Bert Edwards (politician)

Bert Edwards
Born	November 6, 1887
Died	August 24, 1963

Albert Augustine "Bert" Edwards (6 November 1887 – 24 August 1963) was an Australian publican and politician.

Before entering politics he held various jobs as a stall keeper, marine store dealer and hotel keeper, eventually holding licences for the Brunswick Hotel, the Newmarket Hotel on North Terrace and the Hotel Victor at Victor Harbor. He took over the British Lion Hotel in Hindmarsh.

In 1917 he was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly as the Labor member for Adelaide. He was also a prominent elected member of the Adelaide City Council. In both State and Municipal politics he had a frequent antagonist in Mrs. A. K. Goode. Goode and Edwards were candidates for the seat of Adelaide in the House of Assembly elections in 1924. Edwards and fellow Labor Party candidates W. J. Denny and J. Dunn were successful; Goode came a distant fourth. Goode and Edwards were candidates for the Grey ward for the Adelaide City Council in 1924. Edwards topped the poll but had, as Mrs. Goode pointed out, contravened the Act by driving voters to the polling place. She refrained from formally charging him, as this could have given her the seat by default without a fair majority of votes.

Both had interests in prison reform, and both served on the State Children's Council, but frequently and publicly disagreed on aims and objects. In 1925 Goode criticised as excessively lenient the jailing for one year of one Kelly, who was convicted of indecent assault. Edwards defended the judge, pointing out that the girl was a consenting party and above the age of consent. In 1927 Edwards criticised her for disallowing a proposed increase in allowances for "State girls" (wards of the State who were "boarded out" with generally well-to-do families or widows as companions and maids-of-all-work) from 2/ to 5/ (shillings) per week.

Edwards served as a Member of the House of Assembly until 1931, when his seat was vacated by absence without leave. He had been convicted of "an unnatural offence" with John Gaunt "Jack" Mundy, 16, a "sexually perverted boy", and sentenced to five years' jail. His appeals failed but he was released in 1933.

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