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Being born in Germany, and the spread of World War I, it is understandable he chose to retire in the 1917 election.
Being born in Germany, and the spread of World War I, it is understandable he chose to retire in the 1917 election.
He was a member for the Division of Boothby in South Australia from 1913 until 1917. Prior to this he was a state Member of Parliament in the seat of Torrens from 1905 to 1912. Dankel left Germany for Australia at the age of 15, primarily to avoid military service.
He worked in the country for several years before settling in Kensington and opening a butcher shop.
He was elected as a member for Torrens in 1905, 1906 and 1910, but was defeated in 1912. He defeated the sitting Liberal member, David Gordon to be elected to Boothby in 1913, and reelected in 1914.
As World War I got underway, the All-British League raised 17,000 signatures calling for Dankel"s resignation or dismissal. He continued to regularly attend parliament, but rarely spoke in the chamber.
He left the ALP with Billy Hughes and 21 others to form the Nationalist Party which was in favour of compulsory military service.
Both Dankel and Jacob Stumm, the only other German-born Member of Parliament chose not to stand in the 1917 election.
He was a member of the Australian Labor Party, switching to the Nationalist Party of Australia in 1917.
