Albert William Robinson (20 May 1877 – 25 May 1943) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n Senator

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 and long serving member of the South Australian House of Assembly

South Australian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...

.

Born in Lyndoch, South Australia

Lyndoch, South Australia

Lyndoch is a town in Barossa Valley, located on the Barossa Valley Highway between Gawler and Tanunda, 58 km northeast of Adelaide. The town has an elevation of 175m and an average rainfall of 560.5mm. It is one of the oldest towns in South Australia....

 to George Septimus Robinson, publican and grazier, and his wife Lucy, Robinson was educated in Clare

Clare, South Australia

The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region.-History:One of the first settlers in the area was John Horrocks, in 1839...

 and Roseworthy Agricultural College, where he studied viticulture

Viticulture

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

, before commencing work as a pastoralist near Balaklava

Balaklava, South Australia

The town of Balaklava is located in South Australia, 92 kilometres north of Adelaide in the Mid North region. It is on the banks of the Wakefield River, 25 kilometres east of Port Wakefield.-History:...

.

Robinson married Edith Laine in 1904; the marriage produced three daughters and three sons.

His stature in the area led to his election as President of the Balaklava-Dalkey Agricultural Society, Chairman of the Balaklava Racing Club and vice-president of the Farmers' and Producers' Political Union. Robinson used this local prominence to good effect by gaining Liberal Federation

Liberal Federation

The Liberal Federation was a liberal conservative South Australian political party from 1922 to 1932. It stemmed from the Liberal Union's Henry Barwell. Richard Layton Butler was also premier during the party's time. It was a predecessor to the Liberal and Country League....

 pre-selection for the South Australian House of Assembly Electoral district of Wooroora at the 1915 election. During his time in parliament, Robinson chaired the influential Government Railways Standing Committee and through this influence in combination with the wealth he had gained from farming, Robinson was considered a possible future Premier of South Australia.

He surprisingly lost his seat at the 1924 election, when the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 swept to power. Robinson remained involved in Liberal politics and was appointed by the South Australian parliament in April 1928 to the senate position vacated by Sir Henry Barwell

Henry Barwell

Sir Henry Newman Barwell KCMG was the 28th Premier of South Australia.Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Barwell was educated at St Peter's College and Adelaide University, graduating in law...

 upon the latter's resignation to become South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

n Agent-General in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Robinson sat with the Nationalist Party of Australia

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

 (the federal equivalent of the South Australian based Liberal Federation) in the Senate for eight months before his defeat at the 1928

Australian federal election, 1928

Federal elections were held in Australia on 17 November 1928. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

 election.

A strong supporter of regional development (he had been heavily involved in the development of Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...

 in the late 1930s, an increase in the birth rate and thrift.

Angry with his perceived poor treatment by the Liberal Federation, Robinson resigned from the party and ran for Wooroora as an independent candidate at a by-election in 1934. Although he could not find a scrutineer in some towns and had no one attend a campaign meeting in another town, Robinson surprisingly won the by-election and, following an electoral redistribution, was comfortably elected as the member for Gouger at the 1938 election.

The result of the 1938 election, whereby 15 independents were elected to parliament (compared to 15 Liberal and Country League

Liberal and Country League

The Liberal and Country League was a major political party in South Australia throughout its forty year existence. Thirty-four years were spent in government, in part due to the electoral malapportionment known as the Playmander, introduced after coming to power.Created on 9 June 1932 as the...

 and nine Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 representatives), there was speculation that the independents, led by Tom Stott

Tom Stott

Tom Cleave Stott CBE spent 37 years as an independent member of the South Australian House of Assembly, serving as Speaker of the House from 1962 to 1965 and 1968 to 1970....

, could form government. Robinson remained involved in discussions with other independents and LCL members to achieve this end but took his place on the cross benches following the Richard Layton Butler

Richard Layton Butler

Sir Richard Layton Butler KCMG was the 31st Premier of South Australia, serving two disjunct terms in office: from 1927 to 1930, and again from 1933 to 1938....

led LCL's success in gaining the support of sufficient independents to form government.

Following re-election in 1941, Robinson died in office in 1943, survived by his widow, three daughters and one son.