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John Verdun (Jack) Newton (12 April 1916 – 14 January 1944) was elected to the Parliament of Western Australia, while serving as a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot in Europe, during World War II. Newton won the seat of Greenough at the 1943 State election, but was killed in action 55 days later.〔〔 While many other members of Australian parliaments (MPs) have served simultaneously as military personnel, Newton's tenure was unusual, because he was * preselected and elected while he was overseas;〔''The West Australian'', 8 November 1943, p. 2.〕〔 * probably the only serving Australian MP to fly on combat operations;〔(Government of Australia, 1943 ''UK0837'' ). (Photograph of John Verdun Newton.) (2 November 2014).〕 * never sworn in or able to sit in Parliament, and;〔〔 * killed in action while he was a MP. ==Civilian life and political career== Jack Newton was the son of Mary Elizabeth Newton (neé Doyle), and Edward Henry Newton, who had moved from Victoria to become farmers at Mingenew.〔Some sources give Mary Newton's maiden name as "Dingle", although official sources state that it was Doyle. (Marriage registration no. 6035, 1910, State of Victoria.)〕〔〔''Commonwealth Electoral Roll, Western Australia'', 1941; Perth, Govt Printer, pp. 31–2.〕 As World War II broke out, Newton and his three brothers were working as sharefarmers, growing wheat.〔(Royal Australian Air Force, 1941–,''Newton John Verdun: Service Number – 415270'' ). Available from: National Archives of Australia. (2 November 2014).〕〔(Commonwealth War Graves Commission, n.d. ''Newton, John Verdun'' ) (2 November 2014).〕〔 He was a member of the Wheat and Woolgrowers' Union (an association of small-scale farmers aligned to the political left) and had reportedly also worked as a shearer and a member of the Australian Workers' Union.〔〔''Geraldton Guardian & Express'', 9 February 1944, p. 3.〕 When a State election was announced for 20 November 1943, Newton was pre-selected as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate for the seat of Greenough in the Legislative Assembly (lower house). He reportedly made his formal nomination by cable from London.〔 Newton was elected with 52.81% (1,944 of 3,733 votes cast) of the first preferences,〔David Black & Valerie Prescott, ''Election Statistics: Legislative Assembly of Western Australia 1890–1996''; Perth; Parliament of Western Australia & Western Australian Electoral Commission, p. 131.〕 defeating the incumbent, William Patrick junior of the Country Party. Greenough became one of two seats in the lower house gained by the ALP as it retained government.〔(Parliamentary Library Western Australia, 2014, ''Serving A Nation: Members of the Western Australian Parliament – World War Two Military Service'' ) (2 November 2014).〕 It was not unusual at the time for legislators around the world to enter military service. In some Commonwealth parliaments that followed the Westminster system, there was a convention that if a Member of Parliament (MP) enlisted during wartime, they would be assigned a "pair": the party opposite would voluntarily withdraw one member from voting in parliament.〔(Parliament of Western Australia, 2014, "House: Legislative Assembly – Second Reading Date: 5.08 PM Tuesday, 26 October 1999 Member: Thomas, Mr Bill Subject: Heritage Bill 1999 – Second Reading" ), ''Old Hansard'' (2 November 2014).〕 And some other legislators had, like Newton, been elected while on active service.〔For example, Jack Seely was elected to the British Parliament while serving with the British Army in the Boer War. Seely also retained a seat while he was at the front, during the First World War.〕 Towards the end of 1943, Newton took part in a BBC Radio Overseas Service, program ''Calling Australian Towns'', giving a speech that he styled as an address to his constituents in Greenough.〔''Westralian Worker'', 10 March 1944, p. 1.〕 Newton was officially listed as "missing in action" following a mission on the evening of 14 January 1944. On 27 September 1945, the seat of Greenough was officially declared vacant.〔Parliamentary Library Western Australia, 2014,''Electorate Profiles: District of Greenough (Agricultural Region)'', (2 November 2014).〕 A by-election was held on 27 October 1945. The Labor candidate was Jack Newton's brother, Cecil Newton, who was defeated by the Liberal nominee, David Brand.〔〔''Geraldton Guardian & Express'', 3 November 1945, p. 3.〕 (A veteran of the North African and Greek campaigns with the Australian Army, Brand later became Premier and retained Greenough until his retirement from politics in 1975.) Many other members of the Western Australian Parliament have died in office, and one other MP has been killed in action: Bart Stubbs (ALP; Subiaco) died during World War I, while serving with the Australian Army in Belgium. However, Jack Newton's case is extremely unusual because he was killed in action ''before'' he could take part in a parliamentary sitting.〔For example, while the UK's youngest MP at the time was also killed in action during 1944, the 25-year-old G. C. Gray had taken part in several sittings.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Verdun Newton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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