Clarence Gordon Robertson (9 April 1902 – 31 October 1974) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 between 1942 and 1950 and again between 1953 and 1959. He was a member of 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...

.

Early life

Robertson was born at Dubbo, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and was the son of a butcher. He was educated to elementary level in Dubbo and, from the age of 14, worked as a rural labourer. He was employed by the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

 in the mid-west of New south Wales between 1924 and 1942.

State Parliament

Robertson was the endorsed Labor candidate for the seat of Dubbo

Electoral district of Dubbo

Dubbo is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Troy Grant of the National Party of Australia....

 at the 1941

New South Wales state election, 1941

The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting....

 state election. Despite a resurgence in rural support for Labor at the election, Robertson was defeated by the incumbent Country Party

National Party of Australia

The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

 member George Wilson by 159 votes. Wilson died 11 months after the election and Robertson won the resultant by-election. He retained the seat for Labor for 8 years but was defeated, during a general swing against Labor, at the 1950

New South Wales state election, 1950

The 1950 New South Wales State state election was held on 17 June 1950. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1949 redistribution...

 election by Robert Medcalf

Robert Medcalf

Robert George Medcalf was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.Medcalf was the member for Lachlan from 1947 to 1950 and the member for Dubbo from 1950 to 1953.-Notes:...

 the incumbent Country Party member for Lachlan

Electoral district of Lachlan

Lachlan was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. During the first two Parliaments , there was an electorate in the same area called Lachlan and Lower Darling, named after the Lachlan and Darling Rivers. Lachlan was created in 1859 and...

. Medcalf's seat had been abolished by a redistribution. Robertson regained the seat in 1953

New South Wales state election, 1953

The 1953 New South Wales state election was held on 14 February 1953. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

 and retained it until he was defeated at the 1959

New South Wales state election, 1959

The 1959 New South Wales state election was held on 21 March 1959. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1957 redistribution...

 election by the Liberal Party's

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

, Les Ford

Les Ford

Leslie Hunter Ford was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1959 to 1964, representing the electorate of Dubbo....

. Robertson joined the Country Party in 1961 in the expectation that he would be the party's candidate at the election held in March 1962

New South Wales state election, 1962

The 1962 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1962. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1961 redistribution...

. However, the party did not endorse a candidate and Robertson styled himself as the "Independent Country" nominee. He received 5% of the vote and retired from public life. He did not hold party, parliamentary of ministerial office. After leaving parliament he owned and managed a farm.