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Senator for Queensland 1901-1906 |
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James Drake was born in London, England and migrated to Queensland in 1874. He worked as a journalist for a number of leading newspapers, was a shorthand writer with the Queensland Parliament’s reporting staff, and was admitted to the Bar in 1882. Drake was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1888-99 and a Member of the Legislative Council 1899-1901 where he held the position of Government Leader, Postmaster-General and Secretary for Public Instruction.
In 1901 Drake was elected as a Protectionist to represent Queensland in the Senate at the first federal election. In February 1901 he was appointed to the Barton Ministry as Postmaster-General, a position which he held until 1903 when he briefly became Minister for Defence. He was Attorney-General 1903-04 and Vice-President of the Executive Council 1904-05.
Drake did not stand for re-election to the Senate in 1906 but retired from politics and resumed practising law in Queensland.
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