farewelling him, Opposition Leader James Scullin stated that Mackay had ‘won the admiration of every one who has been privileged to witness the manner in which [he] discharged [his] functions’.3
After a long retirement in Gympie, Mackay died in 1961 at the age of 89. He was survived by his son and three granddaughters.
Albert Ernest Newbury
Artist Albert Newbury (1891-1941) was best known for his lyrical landscapes, evoking a sense of simplicity and space. Born in Melbourne, he spent his childhood in Geelong before moving to Melbourne where he enrolled to study painting under leading artists and teachers Frederick McCubbin and Bernard Hall at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. In 1913, at age 22, he won the Hugh Ramsay Prize for portrait painting with the two pictures he submitted, receiving both first and second place. In 1916, Newbury undertook further studies with the tonalist painter Max Meldrum, who had a lasting influence on his work. He held his first major exhibition in 1917, henceforth establishing his reputation as a landscape painter and portraitist in tonalist technique. In 1939, he was appointed Master of the School of Drawing at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. Newbury’s works are held in major state and national galleries throughout Australia.
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George Hugh Alexander Mackay
by Albert Ernest Newbury
1937
Oil on canvas
85.4 x 70.2 cm
Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection
References
1. Information in this biography has been taken from the following unless otherwise sourced: E Brown, ‘Mackay, George Hugh (1872–1961)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, 2021, accessed 30 August 2021.
2. G Mackay, ‘Valedictory: Retirement of Mr. Speaker’, House of Representatives, Debates, 1 August 1934, p. 1145.
3. Ibid., p. 1144.
4. ‘Newbury, Albert Ernest (1891–1941)’, The Geelong College, accessed 16 April 2021; ‘Newbury, Albert Ernest’, 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. 724.