James Fenton (Australian politician)
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The Honourable James Fenton CMG |
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| Member of the Australian Parliament for Maribyrnong |
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In office 13 April 1910 – 15 September 1934 |
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| Preceded by | Samuel Mauger |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Drakeford |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
4 February 1864 Avoca, Victoria |
| Died | 2 December 1950 (aged 86) Frankston, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party |
Labor (1910–31) UAP (1931–34) |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Jane Harvey |
| Occupation | Managing director |
James Edward Fenton CMG (4 February 1864 – 2 December 1950) was an Australian politician. He is notable for having been appointed a cabinet minister by two governments of different political complexions, but resigning from both governments on matters of principle but only his first resignation looms largely in history as that came with his political defection whereas there was no defection with his second resignation.
He was also acting as prime minister of Australia for several months in the early 1930s.
Born at Nette Yallock, near Avoca, Victoria, Fenton was educated at a local school. At 13 he became a printer's apprentice with the Avoca Mail and later became a compositor in the Government Printing Office in Melbourne, but lost his job in the 1893 depression. In 1887, he married Elizabeth Jane Harvey. He was editor of the Broadford Courier from 1894 to 1903, and managing director of the Co-operative Dairyman from 1904 to 1910.
Fenton stood unsuccessfully for election to the Victorian Legislative Assembly three times as a liberal from 1897. In 1908 he stood, again unsuccessfully, as a Labor candidate; but in 1910, he was first elected as a member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Maribyrnong in Victoria. He held the seat without interruption until 1934.
When James Scullin led the Labor Party to victory at the 1929 general election, Fenton became Minister for Trade and Customs. He greatly increased the level of tariffs in an attempt to stimulate Australian industrial production.
However, the government soon was divided over the appropriate means to combat the Great Depression. Fenton became a supporter of the cautious, deflationary economic policies championed inside the Cabinet by his fellow minister Joseph Lyons, while other ministers supported more radical inflationary policies. While Scullin was in Britain from August 1930 to January 1931, attending the Imperial Conference and seeking to raise a low-interest loan for Australia, Fenton served as Acting Prime Minister, and Lyons as Acting Treasurer. Lyons, with Fenton's support, pursued conservative economic policies and sought to cut government spending, causing great anger among many in the Labor Caucus.
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