Arthur Claude Moore

Moore was born on 1 March 1898 in Strathbogie, Victoria. He was the eighth child of Mary (née Davis) and Reuben Edward Moore. Following their mother's death, he and a sister were sent to Melbourne to be raised by a woman they knew as "Granny Andersen". Moore attended a state school in Moonee Ponds and subsequently found work as a junior clerk with Victorian Railways. In 1918 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, serving in Turkey with the 7th Light Horse Regiment.[1]

Moore joined the New South Wales branch of the Department of Trade and Customs in 1917, returning to work full time in 1919 following his discharge from the military. He moved back to Melbourne in 1924 and in the same year qualified as an accountant. He subsequently became one of the first public servants to move to Canberra, which replaced Melbourne as Australia's capital in 1927. Moore was part of the Australian delegation to the Ottawa Conference of 1932 and represented his department on the Australian Eastern Mission of 1934. He subsequently became the principal adviser to trade minister Henry Gullett, also accompanying Joseph Lyons and Earle Page on trade missions to London in 1935 and 1938 respectively. From 1935 he held the rank of assistant comptroller-general of customs.[1] According to The Argus, he was "recognised as an outstanding authority on trade and manufacturing problems".[2]

In June 1946, Moore returned to Australia and announced his resignation from the public service.[5] While in the U.S. he had convinced The Coca-Cola Company to sell off its Sydney bottling operations to Australian investors. He was subsequently appointed chairman and managing director of Coca-Cola Bottlers (Sydney) Pty Ltd, a position he held until 1954. He also had commercial interests in a fertiliser plant at Chullora and a bauxite and dolomite mine at Mount Fairy.[1]

Moore married Stella Hogan in 1925. The couple had three children, however two died in infancy.[1] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1938.[6] While in New York in 1946, Moore married Olga Badik, a Canadian, with whom he had another two children. Outside of his professional activities he served a term as president of the Wine and Food Society of New South Wales. He died on 4 October 1978 at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, aged 80.[1]