Frederick Austin Johnston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fred Johnston | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 October 1909 |
| Died | 19 May 1990 (aged 80) Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Butcher, businessman |
| Spouse |
Nance Dethridge (m. 1935) |
| Relatives | Ricky Johnston (daughter-in-law) |
Frederick Austin Johnston CBE CMG (9 October 1909 – 19 May 1990) was an Australian businessman and political activist. He ran one of Western Australia's largest meat-processing firms and served on the Perth City Council from 1963 to 1965, also serving terms as president of the Liberal and Country League and the Australian Council of Employers' Federations.
Johnston was born on 9 October 1909 in Blaydon, Durham, England. He was the son of Elizabeth Florence (née Johnston) and William Oliver Johnston, his father being a butcher. He attended secondary school in Wallsend. The family immigrated to Australia in 1926, settling in Perth where his father opened a butcher's shop on Barrack Street. The shop relocated to Beaufort Street in 1929.[1]
Business career
Johnston became managing director of W. O. Johnston & Sons in 1942. The company became "one of Western Australia’s biggest meat-processing firms",[1] exporting sausages and smallgoods overseas to Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. It also supplied the Department of Defence Co-ordination during World War II.[2] In 1947, the company was fined for producing sausages with too much starch.[3] Johnston claimed in 1949 that the company would soon close down due to inconsistent electricity supply and a shortage of meat.[4] In October 1964 he announced that his firm had become insolvent, stating in a notice to creditors that "the stock and receivables of the company had been gravely overvalued".[5] It was taken over in 1967 by Talloman Holdings.[1]
Johnston was a member of the Meat and Allied Trades Federation of Australia, a peak body for employers, and helped establish the Western Australian Meat Exporters' Association in the 1960s. He served as president of the Western Australian Employers' Federation (1948–1953) and the Australian Council of Employers' Federations (1953–1955).[1] In 1952 he stated that communists were to blame for a strike in the Midland Railway Workshops.[6] In 1954 he publicly criticised federal opposition leader H. V. Evatt's statements on the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration.[7] He was also a member of the council of the Chamber of Manufactures (1949–1957).[1]
