Alexander John McLachlan

Alexander John McLachlan (2 November 1872 – 28 May 1956) was an Australian politician. He served as a Senator for South Australia from 1926 to 1944, representing the Nationalist Party and United Australia Party. He held ministerial office in the Lyons government as Vice-President of the Executive Council (1932–1934), Minister in charge of Development and Scientific and Industrial Research (1932–1937), and Postmaster-General of Australia (1934–1938).

Early life McLachlan was born on 2 November 1872 in Naracoorte, South Australia. He was the son of Mary (née Patterson) and Alexander McLachlan. His parents were Scottish immigrants from the Western Highlands and spoke Scottish Gaelic. His mother "read the Gaelic Bible to him each night and taught him Gaelic songs".

McLachlan was raised on his father's sheep-farming property at Naracoorte and received his early education at home. He later attended Hamilton Academy, a private school in Hamilton, Victoria, before completing his secondary education at Mount Gambier High School. McLachlan went on to study law as an articled clerk, initially with Davison and Daniel in Mount Gambier from 1890 and then with Eustace B. Grundy's firm in Adelaide. and 1910 and for the Senate in 1922.

McLachlan was one of the founders of the Liberal Union in 1910, a merger of local liberal organisations. He succeeded Joseph Vardon as president of the party in 1913, He was an honorary minister in the Bruce ministry from July 1926, often acting for absent ministers. He represented Australia at the meeting of the League of Nations in 1928 and signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact. He was Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1932 to 1934 in the Lyons government and Minister in charge of Development and Scientific and Industrial Research (responsible for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) from 1932 to 1937. From 1934 to 1938, he was Postmaster-General and issued many licences for commercial radio stations.

McLachlan was active in the Scottish-Australian community, serving as chief of the South Australian Caledonian Society from 1899 to 1902. He was also chairman of a committee to memorialise Scottish-Australian explorer John McDouall Stuart, and in 1904 unveiled a statue of Stuart in Victoria Square, Adelaide.

McLachlan played golf, bridge and billiards and was interested in horse racing. He was chairman of the South Australian Football League from 1920 to 1925. He was also a "connoisseur of antiques and had a fine collection of silver". In 1948 he published an autobiography titled McLachlan: An F.A.Q. Australian.