Another former MP for Gippsland South was Herbert Hyland.
To date he is the longest-serving MP for that electorate, with this tenure spanning an incredible 41 years.
He was first elected in 1929 and continued in his role until 1970.
He made the Queen’s First Honors list in 1952.
If there is one thing that people are constantly concerned about, it is the cost of living. How much do things cost? Are things relatively cheap or are they expensive? Do people have the ability to pay for all the things that they need? Can they make ends meet?
The Australian states took over the responsibility of price control from the Commonwealth in the late 1940s.
In the 1950s, there was a dedicated Prices Minister in Victoria. By 1952 Hyland held that role.
Petrol companies were making a case that they were being unjustly restrained from making higher profits from the sale of petrol.
At a minimum, they wanted the government to approve a increase of 3 pennies a gallon.
However, they would have preferred to be unshackled from price controls altogether.
Petrol companies (including Ampol, Caltex and Shell) contended that they were being prevented from passing on cost increases to consumers.
They argued that other industries had been allowed to pass on costs since the end of the war, but that they had been held to a different set of rules.
They argued that their profits were a quarter of what they were before WWII.1 They further complained that they were forking out more in capital costs while also contributing more tax to government.
Ministers were politicians.
It is doubtful that they viewed cases for price rises simply as an economic exercise. It is likely that they also viewed the issue through a political lens. Politicians are more likely to be rewarded by voters for keeping petrol prices low. It is likely that they would suffer political backlash if they were to approve a price increase.
Hyland wasn’t only under the pump over petrol prices.
All kinds of items fell within his domain.
Being the Member for Gippsland South (an electorate focused on farming), he had to contend with the price of food as well.
In September of 1952, the government took a punt and experimented with scrapping price control on onions.
At the time, there was a dedicated Onion Marketing Board.
The government decided to release the reins, but Hyland cautioned growers that the government would be watching. He warned that at the first indication consumers were being exploited, price control would be reinstated.
As if those pesky onion growers couldn’t be trusted to be left to their own devices!
Well, guess what? By February of the following year, the government had taken control of onion pricing once more. The culprit? – overcharging.
By this time a new Prices Minister was at the helm.
By 1954, Herbert Hyland was off to Kenya to take part in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference.
Travel took longer in those days and he was away for 10 weeks.
It was a significant year for Herbert. He was being touted as the next leader of the Country Party (CP).
Hyland had been the member for Gippsland South for a quarter of a century.
In 1956 Hyland was making waves inside government.
The Bolte government was trying to introduce a bill that would have made the Board of Works the uniform traffic authority.
The Country Party members forced an adjournment of the bill. If debate had not been adjourned it seems likely that the bill would have been voted down and Bolte would have suffered a humiliating defeat.
The government was reportedly shocked by the CP’s unwavering stance, with Hyland warning “don’t rush us.”2
Hyland was now at the height of his powers.
He didn’t shy away from flexing his power if he felt the bush was getting a raw deal.
Reportedly, he didn’t always get along with Henry Bolte who he probably considered as too focused on the city.
In this sense Hyland was like Jack McEwen, who was not afraid to confront Menzies and the Liberal Party when the situation demanded it.
The Country Party held the balance of power in the Legislative Council, so the Liberals couldn’t simply ignore their concerns.
The name Herbert Hyland is almost forgotten today – even in the electorate he represented for around 4 decades.
Australia and the World Past and Present 
Leave a comment