James Hegney

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix = The Honourable

|name = James Hegney

|honorific-suffix =

|image =

|alt =

|caption =

|office = Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia

|term_start = 2 August 1956

|term_end = 29 June 1959

|predecessor = Aloysius Rodoreda

|successor = John Hearman

|office2 = Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia

|constituency2 = Middle Swan

|term_start2 = 12 April 1930

|term_end2 = 15 March 1947

|predecessor2 = None {{Small|(new creation)}}

|successor2 = Bill Grayden

|constituency3 = Middle Swan

|term_start3 = 25 March 1950

|term_end3 = 31 March 1962

|predecessor3 = Bill Grayden

|successor3 = None {{Small|(abolished)}}

|constituency4 = Belmont

|term_start4 = 31 March 1962

|term_end4 = 23 March 1968

|predecessor4 = None {{Small|(new creation)}}

|successor4 = Colin Jamieson

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|9|27|df=y}}

|birth_place = North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1970|5|5|1891|9|27|df=y}}

|death_place = Wembley, Western Australia, Australia

|party = Labor

|alma_mater =

}}

James Hegney (27 September 1891 – 5 May 1970) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1930 to 1947 and again from 1950 to 1968. He served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1956 to 1959.

Early life

Hegney was born in Melbourne, as was his younger brother Bill Hegney (also a future MP). The brothers came to Western Australia as children, where their father worked for Western Australian Government Railways. After leaving school, Hegney worked as a boilermaker at the Midland Railway Workshops, and was a member of the Boilermakers' Union.[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/931E9585B23BCDF2482577E50028A646?OpenDocument James Hegney] – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 May 2016. He also played high-level Australian rules football, appearing in 23 games for the Midland Junction Football Club (a West Australian Football League club) between 1909 and 1910.[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/sn11/$FILE/SN+11+Footballers+in+the+House.pdf Footballers in the House], Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 September 2016.

Politics

Hegney stood for parliament at the 1930 state election, and was elected to the new seat of Middle Swan.{{cite book|last=Black|first=David|authorlink=David Black (historian)|last2=Prescott|first2=Valerie|title=Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996|year=1997|publisher=Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission|location=Perth, [W.A.]|isbn=0730984095}} After the 1933 election, Hegney was appointed deputy chairman of committees in the Labor government. He remained in the role until the 1947 election, when he was narrowly defeated in his seat by Bill Grayden, the Liberal candidate. Hegney regained Middle Swan at the 1950 election, and after Labor's victory at the 1953 election was made chairman of committees in the Hawke government. He was elevated to the speakership after the 1956 election, replacing Aloysius Rodoreda, and remained speaker until the Labor government's defeat at the 1959 election. Hegney switched to the seat of Belmont at the 1962 election, and remained in parliament until retiring at the 1968 election.