QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

German-born citizens of Queensland and those of German lineage have exercised a powerful influence in the political life of the state through representation in the State Parliament, observes Robin Kleinschmidt. That participation began in 1866 when the state was only seven years old, and continues to the present day, when at least five current members of the Queensland Parliament are of German descent: Shane Knuth, Jon Krause, Trevor Ruthenberg, Ian Walker and Premier Campbell Newman. Around 30 others have served as state MPs in the past, and the contributions of Russell Hinze and Judy Spence (as well as some of Queensland’s most senior public servants) are outlined elsewhere in this book. We have already met the first German to serve: Johann Christian Heussler, businessman and Immigration Agent. He was nominated to the Legislative Council in 1866 and served until 1907 with only one brief interval of two months in 1870, when he was granted leave of absence for a trip to Germany. He was proud to be “the only German in Parliament in this part of the world.” One of those who later joined him was Theodor Unmack, a produce merchant who developed a successful import business in partnership with Heussler. He served from 1888 to 1892. Six others became members of the Legislative Assembly before the end of the 19th century. All represented rural constituencies, reflecting that the majority of the German immigrants built their new lives in the country or smaller towns. Jacob Horwitz, a farmer who had tried his luck at gold-mining, represented Warwick in 1878–1887. Francis Kates was also elected in 1878, serving until 1881 and again in 1883–1888 and 1899–1904. University-educated in Germany, he began his life in Queensland as a teacher in Brisbane in 1857, before becoming a storekeeper on the Darling Downs, a flour miller at Allora and finally a successful grazier, with properties at Allora, Dalveen and Roma. Albrecht Feez arrived in Queensland in 1852. A prosperous Rockhampton merchant, he was also an astute investor in the Mt Morgan gold mines. After serving as mayor of Rockhampton he entered parliament for one term in 1880. In 1883 he returned to Germany to live; his sons remained and became leading legal figures in Brisbane. Jean Baptiste Louis Isambert, who lived near Ipswich, was the Member for Rosewood. Among his business ventures were a vineyard near Ipswich and part-ownership of the German newspaper Die Nord-Australische Zeitung . Facing bankruptcy caused by the severe economic downturn in 1892, he resigned his seat in October of that year. Political representations

Isidor Lissner was among those who came to Australia attracted by the discovery of gold, but built his prosperity on trade and business rather than mining. As a young man he followed gold rushes in New Zealand and Victoria before coming to Charters Towers, where he became an importer and storekeeper and achieved a popular reputation for his efforts in developing the region’s goldfields. He represented first Charters Towers (electorate of Kennedy) in 1883–1893 and then Cairns in 1896–1899. Jacob Stumm, who arrived in Queensland as an infant, pursued a legal career in Maryborough before becoming a journalist and newspaper proprietor in Gympie. He entered parliament for one four-year term in 1896, before moving to federal politics; from 1913 to 1919 he served as the Member for Lilley. The onset of World War I and the harsh treatment of and antipathy towards people of German descent also interfered, not surprisingly perhaps, with involvement in the political arena. Dr Eugen Hirschfeld, a prominent citizen and member of the medical fraternity in Brisbane, was a naturalised Australian, but had also retained his German citizenship, and in 1906 was appointed the Imperial German Consul. He was nominated to the Legislative Council in July 1914, just before the start of WWI and resigned in November that year. John George Appel had a distinguished political career. A second-generation Australian, he was the grandson of Pastor J G Haussmann. Qualifying as a solicitor at age 20, he practised law from 1880 to 1889, the last two years in Townsville for the sake of his health. He gave up law to become a farmer at Upper Nerang but maintained two homes, one at Elston (modern Surfers Paradise) and one at Hamilton in Brisbane. With two homes, he served on two separate shire councils – for six years on both at the same time. From 1890 to 1908 he was a Hamilton councillor, with two terms as Chairman, and from 1902 to 1908 a member of the Nerang Shire Council. After two unsuccessful bids for state parliament, one in each region, he was elected as the Member for Albert in 1908, retaining his seat until his death in 1929. He was twice Secretary (Minister) for Mines and Public Works, but it was as Home Secretary from 1909 to 1915 that he gained distinction. After disagreements with the premier, he resigned in 1915 from his two ministries and aligned himself with the Farmers’ Parliamentary Union, forerunner of the Country Party, which he led for three years. Until the 1950s the only parliamentarian of German background was Adolf Muller, who from 1935 to 1969 represented the strongly German settled electorate of Fassifern.

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