William Folster

Who was William Folster?

William Folster was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1930 until 1932, representing the electorate of Orange.

Folster was born in Brunswick in Victoria, but his family moved to Orange while he was a child. He was educated at Orange East Public School, and undertook an engineering apprenticeship. He joined the Railways Department in 1915, working as a fitter at Wellington, but was dismissed after a railway strike. He was re-employed in Wellington from 1917 until 1920, transferred to Tenterfield from 1920 until 1924, then employed as a steam shed inspector at Nyngan and Murrurundi. He resigned from the Railways Department in 1927 to open an engineering business in Orange.

Folster was the Labor candidate for the seat of Orange at the 1927 state election, but lost to sitting Nationalist MLA John Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick retired in 1930, and Folster was again chosen to contest the seat for Labor. The rural Orange area was suffering badly due to the Great Depression, and Folster campaigned on Labor leader Jack Lang's radical proposals for a resolution.