Ernest Durack

[1] He found employment as a farmer and clerk until his entry to parliament at the 1913 election when he won the seat of Bathurst.

[2] In parliament his strong oratory skills were quickly noticed and he became Chairman of Committees (deputy Speaker).

Holman and his followers remained in power by forming a coalition government with the Liberal Reform Party of Charles Wade on 15 November 1916 and the ALP became the opposition with 21 supporters in a house of 90 members.

Mystery surrounded his actions for some years until it was discovered that he had fathered a daughter, born in August 1916, with Winifred McNab, and he had resigned because of a fear that this would become a public scandal during the election campaign.

[1] After leaving parliament, Durack enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1917 and saw service in Great Britain.