George Branson

{{Short description|Australian politician (1918–1999)}} {{For|the English High Court judge|G. A. H. Branson}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = George Branson | honorific_suffix = | image = George Branson 1968 (cropped).jpg | title = Senator for Western Australia | term_start = 22 November 1958 | term_end = 30 June 1971 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1918|2|23}} | birth_place = Perth, Western Australia, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1999|1|27|1918|2|23}} | death_place = Wanneroo, Western Australia, Australia | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{Marriage|Isla Burlinson|1940|1973}} * {{Marriage|Hanni Zimmermann|1973}} }} | party = Liberal | occupation = Farmer }} '''George Howard Branson''' (23 February 1918 – 27 January 1999) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1958 to 1971, representing the Liberal Party.

Branson was born in Perth to Howard Henry Branson and the former Ethel May Carrett. He grew up on a farm in the small rural locality of Babakin. After leaving school, Branson worked as a salesman until 1940, when he joined the Australian Army and trained as a machine gunner. He was captured in the Fall of Singapore in 1942. and spent three years as a prisoner of war. Branson returned to Babakin after the war's end, purchasing a farming property.<ref name=bdas>{{cite Au Senate |Sen id=branson-george-howard |name=BRANSON, George Howard (1918–1999) |first=Phillip |last=Pendal |access-date=29 November 2022}}</ref>

In early 1955, Branson was preselected for the Liberal Party's Senate ticket at the 1955 federal election. The serving senator he replaced on the ticket was Agnes Robertson, a 73-year-old widow. She switched to the Country Party, and narrowly defeated him for the final Senate seat. However, Branson reprised his candidacy at the 1958 election and was elected, filling a casual vacancy occasioned by the death of Harrie Seward.<ref name=bdas/> He held the seat until his retirement in 1970.<ref name=Psephos>{{cite web|last=Carr |first=Adam |title=Australian Election Archive |work=Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive |url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia |year=2008 |access-date=2008-11-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717093439/http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia |archivedate=17 July 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref> Branson was an "active backbencher"; his penchant for controversy and apparent unwillingness to toe the party line likely denied him career advancement. He initially stayed in Canberra after leaving the Senate, but later returned to Perth and died there in 1999.<ref name=bdas/>

==References== {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branson, George}} Category:1918 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Farmers from Western Australia Category:20th-century Australian farmers Category:Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Category:Members of the Australian Senate Category:20th-century Australian politicians Category:Australian prisoners of war Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Category:Australian Army personnel of World War II Category:Australian Army soldiers