Bruce Smith (Australian politician)
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Bruce Smith KC |
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| Member of the Australian Parliament for Parkes |
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In office 29 March 1901 – 13 December 1919 |
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| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Charles Marr |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
28 June 1851 Rotherhithe, England |
| Died | 14 August 1937 (aged 86) Bowral, New South Wales |
| Nationality | English Australian |
| Political party |
Free Trade (1901–06) Anti-Socialist (1906–09) Liberal (1909–17) Nationalist (1917–19) Independent (1919) |
| Residence | Edmund Smith (brother) |
| Occupation | Barrister |
Arthur Bruce Smith KC (28 June 1851 – 14 August 1937) was a long serving Australian politician and leading political opponent of the White Australia policy.
Born in Rotherhithe, Surrey, England, Smith was the fifth of seven sons of wealthy ship owner William Howard Smith and his second wife Agnes. One brother, Edmund (1847–1914), would serve in the Victorian Legislative Council from 1901 to 1903. The family immigrated to Melbourne in 1854 where Smith was educated at Wesley College and studied law at the University of Melbourne before leaving for England where he was called to the Bar in 1877.
Returning to Melbourne the next year, Smith was admitted to the Victorian Bar and on 15 January 1879, married Sara Jane Creswell, who bore him four sons and three daughters. Developing an interest in politics, Smith unsuccessfully stood for the Victorian electoral district of Emerald Hill in February 1880, before moving to Sydney in 1881, where he won a Legislative Assembly by-election for Gundagai in 1882.
Resigning from parliament in April 1884, Smith returned to Melbourne to run his father's business, WM Howard Smith and Sons Ltd. In March 1885 Smith founded the Victorian Employers' Union, serving as its inaugural president until 1887, and the Victorian Board of Conciliation. Union leaders favourably commented upon his willingness to work with unions to achieve consensus, an attitude missing in fellow employers.
In 1887, Smith published Liberty and Liberalism, a defence of classical Adam Smith liberalism in politics and economics and an attack against what he considered the increasing interference by the state. Additionally, Smith later wrote books on the Constitution of Australia, the dangers of socialism and a volume of verse.
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