Cleaver Bunton
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Cleaver Bunton AO OBE (5 May 1902 - 20 January 1999) was a long serving public official in Albury, New South Wales who came to national prominence in 1975 when he was controversially appointed to the Australian Senate.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Albury, Bunton left school at 13 and initially worked as a clerk in a solicitor's office before becoming an accountant. He also was involved in Albury sporting and community affairs, playing Australian rules football with the Albury Football Club, becoming captain-coach and club secretary at 17. His younger brother Haydn Bunton went on to become a notable Australian rules footballer.
Bunton married Eileen O'Malley in 1930.
In 1930 Bunton was elected president of the Ovens and Murray Football League (a position he held until 1969). He also held administrative roles in the Victorian Country Football League, the West Albury Tennis Club and a range of other community groups and organisations.
[edit] Municipal career
In recognition of his role in Albury, Bunton was encouraged to run for a position on the Albury Municipal Council, and was elected in 1925 at the age of 22, the youngest person ever elected to a council to that time. After initially retiring in 1931, he returned to the council in 1937, elected Mayor of Albury in 1945 and served as such (with a few minor breaks) until August 1976. Bunton was also a regional radio commentator, commenting on sport and reading the news bulletins.
[edit] Appontment to the Australian Senate
Bunton would have remained an uncontroversial hardworking local administrator but for the resignation of Australian Labor Party Senator Lionel Murphy in 1975 to take up a position on the High Court of Australia. Tradition dictated that Senate casual vacancies were filled by persons from the same political party. However, the New South Wales Liberal Party Premier, Tom Lewis, defied this tradition by appointing Bunton, who was not affiliated with any party, on 27 February 1975. Facing a hostile Labor Party (and sometimes hostile electorate), Bunton surprised many observers by acting independently rather than a Liberal appointee and resisted urgings from the Malcolm Fraser-led Opposition to block the supply bill of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's Government. Bunton was therefore involved in, although not directly responsible for, the constitutional crisis that occurred when Governor-General John Kerr dismissed Whitlam. Bunton lost his Senate position at the ensuing election.
[edit] Honours
For his services, Bunton was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1954, an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 1975, a member of the Ovens and Murray League Hall Of Fame, as well as receiving an honorary degree from Charles Sturt University and having a street in Albury, a chrysanthemum and a ward in the Albury Base Hospital named in his honour. In recognition of his years of service to his home city, Bunton was occasionally known by the sobriquet `Mr Albury'.
[edit] References
- Goodbye Mr Albury, Herald Sun, Melbourne. 4 February 1999.
- Hansard Senate 15 February 1999, see pp 1858 onwards
| Preceded by: Dudley Padman |
Mayor of Albury 1946 – 1960 |
Succeeded by: John King |
| Preceded by: John King |
Mayor of Albury 1961 – 1972 |
Succeeded by: Tom Pearsall |
| Preceded by: Tom Pearsall |
Mayor of Albury 1974 – 1976 |
Succeeded by: Max Barry |
