page_title: James Dunn (Australian politician)
section_title: Politics
hierarchical_section_title: James Dunn (Australian politician) / Politics
caption_attribution_description: James Dunn
context_page_description: James Patrick Digger Dunn was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for New South Wales from 1929 to 1935. He was elected as a member of the Labor Party, but after the 1931 party split joined the breakaway Lang Labor faction. He was one of only two Lang Labor senators, but was designated as the party's Senate leader. Dunn was a trade unionist and World War I soldier before entering politics. He was a perennial candidate for state and federal office between 1919 and 1945, but won only a single election.
context_section_description: Dunn was elected to the Labor Party state executive in 1921. He first stood for parliament at the 1919 federal election, losing to Walter Marks in the Division of Wentworth. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate in 1922 and 1925, eventually winning a seat at the 1928 election. Three months prior to the election, he adopted "Digger" as one of his middle names so it would appear on the ballot. He was subsequently criticised by Major General Pompey Elliott for doing so.
  Dunn's term in the Senate began on 1 July 1929. He attributed the Great Depression to the "international money power, which controls the very existence of every man and woman in the capitalist-controlled countries on this earth". In March 1931, Dunn joined the breakaway Lang Labor faction, which comprised supporters of Jack Lang's left-wing populist economic policies. He was one of only two Lang Labor senators, along with 71-year-old Arthur Rae, but was nonetheless nominated as its Senate leader. He was among those who voted to bring down the Scullin Government in November 1931, and played a key role in coordinating the vote with United Australia Party, working with UAP senator Hal Colebatch. Dunn was defeated at the 1934 federal election. Although he personally polled 32.7 percent of the vote, the preferential block voting system in use at the time meant that the Coalition won all three seats with just over half of the total.
  After his defeat, Dunn established a chemical manufacturing company whose main product was a compound analgesic marketed as a headache powder. He remained politically involved, and at the 1938 state election stood as a candidate of the Industrial Labor Party, another breakaway group. He lost to the official Labor candidate in Leichhardt. In 1941, Dunn's old Lang Labor colleague Eddie Ward secured him a position in the Department of Labour and National Service. He was terminated in November 1943 after Ward left the department. Dunn eventually rejoined the Labor Party, standing unsuccessfully in Manly at the 1941 and 1944 elections. His final candidacy came at the 1945 Manly by-election, caused by the death of Alfred Reid. He was denied ALP preselection and stood as a Soldiers' Party candidate, which precipitated his expulsion from the Labor Party.
caption: Dunn c. 1920s
exif: {}