Charles Hawker

The Honourable Charles Hawker
Member of the Australian Parliament for Wakefield
In office 12 October 1929 – 25 October 1938
Preceded by	Maurice Collins
Succeeded by	Sydney McHugh
Personal details
Born	(1894-05-16)16 May 1894 Clare, South Australia
Died	25 October 1938(1938-10-25) (aged 44) Mount Dandenong, Victoria
Political party	Nationalist (1929–31) UAP (1931–38)
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Occupation	Soldier

Charles Allan Seymour Hawker (16 May 1894 – 25 October 1938) was an Australian politician.

Hawker was born at Bungaree homestead, near Clare, South Australia. He was the second son of Michael Seymour Hawker, manager of the Hawker family stations, and his wife Elizabeth Begg, née McFarlane, and grandson of George Charles Hawker and nephew of Bertram Robert Hawker. Hawker was educated at Geelong Grammar School, Hawker and Trinity College, Cambridge, earning Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in 1919 and 1922 respectively. While at Cambridge he enlisted in the British Army to serve in World War I. Hawker was commissioned as a temporary lieutenant in the 6th (Service) Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's). He saw action on the Western Front in Ypres. Fighting in the Battle of Passchendaele, Hawker was injured, including the loss of an eye. Despite his injuries, Hawker returned to the front with the rank of Captain in May 1917. Hawker was severely wounded again on 4 October 1917, at Broodseinde, Belgium during the 3rd battle of Ypres. He was paralysed from the waist down. However, after a series of operations and rehabilitation, he was able to walk with two sticks, although his legs remained in surgical irons thereafter.

Hawker returned to South Australia in 1920, resumed his studies and became involved in family agricultural holdings. He became increasingly interested in trade as well as in political movements. Hawker joined the State council of the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia in 1921 and served as vice-president. In 1927 he joined the Liberal Federation of South Australia and became the South Australian member of the Commonwealth Board of Trade in 1928.

Political career

In 1929 was elected as a member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the electorate of Wakefield for the United Australia Party. He was appointed Minister for Markets and Minister for Repatriation in first ministry of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons and was the youngest member of the ministry. On 12 April 1932 he was replaced as Minister for Repatriation by Charles Marr and the Markets portfolio was renamed Commerce. On 23 September 1932, he resigned from the ministry in protest at its refusal to reduce parliamentary salaries in response to the Great Depression, having crossed the floor to vote as a minority in a controversial day in Parliament, and did not serve as a minister again, although he continued to represent the people of Wakefield as their elected representative.

Hawker travelled extensively, researching issues of trade and farming, and he published his research in pamphlets and treatises and gave lectures on issues of agriculture and pastoral work.

Hawker died in a plane crash near Mount Dandenong, Victoria in 1938. The Australian Electoral Division of Hawker and the Canberra suburb of Hawker, Australian Capital Territory are named in his honour, and the Charles Allan Seymour Hawker Scholarship was established by his sister Kathleen Lilias Needham in 1991 to fund Australian university education. His relative David Hawker is a former Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives.