Ross McLarty
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| Sir Duncan Ross McLarty KBE MM | |
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| In office 1 April 1947 – 23 February 1953 |
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| Preceded by | Frank Wise |
| Succeeded by | Albert Hawke |
| Constituency | Murray-Wellington |
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| Born | March 17, 1891 Pinjarra, Western Australia |
| Died | December 22, 1962 (aged 71) Pinjarra, Western Australia |
| Political party | Nationalist Party of Australia |
| Spouse | Violet Olive Margaret Herron |
Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, KBE, MM (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was the seventeenth Premier of Western Australia from April 1947 to February 1953.
McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty, a farmer and grazier and member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, and his wife Mary Jane, née Campbell. He attended Pinjarra State School and the High School, Perth. On 12 January 1916 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and from November 1916 fought on the Western Front, receiving the Military Medal in January 1918.
After the war McLarty returned to farming at Pinjarra and married Violet Olive Margaret Herron on 25 October 1922. He served as a justice of the peace from 1925 and belonged to the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (later the Returned and Services League of Australia). In 1930 he campaigned as a Nationalist candidate in the state elections with the slogan, 'A Practical Farmer for a Farming Electorate', winning the lower house seat of Electoral district of Murray-Wellington in 1930 under James Mitchell. Labor won the 1933 elections and in December 1946, after 16 years in opposition, McLarty was appointed as leader of the opposition. The April 1947 election saw the newly formed West Australian Liberal Party defeat the ALP government headed by Frank Wise who had held the position for only two years. McLarty's party formed a coalition government with the Country and Democratic League.
As well as his premiership, he held portfolios including Treasurer, Housing, Forests and the North-West. Under his administration the rapid post-war expansion of the West Australian economy commenced, and it was his government that in 1950 secured a deal with British Petroleum (BP) to develop an oil refinery at Kwinara (a percusor to the development of that area as Western Australia's main industrial zone). His government also accepted federal funding to establish the State Housing Commission, and thus kick-started the vast expansion of suburban Perth. However, his premiership was marred by infighting between the the two co-alition parties. He was knighted in January 1953, and lost at the elections the next month, continuing as opposition leader for another four years until March 1957.
Throughout his parliamentary career, McLarty travelled home to Pinjarra on most weekends. He was chairman of the Murray District Hospital Board and held a number of pastoral investments, including a controlling interest in Liveringa station, near Derby. He resigned from Parliament because of poor health in May 1962 and died in December. McLarty was buried in the local cemetery.
[edit] Further reading
- The McLarty Family of Pinjarra by Ronald Richards
- McLarty, D.R. (1951) The Development of Western Australia London: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, United Kingdom Branch "An address given in the rooms of The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (United Kingdom Branch), Westminster Hall, on March 20th, 1951, with the Rt. Hon Lord Llewellin, C.B.E., M.C. in the chair" -Inside cover.
- K. West, Power in the Liberal Party (Melb, 1965)
- West Australian, 13 Feb 1957, 19 May, 24 December 1962
- M. McLarty, Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, K.B.E., M.M. (State Library of Western Australia)
- McLarty family papers, 1887-1969 (State Library of Western Australia)
- Sir Ross McLarty, political ephemera (PR3597/1-10, State Library of Western Australia)
- R. Jamieson, interviews with R. Doig (transcript, 1984-86, State Library of Western Australia).
- Lenore Layman, McLarty, Sir Duncan Ross (1891 - 1962) Australian Dictionary of Biography - online edition
[edit] External links
- Lenore Layman, McLarty, Sir Duncan Ross (1891 - 1962), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition, published by Australian National University
- Duncan Ross McLarty (Liberal) April 1, 1947 to February 23, 1953 Constitutional Centre of Western Australia
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Frank Wise |
Premier of Western Australia 1947–1953 |
Succeeded by Albert Hawke |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | McLarty, Ross |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | McLarty, Duncan Ross |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17 March 1891 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pinjarra, Western Australia |
| DATE OF DEATH | 22 December 1962 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Pinjarra, Western Australia |
