Frank Brennan (politician)

For other people named Francis Brennan, see Francis Brennan (disambiguation).

For the Queensland politician, lawyer and Supreme Court judge, see Frank Brennan (judge).

The Honourable Frank Brennan
Member of the Australian Parliament for Batman
In office 8 February 1911 – 19 December 1931
Preceded by	Henry Beard
Succeeded by	Samuel Dennis
In office 15 September 1934 – 31 October 1949
Preceded by	Samuel Dennis
Succeeded by	Alan Bird
Personal details
Born	1873 Bendigo, Victoria
Died	6 November 1950 (aged 76–77) Melbourne
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse	Cecilia Mary O'Donnell
Relations	Tom Brennan (brother)
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	Lawyer

Francis (Frank) Brennan (1873 – 6 November 1950) was an Australian lawyer and Australian Labor Party politician.

Brennan was born at Upper Emu Creek near Bendigo, Victoria and was a younger brother of Tom Brennan, later an assistant minister in the conservative Lyons government. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and achieved an LL.B. in 1901. A prominent lay figure in Melbourne Catholicism, he established a legal business specialising in union cases. He joined the Labor Party in 1907 and unsuccessfully contested Bendigo in 1910, but won Batman at a by-election in 1911. In 1913 he married Cecilia Mary O'Donnell.

Following Labor's election win during 1929, Brennan became Attorney-General in the Scullin Ministry, but was not particularly effective in this role. In any event, he lost his seat in the 1931 election as a result of the swing against Labor, which came about because of the Great Depression and the resultant split in the Labor Party. Although Brennan had gone into the election holding Batman with a comfortably safe majority of 25.8 percent, he was defeated by United Australia Party challenger Samuel Dennis on an unheard-of swing (the biggest in Australian electoral history until that time) of 26.6 percent. He recovered Batman in a rematch against Dennis in the 1934 election and held it until his retirement in 1949.

Brennan was the father of prominent author Niall Brennan, a biographer of both Archbishop Daniel Mannix and businessman John Wren.

Brennan died of hypertensive vascular disease in Melbourne.