Henry Somer Gullett

Sir Henry Somer Gullett

Sir Henry Somer Gullett KCMG (born March 26, 1878 in Toolamba West , Victoria , † August 13, 1940 in Canberra ) was an Australian politician and, among other things, foreign minister of the country.

Early life

Gullett was born in Toolamba, Victoria . He attended state schools until his father's death, but left them at the age of twelve. He then wrote for newspapers. He traveled to London as a journalist in 1908 and published a handbook on rural life in Australia, The Opportunity in Australia , in 1914 to recruit immigrants to the country. In 1912 he married Elizabeth Penelope Frater, with whom he had a son and a daughter.

In 1915, Gullett became the official correspondent for Australia on the Western Front . In July 1916 he joined the army himself and became a gunner with the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) . With Charles Bean he recorded his war experiences and later was a war correspondent in Palestine . For a short time in 1919 he was director of the Australian War Memorial . Billy Hughes appointed him head of the Australian Immigration Office in 1922, but in February of that year he returned to journalism as he was dissatisfied with the country's immigration policy.

Political career

In the federal elections in 1922 Gullett could not win a seat, but in 1925 it was so far and he won a seat for the constituency Henty for the Nationalist Party of Australia , where he remained for the rest of his life. From November 1928 to October 1929 he was Minister of Commerce and Consumption in the third term of Prime Minister Stanley Bruce . After the federal elections in 1931 he was again Minister for Trade and Consumption, this time for the successor party to the nationalists, the United Australia Party .

As Minister of Commerce he took part in the British Empire Economic Conference in Ottawa ( Canada ), which was supposed to facilitate trade in the former British colonies. As a result, he was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George . This happened in January 1933, but in the same month he had to resign for health reasons. In the second term of Joseph Lyons he became minister again in October 1934 and was responsible for trade matters. In this position he negotiated several trade deals. In March 1937 he resigned from displeasure with the cabinet's trade policy.

In April 1939 he became Foreign Minister under Robert Menzies ' first government and from September 1939 Minister for Information. He also held a ministerial post in Menzies' second term. He died in the Canberra plane crash in August 1940.

He was the father of Jo Gullett , a Member of Parliament from 1946 to 1955.

literature

• AJ Hill: Henry Somer Gullett . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1966–2012 (English).