Summary heading
C L A Abbott (CP 30)
Career within Commonwealth
Charles Lydiard Aubrey Abbott was born at St
Leonards, Sydney in 1886 and educated at The King’s School, Parramatta. He left
school at the age of 14 and worked as a jackaroo near Gunnedah and later as a
stockman at Mitchell and Roma and at a sugar cane mill near Mackay in
Queensland, then as a clerk with the NSW Police Force in Sydney (1908-14). In
August 1914, he enlisted with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary
Force (ANMEF) which took possession of German New Guinea. Transferring to the
Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in March 1915, he embarked with the 12th
Light Horse Regiment in June that year and served at Gallipoli and in Egypt,
Palestine and Syria (1916-18). He was commissioned at Gallipoli in October
1915, wounded in May 1918, returned to Australia in August 1919 and was
discharged with the rank of Captain in February 1920.
With financial assistance from an uncle, Abbott purchased a
property (Echo Hills) at Kootingal in NSW. He was active in the Northern New
State League and Graziers’ Association of NSW, joined the Country Party and
unsuccessfully contested the state Legislative Assembly seat of Namoi (1925).
He was elected to Commonwealth Parliament as member for Gwydir in November the
same year, however, was defeated at the 1929 general election, re-elected in
1931 and resigned in 1937.
In the Bruce-Page Coalition Government, Abbott held the
portfolios of Home and Territories (1928) and Home Affairs (1928-29), and was a
member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee of Public Accounts (1926-28). His
responsibilities as a minister included the Northern Territory and, in 1937, he
was appointed Administrator. Somewhat authoritarian and not without critics,
Abbott retained the position throughout World War II, including the bombing of
Darwin, until retiring on sick leave in 1946. He presented a paper on the
Northern Territory to the Royal Geographical Society in London (1947) and his
book, ‘Australia’s Frontier Province’, was published in 1950.
C L A Abbott died at Darlinghurst, Sydney in 1975, a few
days before his 89th birthday, and was given a state funeral.
Links to other Commonwealth Persons
Publications
Australia’s Frontier Province (Sydney, Angus and Robertson,
1950)
End notes
Sources
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 13 (1940-1980), pp
2-3
Parliamentary Handbook 1931-1935, p 12
Who’s Who in Australia 1950, p 33; 1974, pp 33-34
Summary heading
Unregistered links
1930-1931:
Primary Producers’ Advisory Council - Secretary