Hon John Hart CMG

John Hart CMG

25 February 1809

Pre-Party System

Former Member

The Burra

House of Assembly

12 July 1851

Before coming to South Australia, John Hart travelled various other Australian colonies, buying and selling commodities such as timber and sealskins. He continued his activities as a mariner and merchant in addition to running a whaling station at Encounter Bay from 1842 to 1846. In 1846 he established himself in Adelaide, involving himself, with varying degrees of success, in numerous commercial ventures including flour milling, mining, and cattle grazing. He ran in the first elections of South Australia's new bicameral Parliament, and was elected to the House of Assembly on a vague, mildly conservative platform. He held three Premierships, each relatively short-lived, between 1865 and 1871 and acted as Treasurer in a number of other administrations during this period of political instability. During his time in Parliament, Hart advocated the removal of customs duties for shipping, and the facilitation of increased migration of cheap labour from India and China. He felt that the role of government should be a limited one - services such as education and sewerage, he argued, should be paid for by the user. In many respects then, his politics reflected his background as a self-made businessmen. Hart died suddenly, in 1873, aged 64.

28 January 1873