Sam Benson

Samuel James Benson, CBE (12 July 1909 – 26 July 1995) was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he was educated in that city at St Peter's College. He became a wool-classer, then a seaman and Port Phillip pilot, earning the rank of ship's master in 1938.[1]

"Samuel Benson" redirects here. For the American politician, see Samuel P. Benson. For the Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem character, see Sam Benson (character).

Sam Benson
CBE
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Batman
In office
1 September 1962 – 29 September 1969
Preceded byAlan Bird
Succeeded byHorrie Garrick
Personal details
Born(1909-07-12)12 July 1909
Cheltenham, South Australia
Died26 July 1995(1995-07-26) (aged 86)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Political partyLabor (1962–66)
Independent (1966–69)
OccupationSailor
Military service
AllegianceAustralia
Branch/serviceRoyal Australian Navy
Years of service1939–1945
RankLieutenant commander

Benson joined the Royal Australian Navy during World War II, and commanded the Bathurst-class corvette HMAS Kiama.[2]

Having served as Mayor and Councillor on Williamstown City Council,[3] he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 1962 as the Labor member for Batman,[4][5] filling the vacancy formed by the death of Alan Bird.[6] Benson was re-elected in 1963, but was expelled from the ALP in August 1966.[6][7] The expulsion arose from Benson's support of continued Australian participation in the Vietnam War, and, more specifically, his refusal to resign from an organisation called the Defend Australia Committee, after it had been proscribed by the Federal Executive. This organisation comprised a number of Liberal Party, Democratic Labor Party and right-wing activists, and was supported by B.A. Santamaria.[8][9] Thereafter he served in parliament as an independent. He was re-elected as an independent in 1966, the first person to achieve this feat in the House of Representatives since Lewis Nott in 1949.[6]

Benson retired in 1969, and served as the General Secretary of the Merchant Service Guild from 1970 to 1972.[6] He died on 26 July 1995.[6]

References
  1. "A master mariner and man of the Batman community". The Age. 14 September 1995. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  2. Frame, Tom (1993). HMAS Sydney: Loss and Controversy. Rydalmere, NSW: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 178. ISBN 0-340-58468-8. OCLC 32234178.
  3. J.S. Legge (ed.) (1974), Who's Who in Australia, Herald and Weekly Times Limited, Melbourne, Australia, page 103.
  4. Lyle Allan (1995), 'Sam Benson for Batman and Australia. Labor preselection problems, the ethnic vote, and the ghost of Benson,' People and Place, Vol.3, No.3, Pages 54-56
  5. Andrew Lemon (1983), The Northcote Side of the River, Hargreen Publishing Company, North Melbourne, Page 268. ISBN 0-949905-12-7
  6. Carr, Adam (2008). "COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA: LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 26 NOVEMBER 1966: VOTING BY CONSTITUENCY: Victoria". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  7. Peter Howson (edited by Don Aitkin) (1984), The Howson Diaries. The Life of Politics, Viking Press, Ringwood, Victoria, page 50. ISBN 0-7139-1656-7
  8. Michelle Grattan (1967), 'The Benson Affair', Australian Quarterly Vol. 39, No. 3, September, pages 20-37.
  9. Susanna Short (1992), Laurie Short. A Political Life, Allen and Unwin, North Sydney, New South Wales, page 246. ISBN 1-86373-188-1
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