Alan Hulme

Sir Alan Hulme
Postmaster-General of Australia
In office
18 December 1963 – 5 December 1972
Prime MinisterRobert Menzies
Harold Holt
John McEwen
William McMahon
Preceded byCharles Davidson
Succeeded byLance Barnard
Vice-President of the Executive Council
In office
26 January 1966 – 5 December 1972
Prime MinisterHarold Holt
John McEwen
William McMahon
Preceded byWilliam McMahon
Succeeded byLance Barnard
Minister for Supply
In office
22 December 1961 – 18 December 1963
Prime MinisterHarold Holt
Preceded byAthol Townley
Succeeded byAllen Fairhall
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Petrie
In office
10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961
Preceded bySeat established
Succeeded byReginald O'Brien
In office
30 November 1963 – 2 November 1972
Preceded byReginald O'Brien
Succeeded byMarshall Cooke
Personal details
Born(1907-02-14)14 February 1907
Mosman, New South Wales
Died9 October 1989(1989-10-09) (aged 82)
Nambour
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
OccupationAccountant

Sir Alan Shallcross Hulme KBE (14 February 1907 – 9 October 1989) was an Australian politician, accountant and cattle breeder.[1] He was born in the Sydney suburb of Mosman and was educated at North Sydney Boys High School.[2] He moved to Queensland before World War II, where he practised as an accountant. He was a founding member of the Queensland People's Party and was its president in 1949, when it merged with the Liberal Party.

Hulme won the House of Representatives seat of Petrie at its creation at the 1949 election for the Liberal Party. He was Minister for Supply from 1958 to his defeat in the 1961 election by Reginald O'Brien. He won Petrie back at the 1963 election and became Postmaster-General until his retirement at the 1972 election. He was also Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1966 to 1972. As Postmaster-General, he was responsible for the introduction of an Australian-owned satellite system in 1970, Aussat, which was later privatised as Optus. In 1972 he was involved in the decision to impose health warnings on cigarette advertising. He was also responsible for the controversial decision to build Black Mountain Tower in Canberra. In 1972 he announced that colour television would be introduced in Australia from 1 March 1975,[3] by which time he had retired from politics and his party was out of office.

Hulme was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 1971.[4] He died in 1989, survived by two sons and a daughter.

  1. ^ Coleman, Peter, "Hulme, Sir Alan Shallcross (1907–1989)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
  2. ^ p. 437 Who's Who in Australia 1985
  3. ^ Trans-Tasman spur to colour TV, The Age, 1 January 2003
  4. ^ "It's an Honour: KBE". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2008.