the House of Representatives
What position did William Gibson (Australian politician) take from Dec 1918 to Oct 1929?
William Gibson ( Australian politician ) William Gerrand Gibson ( 19 May 1869 – 22 May 1955 ) was an Australian politician . He was the first member of the Country Party elected to federal parliament , serving in the House of Representatives ( 1918–1929 , 1931–1934 ) and as a Senator for Victoria ( 1935–1947 ) . He was the partys deputy leader from 1923 to 1929 and was a government minister in the Bruce–Page Government . Early life . Gibson was born on 19 May 1869 in Gisborne , Victoria . His parents Grace ( née Gerrand ) and David Gibson were both born in Scotland , and arrived in Victoria in 1860 . His younger brother David also became a member of parliament . Gibson was educated locally , and worked with his father for a period before acquiring his own farm . He married Mary Helen Young Paterson on 4 November 1896 at Riddells Creek . As well as farming , Gibson established himself as a merchant , running general stores at Romsey and Lancefield . He was president of the Romsey and West Bourke Agricultural Society and the local branch of the Australian Natives Association . In 1910 , Gibson bought a subdivision of Gnarpurt , James Chester Manifolds property near Lismore in the Western District . He subsequently established a successful grazing property , with his brother David taking up land nearby in Cressy . He was elected manager of the Western Plains Co-operative Society in 1911 . Politics . Early career . In 1911 Gibson was elected secretary of the Lismore branch of the Peoples Party . In 1916 , Victorian farmers became suspicious of price-fixing of the price of wheat under the War Precautions Act 1914 and established the Victorian Farmers Union in response and Gibson was elected secretary of its Lismore branch . His brother , David Havelock ( Harvey ) , won the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Grenville for the union in 1917 . At a 1918 by-election , he won the federal seat of Corangamite for the Farmers Union , defeating James Scullin on preferences . It was the first win for what would become the Country Party . In February 1920 , when parliament resumed after the 1919 federal election , Gibson chaired the inaugural meeting of the parliamentary Country Party , which saw William McWilliams elected unopposed as leader . Government minister . He successfully pressed for regulated wheat and dairy prices to be raised until the abolition of price controls in 1921 . He was Postmaster-General from 1923 to 1929 , and encouraged the construction of telephone lines , the extension of roadside mail deliveries and the building of post offices in country districts . He also encouraged the development of radio broadcasting . In 1928 , he was appointed Minister for Works and Railways , as well . Gibson was defeated with the Bruce-Page government at the 1929 elections and returned to farming . He won Corangamite back at the 1931 elections , but Joseph Lyons did not take the Country Party into his ministry . Senate . At the 1934 elections , he was elected to the Senate and he remained a senator until he retired in 1947 . Gibson was elected to the Senate on a joint ticket with the UAP , with the support of the Victorian state executive of the Country Party . This was opposed by the federal executive , which endorsed the sitting Country Party senator Robert Elliott ; he lost his seat . Gibson took his seat on 1 July 1935 as a member of the Country Party . However , on 23 September the parliamentary party voted to expel him . He subsequently sat as an Independent Country senator . He was not re-admitted to the party until November 1939 , when the new leader Archie Cameron invited him to rejoin . In 1941 , Gibson was elected chair of the Joint Committee on Wireless Broadcasting , which came to be known as the Gibson Committee due to his vigorous leadership . Its report led to the passage of the Broadcasting Act 1942 by the Curtin Government . Later life . Gibson retired to Cluan , his home in Lismore , and in retirement enjoyed fishing , shooting , and golf . He died at the Lismore Bush Nursing Hospital on 22 May 1955 , aged 86 . He was survived by his son David and daughter Margaret , having been widowed in 1944 . His daughter Grace died suddenly in 1946 at the age of 48 ; she had been his private secretary for 20 years .