John Chanter

Who was John Chanter?

John Moore Chanter was an Australian politician, farmer and commission agent. He was variously a member of the Protectionist Party, Australian Labor Party and Nationalist Party of Australia.

Chanter was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and was the son of John Chanter and Elizabeth, née Moore. He was educated at the Albert House Academy and the Collegiate School of St Peter in Adelaide, as well as at the Model Training Institution when his family relocated to Melbourne in 1856. Chanter was a storekeeper and farmer and in 1878, he became the first secretary of the Victorian Farmers' Union.

In 1881 he moved to Moama, New South Wales, as an auctioneer and commission agent where he was prominent in establishing the Australian Natives' Association in New South Wales, and became its first president in 1900.

His political career began in 1885 when he elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Member for Murray. He served the electorate for the next three terms before becoming the Member for Deniliquin in 1894. He held the portifolio of Secretary for Mines in the second Dibbs Ministry from 17 January 1889 to 7 March 1889.