Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO (14 January 1870 – 24 June 1952) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1901 to 1938.

[2] While camped at Kurnalpi, Pearce and two others were attacked by Wangkatha men armed with spears, to which he responded by firing his revolver three times.

[3] The local labour movement at the time largely consisted of small craft unions of skilled tradesmen, with an atmosphere less militant than in the other Australian colonies.

[4] In 1893, Pearce helped found the Progressive Political League, a precursor to the Western Australian branch of the ALP.

[7] In Pearce's maiden speech to parliament, he outlined his views as a moderate socialist and looked forward to a time where "the representatives of labour and capital could join hands to the advantage of both".

[8] He also called for the nationalisation of natural monopolies, and in 1906 introduced an unsuccessful private member's bill to amend the constitution to that effect.

Pearce was one of the few free traders in the Labor Party in his first years in parliament, believing high tariff policies made imports more expensive for Western Australia and had few benefits given the state's limited secondary industries.

[11] He believed it was his duty as minister to accept "any reasonable expenditure on armament, ammunition, and accoutrements" recommended by his advisers and to resolve disagreements between sections of the military.

[15] Outside of the defence portfolio, Pearce oversaw the creation of Advisory Council of Science and Industry, the predecessor of the CSIRO, which Hughes had approved before his departure.

[16] By the time of Hughes' return, Australia's prosecution of the war made the introduction of conscription an intensely divisive issue for the ALP.

[17] The announcement received public criticism from those dissatisfied with his performance as defence minister, and a crowd gathered to boo and cat-call Pearce as his ship left Melbourne in January 1919.

[18] In London, Pearce faced a number of challenges, including conflict with British authorities over the availability of troop transport ships.

[25] He articulated the defence policies that he had supported throughout his career in a September 1933 speech to the Millions Club in Sydney: "an efficient Australian navy capable of operating with the Royal Navy; a well-equipped army based on a militia; a modern air force; armaments and munitions factories; and a closer defence relationship with New Zealand".

[31] As external affairs minister, Pearce supported the Lyons government's diplomatic policy of appeasement of Imperial Japan while Australia continued to rearm.

In October 1935, he told U.S. consul-general Jay Pierrepont Moffat that "the government remained suspicious of [Japan]'s ultimate intentions, but with British naval strength reduced below the safety point, and with American aid discounted, there was no policy open to her other than trying to be friendly with Japan and to give her no excuse to adopt an aggressive policy vis-à-vis the Commonwealth".

[33] Pearce campaigned for the "No" vote in the 1933 Western Australian secession referendum, touring the state with Lyons and Tom Brennan for two weeks.

[34] Pearce's opposition to secession played a key role in his defeat at the 1937 federal election, along with claims he had failed to defend Western Australia's interests and had not visited the state often enough.

[3] Prime Minister John Curtin retained him in the latter position despite the opposition of some within the Labor Party, including Arthur Calwell and Eddie Ward.

[1] Pearce had lived mainly in Melbourne since entering the Senate, but co-owned a farm in Tenterden, Western Australia, with his son and visited regularly.

[3] At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of the first Australian Senate elected at Federation in 1901; MHRs Billy Hughes and King O'Malley from the First Parliament would outlive him.

Menzies praised Pearce's "profound and reflective mind", analytical way of thinking, and ability to express ideas and policy recommendations.