Education
Born in Grafton, New South Wales, he was educated at Street Augustine"s School in Coffs Harbour.
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Frank McGuren
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He then became a public servant, and was elected to Grafton City Council. In 1958, he was the Labor candidate for the seat of Cowper in the Australian House of Representatives, facing former Prime Minister Earle Page of the Country Party. Page had held the seat since 1919 — he was the second-longest-serving federal parliamentarian in Australian history — and had skated to re-election time and again.
The 1958 election was no different, and McGuren was easily defeated.
McGuren sought a rematch in 1961. On paper, he faced very long odds.
However, by this time, Page was 81 years old and gravely ill with lung cancer. Although he was too sick to campaign nearly as actively as he had done before, he insisted on contesting the election (his 17th) anyway.
McGuren led the field on the first count.
On the second count, while an independent candidate"s preferences flowed mostly to Page, McGuren"s first-count lead was large enough for him to be elected by a slim three-point margin: a 13-point swing to the ALP. Page died 11 days later without knowing that he had lost the seat. Nonetheless, McGuren"s tenure was short-lived. At the 1963 election, he was narrowly defeated by the Country Party"s Ian Robinson on the first count as the Menzies-led Coalition recovered many of the seats it had lost two years earlier.
McGuren never again served in parliament.
He died in 1990.
Achievements
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Born
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Died
June 13, 1990 (aged 80) -
Nationality
Australia -
Political Party
Australian Labor Party