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Norman Makin
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Norman Makin
Norman John Oswald Makin AO (31 March 1889 – 20 July 1982) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (1929–1932), a cabinet minister during World War II, the inaugural President of the United Nations Security Council, and as Australian Ambassador to the United States (1946–1951).
Makin was born in Sydney to a working-class family and moved frequently during his youth, settling in South Australia in 1911. He trained as a patternmaker and was an officeholder in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. Makin was an anti-conscriptionist during the 1916 ALP split and subsequently served as state president from 1918 to 1919. He was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1919 federal election. During the Scullin government he served as Speaker of the House, the youngest holder of the office.
During World War II, Makin was a senior cabinet minister in the governments of John Curtin and Ben Chifley, serving as Minister for the Navy (1941–1946), Minister for Munitions (1941–1946), and Minister for Aircraft Production (1945–1946). He unsuccessfully sought the ALP leadership on two occasions. In 1946 Makin was chosen to lead the inaugural Australian delegation to the United Nations and subsequently became Australian ambassador to the United States. He returned to federal parliament at the 1954 election, eventually retiring at the 1963 election after spending 36 of the last 44 years as an MP.
Makin was born on 31 March 1889 in Petersham, New South Wales. He was the son of Elizabeth (née Yates) and John Hulme Makin, who had immigrated from Lancashire, England. At the time of his birth his father was a patternmaker at the Eveleigh Railway Workshops.
Makin's family moved to Melbourne in 1891 and to Broken Hill in 1898, where he attended Broken Hill Superior Public School. He left school at thirteen and became a parcel boy for Boan Bros drapers. He was a member of the Shop Assistants' Union at fourteen; he worked for two stationers and newsagents, sold the Barrier Miner in the streets of Broken Hill, and was chief assistant at the C Day & Co bookstore at eighteen. He was largely self-educated and became a keen reader, and was involved in local debating and literary societies. In 1909, while still a shop assistant, he was a witness for the defence at the conspiracy trial of trade unionist Tom Mann. At eighteen, Makin undertook an apprenticeship in pattern-making and engineering, and was employed in various mines; he joined the Amalgamated Society of Engineers.
He moved to Adelaide in 1911, and married Ruby Florence Jennings on 10 August 1912. He worked in a Kapunda foundry, and for James Martin & Company at Gawler. He had difficulty finding work at times due to his political activities, and returned to Broken Hill for a period, but returned to Adelaide in 1914 to work at Gray Bros. at Port Adelaide, and then in the Islington Railway Workshops. Having been involved in the labour movement from an early age, Makin was president of the North Adelaide district branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1914 and secretary of its political committee in 1917. He was an unsuccessful Labor candidate for Barossa at the 1915 state election, reportedly riding over 2000 miles during the campaign, and again for Wakefield at the 1917 federal election. He publicly campaigned against conscription during World War I, and was president of the South Australian branch of the Labor Party from 1918 to 1919, in the aftermath of the 1916 Labor split over the issue. In 1918, he published a book on the progress of the labour movement in South Australia entitled A Progressive Democracy.
Makin was a lifelong Methodist, and in 1977 received a certificate from the church commending him on having been a lay preacher for seventy years.
Makin was elected to the House of Representatives for Hindmarsh at the 1919 federal election, defeating Nationalist MP and 1916 Labor defector William Archibald in an acrimonious campaign. He was re-elected without difficulty in 1922, 1925 and 1928, reverting Hindmarsh to its traditional status as a safe Labor seat. He spent ten years in Opposition before the election of the Scullin Labor government in 1929. While in opposition, he served as secretary to the Labor caucus and had been touted in 1925 as a potential successor to John Gunn as state Labor leader and Premier of South Australia.
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Norman Makin
Norman John Oswald Makin AO (31 March 1889 – 20 July 1982) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (1929–1932), a cabinet minister during World War II, the inaugural President of the United Nations Security Council, and as Australian Ambassador to the United States (1946–1951).
Makin was born in Sydney to a working-class family and moved frequently during his youth, settling in South Australia in 1911. He trained as a patternmaker and was an officeholder in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. Makin was an anti-conscriptionist during the 1916 ALP split and subsequently served as state president from 1918 to 1919. He was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1919 federal election. During the Scullin government he served as Speaker of the House, the youngest holder of the office.
During World War II, Makin was a senior cabinet minister in the governments of John Curtin and Ben Chifley, serving as Minister for the Navy (1941–1946), Minister for Munitions (1941–1946), and Minister for Aircraft Production (1945–1946). He unsuccessfully sought the ALP leadership on two occasions. In 1946 Makin was chosen to lead the inaugural Australian delegation to the United Nations and subsequently became Australian ambassador to the United States. He returned to federal parliament at the 1954 election, eventually retiring at the 1963 election after spending 36 of the last 44 years as an MP.
Makin was born on 31 March 1889 in Petersham, New South Wales. He was the son of Elizabeth (née Yates) and John Hulme Makin, who had immigrated from Lancashire, England. At the time of his birth his father was a patternmaker at the Eveleigh Railway Workshops.
Makin's family moved to Melbourne in 1891 and to Broken Hill in 1898, where he attended Broken Hill Superior Public School. He left school at thirteen and became a parcel boy for Boan Bros drapers. He was a member of the Shop Assistants' Union at fourteen; he worked for two stationers and newsagents, sold the Barrier Miner in the streets of Broken Hill, and was chief assistant at the C Day & Co bookstore at eighteen. He was largely self-educated and became a keen reader, and was involved in local debating and literary societies. In 1909, while still a shop assistant, he was a witness for the defence at the conspiracy trial of trade unionist Tom Mann. At eighteen, Makin undertook an apprenticeship in pattern-making and engineering, and was employed in various mines; he joined the Amalgamated Society of Engineers.
He moved to Adelaide in 1911, and married Ruby Florence Jennings on 10 August 1912. He worked in a Kapunda foundry, and for James Martin & Company at Gawler. He had difficulty finding work at times due to his political activities, and returned to Broken Hill for a period, but returned to Adelaide in 1914 to work at Gray Bros. at Port Adelaide, and then in the Islington Railway Workshops. Having been involved in the labour movement from an early age, Makin was president of the North Adelaide district branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1914 and secretary of its political committee in 1917. He was an unsuccessful Labor candidate for Barossa at the 1915 state election, reportedly riding over 2000 miles during the campaign, and again for Wakefield at the 1917 federal election. He publicly campaigned against conscription during World War I, and was president of the South Australian branch of the Labor Party from 1918 to 1919, in the aftermath of the 1916 Labor split over the issue. In 1918, he published a book on the progress of the labour movement in South Australia entitled A Progressive Democracy.
Makin was a lifelong Methodist, and in 1977 received a certificate from the church commending him on having been a lay preacher for seventy years.
Makin was elected to the House of Representatives for Hindmarsh at the 1919 federal election, defeating Nationalist MP and 1916 Labor defector William Archibald in an acrimonious campaign. He was re-elected without difficulty in 1922, 1925 and 1928, reverting Hindmarsh to its traditional status as a safe Labor seat. He spent ten years in Opposition before the election of the Scullin Labor government in 1929. While in opposition, he served as secretary to the Labor caucus and had been touted in 1925 as a potential successor to John Gunn as state Labor leader and Premier of South Australia.
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