NEW FEDERAL MINISTER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 521, 26 November 1928, Page 9

NEW FEDERAL MINISTER

MR. HARRY GULLETT CHOSEN TRADE AND CUSTOMS POST SYDNEY, Sunday. Mr. Harry Somer Gullett, Nationalist member of the Federal House of Representatives for Henty, Victoria, has been appointed Minister of Trade and Customs, in the Federal Cabinet. He succeeds the late Mr. H. E. Pratten. The new Minister of Trade and Customs in the Federal Cabinet is known throughout Australia as “Harry Gullett.” Formerly a farmer, Mr. Gullett gained prominence from his work as a journalist, first in Sydney and then as war correspondent with the Australian Light Horse in the Palestine campaign. After the Armistice he was called to the Peace Conference at Paris to do some publicity work for the Prime Minister, Mr. Hughes, and also to make preparations for writing the official history of the Australians’ service in the Near East. Later, he also organised the Australian War Museum. On his returning to Australia after the war, Mr. Hughes remembered that Mr. Gullett had acquired special information at Home about emigration, that subject having attracted his attention as a journalistic free lance in Fleet Street. Immediately, Mr. Gullett was appointed Director of Immigration in Australia at a high salary; but after a few months' arduous work either he or Mr. Hughes rubbed each other the wrong way. In any case, Mr. Gullett resigned with an explanation of his difficulties, while Mr. Hughes explained that Mr. Gullett had not had the right temperament for the position. Observant Australians smiled, and predicted that “Harry” would go a long way in politics. The prediction so far has been fulfilled. He is a keen student of politics, a serious thinker, and a shrewd speaker. There never has been any talk in Parliament about his having the wrong temperament for a responsible position. „ . Mr. Gullett was born in Victoria and is now in his 51st year.