Leader of the Opposition, 1913-1933

 
Component identifier:
Series 46
Content Summary:

In November 1929, following the defeat of S. M. Bruce by E. J. Holloway in the general election, Latham was elected leader of the Nationalist Party. On 17 April 1931 Latham announced that, with the formation of the United Australia Party, he would be resigning as Leader of the Opposition and would be succeeded by J. A. Lyons. Latham was Deputy Leader of the Opposition until December 1931.

The series contains many reprints of speeches in Hansard, notes for speeches, draft press statements, newscuttings, publications, correspondence, notes on the objective of the Nationalist Party and the report of the Organizing Committee of the Nationalist Council. Apart from letters of congratulation on Latham's election as Leader, the correspondence deals with that arrangement of parliamentary business, the appointment of Sir Isaac Isaacs as Governor-General, economic matters, tariff investigations and relations with the Country Party.

Items 246-334 relate to the 1930 Constitution Alteration (Power of Amendment) Bill and the Constitution Alteration (Industrial Powers) Bill, both of which were rejected by the Senate. They include notes on referenda and correspondence with State Leaders and the Nationalist organisation.

Items 335-521 relate to the 1930 Royal Commission on Mungana and Chillagoe Mines (Commissioner: Justice L. J. Campbell). The Commission investigated allegations against the Treasurer E. G. Theodore and three former associates regarding mining transactions. The papers include the report of the Royal Commission, a report of a speech by Theodore in Brisbane (14 March 1931), typescript papers on the Queensland Supreme Court case R. v. P. L. Goddard, F. Reid, W. McCormack and E. G. Theodore, a paper on the Mungana Case sent to Latham by the Queensland Premier's Office (August 1930), notes for speeches, correspondence with Theodore, A. E. Moore, the Queensland Premier, and Nationalist politicians and officials (July 1929-November 1930), and newscuttings.

Immediate source of acquisition:
The bulk of the collection was presented to the National Library by Sir John Latham in December 1963, a few months before his death. In November 1974 the Library purchased some further papers from a secondhand book dealer. They comprised family letters and photographs, some diaries and papers relating to the High Court. These papers have been amalgamated into the original collection.

Contents

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
Available for research. Not for loan.
Parent Terms of Access:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: