Australian Politics and Elections Archive 1856-2018
The University of Western Australia

State Government of Western Australia beginning 2 April 1959 - period in office of Premier Brand, David ending on 3 March 1971

Period in office of premier (see Glossary entry for 'period in office' and related terms)

Parliamentary support during period

Number of ministers at beginning of period (this may vary during the period)

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Notes

Loss of general election (Hawke): Beginning of Brand's period in office: 'The Hawke [Australian Labor Party] ministry was defeated at the election on 21 March 1959. On 1 April the Liberal Country League and the Country and Democratic League parliamentary parties met and re-elected Brand and [A F] Watts their respective leaders. After negotiations between the parliamentary and extr-parliamentary parties six places in the ministry were assigned to the LCL and four to the CDL. The CDL caucus elected its Ministers, while the Liberals were selected by Brand. Portfolios were allocated by consultation between the parties', Hughes and Graham, p. 237 (see 'Sources', below).

Brand was commissioned as Premier of a Liberal and Country League and Country and Democratic League coalition minority government on 2 April 1959. The coalition parties had won only 25 of the 50 seats in the Legislative Assembly, but could rely on the support of two Independent Liberal members (W L Grayden and E P Oldfield). For a brief comment on the formation of the ministry, see F K Crowley, 'Western Australia', Australian Journal of Politics and History, Political Chronicle, 5(2) November 1959: 243-245 at 244. For a more extensive treatment, see F K Crowley, State Election:The Fall of the Hawke Government, A Brief Account, especially pp 71-74 (Perth: published by the author, 1959).

Change in parliamentary support: By December 1960, at the end of the first parliamentary session after the general election for the Legislative Assembly on 21 March 1959, W L Grayden, who had been elected as an Independent Liberal, had decided to join the Liberal and Country League, giving the Brand coalition government majority support in the Legislative Assembly; see Robert Orr, 'Western Australia', Australian Journal of Politics and History, Australian Political Chronicle, 6 (1) May 1960: 106-108 at p. 106.

Loss of general election (Brand): The Brand government was defeated at the general election for the Legislative Assembly on 20 February 1971, with the Australian Labor Party gaining a majority of one seat in the Assembly. After the election results were finalized, Premier Brand resigned on 3 March 1971.

Liberal Party and Liberal and Country League: During Brand's period in office, the Liberal and Country League reverted to its earlier name of Liberal Party at the party conference in [July] 1968; see David Black, 'The Liberal Party and its Predecessors', in Ralph Pervan and Campbell Sharman (editors), Essays on Western Australian Politics, pp 191-232, at pp 225-226 (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1979, ISBN 0855641495).

Country Party and Country and Democratic League: During Brand's period in office, there was a change in the party name of his coalition partner. The name Country and Democratic League had been adopted by the Country Party in 1944, but the parliamentary party reverted to the name 'Country Party' in 1949 even though the '... title of the organization did not revert from CDL [Country and Democratic League] to Country Party until the 1960s', Lenore Layman, 'The Country Party: Rise and Decline', in Ralph Pervan and Campbell Sharman (editors), Essays on Western Australian Politics, pp 159-190, endnote 49, p. 188 (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1979, ISBN 0855641495).

References: For a study of the style of parliamentary politics during this period, see Lenore Layman, 'Continuity and Change, 1947-1965', and Harry Phillips, 'The Modern Parliament, 1965-1989', both chapters in David Black (editor), The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832-1990, pp 97-151 (Layman), and pp 185-262, particularly pp 186-201 (Phillips), (Perth: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project, Parliament of Western Australia, 1991, ISBN 0730939839).

Summary information on Western Australian premiers from 1890 to 1982 and a short essay, 'The Premiers -- An Introductory Comment', can be found in Reid and Oliver (see 'Sources', below).

The Australian Journal of Politics and History has provided brief surveys of Western Australian politics since 1956 in the 'Political Chronicle' section of the journal in issues of each annual volume. This publication can be viewed online through Wiley-Blackwell Journals at subscribing libraries.

For a survey of Brand's career, see David Black, 'Brand, Sir David (1912 - 1979)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, pp 249-250, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), on line at:
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130280b.htm?hilite=Brand

Sources

Colin A Hughes and B D Graham, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968, SBN 708102700); Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1965-1974, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1977 (ISBN 0708113400); John Mandy and David Black (editors),The Western Australian Parliamentary Handbook Centenary Edition, (Perth: Parliamentary History Project, Parliament of Western Australia, 1990, ISBN 0731697847); G S Reid and M R Oliver, The Premiers of Western Australia 1890-1982, (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1982, ISBN 0855642149).