Bernard Corser

Bernard Henry Corser (4 January 1882 – 15 December 1967) was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1912 to 1928 and a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1928 to 1954.

Bernard Corser
Member of the Australian Parliament for Wide Bay
In office 3 September 1928 – 21 April 1954
Preceded by	Edward Corser
Succeeded by	William Brand
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Burnett
In office 27 April 1912 – 16 August 1928
Preceded by	Robert Hodge
Succeeded by	Robert Boyd
Personal details
Born	Bernard Henry Corser 4 January 1882 Maryborough, Queensland, Australia
Died	15 December 1967 (aged 85) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Resting place	Northern Suburbs Cemetery
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Country Party
Other political affiliations	Opposition, Ministerial, National Party, Country and Progressive National Party
Spouse(s)	Marie Glissan (m.1912 d.1964)
Relations	Edward Corser (father)
Occupation	Company director, Grazier

Early life

Corser was born at Maryborough in 1882 to Edward Corser and Mary Jane (née Stewart). He was educated at Maryborough Christian Brothers' School, Riverview College, Sydney, and returned to Queensland to study at Queensland Agricultural College, Gatton.[1]

Politics

In 1912, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the member for Burnett, joining the National Party on its formation in 1917. He held the seat until 1928.[1]

By 1928, Corser had joined the Country Party and was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in a by-election for the seat of Wide Bay, which was caused by the death of his father, who was then the serving Nationalist MP.[2]

In April 1939, the leader of the Country Party's senior Coalition partner the United Australia Party, Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, died, and the leader of the Country Party, Earle Page, became caretaker Prime Minister.[2] The likely replacement for Lyons was Robert Menzies, but Page attacked him. Together with Arthur Fadden, Thomas Collins and Oliver Badman, Corser dissociated himself from Page, and when the latter resigned as leader, the four were barred from the party meeting that elected Page supporter Archie Cameron as leader. As a result, Corser and his colleagues rejected Cameron's leadership.

Later life

Corser retired from politics in 1954[1] and became a grazier. He died in 1967 and was buried in Northern Suburbs Cemetery.[3]

References

1. "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
2. Carr, Adam (2008). "Australian Election Archive". Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
3. Corser, Bernard Henry (1882–1967) — Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 5 February 2015.