Jack Houston
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Jack Houston
|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|AM}}
|image = Jack Houston 1973 (1) (cropped).jpg
|caption = Houston in 1973
|office = Leader of the Opposition in Queensland
Leader of the Labor Party in Queensland
Elections: 1969, 1972
|term_start = 12 October 1966
|term_end = 1 July 1974
|deputy = Perc Tucker
|predecessor = Jack Duggan
|successor = Perc Tucker
|office1 = Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Queensland
Deputy Leader of the Labor Party in Queensland
|term_start1 = November 1976
|term_end1 = 19 February 1980
|predecessor1 = Jack Melloy
|successor1 = Bill D'Arcy
|term_start2 = June 1966
|term_end2 = 12 October 1966
|leader2 = Jack Duggan
|predecessor2 = Eric Lloyd
|successor2 = Perc Tucker
|office5 = Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Bulimba
|term_start5 = 3 August 1957
|term_end5 = 25 July 1980
|predecessor5 = Robert Gardner
|successor5 = Ron McLean
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|12|30|df=y}}
|birth_place = Wick, Scotland, United Kingdom
|death_date = {{death date and age|2008|10|27|1919|12|30|df=y}}
|death_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
|restingplace = Balmoral Cemetery
|birthname = John William Houston
|nationality =
|party = Labor
|otherparty =
|spouse = {{marriage|Joan Catherine Lindsay|1942|}}
|alma_mater = Brisbane Technical College
|occupation = Electrical fitter, Teacher
|relations =
}}
John William Houston (30 December 1919 – 27 October 2008) was an Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Bulimba in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1957 to 1980.{{cite web|title=Former Members|publisher=Parliament of Queensland|year=2015| url=http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=2438409542|access-date= 4 February 2015}} He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Queensland Parliament from 11 October 1966 to 22 July 1974.
Early life
Born in Scotland in 1919 to James Houston and Florence (née Tilley) he moved to Australia and became electrical fitter and mechanic and later a teacher of electrical trades subjects.
Political career
He first entered Parliament at the 1957 election that saw Labor swept from office following a split.
=Party Leadership=
Following the 1966 election deputy leader Eric Lloyd became the subject of attacks from the extra-parliamentary wing of the Labor party, as well as within the caucus. As a result, party leader Jack Duggan supported Houston in challenging Lloyd which he did successfully by 15 votes to 10.
Three months later on 11 October 1966 Duggan abruptly resigned as leader due to a "taxation difficulty of some magnitude". In the following ballot Houston defeated Pat Hanlon (son of former Premier Ned Hanlon) by 14 votes to 12 to become the new leader.
As opposition leader he established an arrangement of nominating ‘shadow spokespeople’ for specific portfolios which led in 1970 to the formation of Labor's first formal ‘shadow ministry’ of 14 members.{{cite book |last1=WANNA |first1=JOHN |last2=ARKLAY |first2=TRACEY |title=The Ayes Have It: The history of the Queensland Parliament, 1957-1989 |date=2010 |publisher=ANU Press |pages= 189–192|jstor=j.ctt24h7kp.1 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h7kp.1 |access-date=15 October 2021}}
After failing to make significant inroads into the coalition's majority at either the 1969 or 1972 elections there were reports that Houston would be leaving the leadership either through appointment to the Qantas board or as High Commissioner to New Zealand, however these never came to pass.
Ultimately his deputy Perc Tucker organised a vote of no confidence in his leadership following the poor result in the federal election which was carried by 17 votes to 15, with Tucker defeating Houston by the same margin.{{cite book |last1=WANNA |first1=JOHN |last2=ARKLAY |first2=TRACEY |title=The Ayes Have It: The history of the Queensland Parliament, 1957-1989 |date=2010 |publisher=ANU Press |pages= 362–363|jstor=j.ctt24h7kp.1 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h7kp.1 |access-date=15 October 2021}}
=Post Leadership=
After the disastrous election of 1974 where the ALP was reduced to just 11 seats, with Tucker and his deputy Newton losing their seats, Houston contested the deputy leadership against Jack Melloy but he was unsuccessful. He served as Shadow Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Police.
After Melloy stood down in 1976 he was returned to the deputy leadership where he served until he retired in 1980.
Personal life
He married Joan Catherine Lindsay on 18 March 1942. They had two children, one son & one daughter.
Houston died in 2008 and is buried in Brisbane's Balmoral Cemetery.[https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=6740 Houston John William] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111055140/https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=6740 |date=11 November 2014 }} — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
References
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{{succession box | title=Leader of the Opposition of Queensland | before=Jack Duggan | after=Perc Tucker | years=1966–1974}}
{{s-par|au-qld}}
{{s-bef|before= Robert Gardner}}
{{s-ttl |title= Member for Bulimba|years=1957–1980}}
{{s-aft|after=Ron McLean}}
{{s-end}}
{{Leaders of the Labor Party in QLD}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Jack}}
Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
Category:Leaders of the opposition in Queensland
Category:Place of birth missing
Category:Burials in Balmoral Cemetery, Brisbane
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland
Category:20th-century Australian politicians