Harry Bruce (politician)


Henry Adam "Harry" Bruce was an Australian politician, firstly for Queensland and later for the Parliament of Australia.

Biography

Born in Wandiligong, Victoria, he was educated at Haileybury College in Melbourne before moving to Queensland to become a bushworker in 1902. Later, he was a sugar grower and an organiser of the Australian Workers' Union.
In 1923 Bruce was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the Labor member for the district of Kennedy. In 1932, he was elected to the Tableland. In that year he was appointed Secretary of Public Works; in 1938 he was also made Secretary of Public Instruction, a position he held until 1941. In 1947 he was transferred from Public Works to Public Instruction. During this time, the Bruce Highway was named in his honour.
Bruce left the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1950, and the following year was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Leichhardt. Bruce died in 1958 and was buried in Balmoral Cemetery. As the federal elections of that year were drawing close, no by-election was held to replace him.