Eric Spooner
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The Honourable Eric Spooner |
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| Member of the Australian Parliament for Robertson |
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In office 21 September 1940 – 21 August 1943 |
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| Preceded by | Sydney Gardner |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Williams |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1 March 1891 Waterloo, New South Wales |
| Died | 3 June 1952 (aged 61) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | United Australia Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Berry |
| Relations | Bill Spooner (brother) |
| Occupation | Accountant |
Eric Sydney Spooner (2 March 1891 – 3 June 1952) was an Australian politician.
Spooner was born in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo and educated at Christ Church St Laurence School. At 14 he became a telegraph messenger and studied at night at the University of Sydney to gain a diploma in economics and commerce. He married Mary Berry in December 1919. He established the accounting firm of Hungerford, Spooner & Co in 1922 with his brother Bill, a Liberal cabinet minister from 1949 to 1964.
Spooner was elected the seat of Ryde in 1932 and became an honorary minister in the United Australia Party government of Bertram Stevens. He subsequently became Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Local Government. From 1935 he was Minister for Local Government, Secretary for Public Works and deputy leader of the parliamentary United Australia Party. He was responsible for establishing employment-creating schemes and the Sydney County Council, a gas and electricity supplier. In 1939 he opposed budget cuts and resigned from Cabinet on 21 July. On 1 August, he moved a motion that brought down the government, but he failed to get enough support to form his own government.
In August 1940 Spooner resigned his seat and won the Federal seat of Robertson in the October election. In June 1941, he was appointed Minister for War Organisation of Industry in the third Menzies Ministry, a position he retained until the fall of the Fadden government in October 1941. He lost his seat in the 1943 election. He joined the new Liberal Party, but was almost expelled for questioning the White Australia Policy. He ran unsuccessfully against Prime Minister Ben Chifley in Macquarie in 1946.
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