John Arthur

John Andrew Arthur (15 August 1875 – 9 December 1914) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was first elected to federal parliament at the 1913 federal election, after a successful career at the Victorian Bar. After the 1914 election, he was appointed Minister for External Affairs in the Fisher government. He died of kidney disease three months later, aged 39.

Early life Arthur was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, son of a goldminer and spent his childhood in several Victorian goldmining towns. He won a state scholarship allowing him to attend Grenville College, Ballarat for three years. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts in 1895. He was a brilliant student and completed a Master of Arts in 1897, a Bachelor of Laws in 1898 and a Master of Laws in 1901. He became a tutor at Queen's College in logic and philosophy, political economy and history, and law and was admitted to the bar in 1903.

Law career Arthur became a prominent lawyer in the new federal courts, especially the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, and represented the Agricultural Implement Makers' Union in the Harvester case which led to the basic wage concept that was the basis of wage setting in Australia until the 1990s.