Archie Benn

Archibald Malcolm Benn (20 January 1897 – 3 April 1980) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Queensland from 1950 to 1968. Prior to entering parliament he was a senior public servant in Queensland.

Early life Benn was born on 20 January 1897 in Branxholme, Victoria. He was the sixth of nine surviving children born to Mary (née McNeill) and Thomas Benn. His father was an Irish immigrant.

Benn left Victoria at a young age to join his older brother in Queensland. He lived in Toowoomba for a period and was involved with the Toowoomba Rugby League as a player and official. He also worked as a shearer in Charleville. Benn was appointed as a paid organiser for the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) in 1921, covering South West Queensland. He joined the Queensland Public Service in 1924 as a shop and factory inspector in the Public Works Department. As he had resigned from the Queensland public service for constitutional reasons, he worked in a department store until he was able to take up his seat. His challenge was in response to McKenna and Calwell's decision to boycott a Senate debate on foreign affairs.

Benn spoke on a wide range of topics in the Senate, with a particular focus on economics and foreign affairs, and was associated with Labor's left-wing faction. He was a member of four parliamentary delegations overseas and was interested in the development of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea; his speech to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1962 was on that subject. He also attracted attention for his comments likening post-war immigration to Queensland's cane toad plague, in 1951 calling for immigration to be suspended for a period of 12 months to help with unemployment. In 1968, the month before his term ended, Benn used question time to suggest that Liberal senator Magnus Cormack should be subject to daily breathalyser tests. He refused to withdraw his question and was suspended for 24 hours with unanimous approval.

Personal life In 1924, Benn married Margaret Willey, with whom he had one son. He was widowed in 1929 and remarried in 1934 to Frances Pegus, with whom he had a son and a daughter. He died on 3 April 1980 in Paddington, Queensland.