Allan Guy

Who was Allan Guy?

James Allan Guy, CBE was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Tasmanian House of Assembly and the Federal House of Representatives, before leaving to represent the United Australia Party and then the Liberal Party of Australia in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. His father, James Guy, had also been a Senator.

Guy was elected to the Division of Bass in the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1916 and was part of Joseph Lyons' cabinet when Labor came to power in 1923. He served as Chief Secretary, Minister for Mines, Minister for Railways, Acting Premier from July to December 1926, then Deputy Premier until Labor was defeated in 1928. He became Deputy Leader of the Opposition and remained in the Tasmanian parliament until 1929.

In 1929 he contested and won the Federal Division of Bass for Labor and joined James Scullin's government. In 1931 he joined Joseph Lyons, James Fenton and two other Labor members in forming the United Australia Party along with the Nationalist Party of Australia opposition, which came to office in December with Lyons as prime minister. In 1932 Lyons rewarded him for his loyalty by appointing him assistant Minister for Trade and Customs. One of Guy's responsibilities was to defend film-censorship provisions which he described as 'both necessary and admirable', for, without them, 'all sorts of puerile and undesirable films could be displayed, to the detriment, not only of our civilization, but of the Christian religion'.