John Perkins (Australian politician)

John Perkins
Born	(1878-05-18) May 18, 1878 Gocup, New South Wales, Australia
Died	July 13, 1954(1954-07-13) (aged 76) Manly, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation(s)	Politician, newsagent, bookseller
Years active	1902–1943
Known for	Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Eden-Monaro (1926–1943); various ministerial roles including Minister for the Interior and Minister for Trade and Customs

John Arthur Perkins (18 May 1878 – 13 July 1954) was an Australian politician, newsagent, and bookseller. He represented the Division of Eden-Monaro in the Australian House of Representatives from 1926 until 1943, initially as a member of the Nationalist Party of Australia and later for the United Australia Party. During his parliamentary tenure, Perkins held various ministerial positions under the leadership of Joseph Lyons and Robert Menzies.

Early life and state political involvement

Perkins was born in Gocup, close to Tumut, New South Wales, and received his education at public schools in Tumut and Cooma. Between 1894 and 1899, he worked as a small-scale farmer in Cooma before shifting his focus to running a newsagency, bookstore, and stationery shop. His engagement with local affairs included serving on the Municipality of Cooma council from 1902 to 1909, where he held the office of Mayor twice, in 1904 and again in 1908. Beyond local government, he held leadership roles such as president of the Cooma School of Arts and the Parents' and Citizens' Association. He also served as a justice of the peace, coroner, director of Monaro Grammar School, member of the land board, and Grand Master of the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity.

Perkins sought election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Monaro in both 1904 and 1907 but was unsuccessful. In 1909, he married Evelyn Mary Bray. Following the death of Nationalist MP William Millard, Perkins was appointed in November 1921 to fill a casual vacancy for the seat of Goulburn in the NSW Legislative Assembly. This appointment necessitated legislative amendment due to the proportional representation system active at that time. He resigned from this position in January 1926 after winning Nationalist preselection for the federal by-election in Eden-Monaro.

Federal parliamentary service

In January 1926, Perkins secured victory in a by-election for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro. Although defeated by Labor’s John Cusack during Labor’s sweeping success in 1929, Perkins reclaimed the seat in 1931 amid a United Australia Party landslide; Cusack did not contest this election.

From 1926 to 1929, Perkins acted as government whip before being appointed Minister for the Interior within Joseph Lyons’ administration in October 1932. In this role, he managed affairs concerning the Northern Territory. Anthropologist A. P. Elkin commended his initiatives aimed at enhancing relations among different racial groups in that region. Despite these efforts, negative reports from British media about Australia's treatment of indigenous Australians led to his removal from Cabinet in 1934. Perkins later served as minister without portfolio between November 1937 and November 1938, briefly took on responsibilities as Minister in charge of Territories in November 1938, then held the position of Minister for Trade and Customs until April 1939. Afterwards, he was appointed minister without portfolio responsible for External Territories until March 1940. His parliamentary career concluded with defeat by Allan Fraser at the 1943 federal election.

Later life

During the last ten years of his life, Perkins dedicated himself to studying the history of the Monaro area, contributing some of his materials to the State Library of New South Wales. He passed away in 1954 in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, and was honored with a state funeral before being cremated.