21 Facts About Rudolph Ready

Rudolph Keith Ready was an Australian politician and businessman.

Rudolph Ready was a member of the Australian Labor Party and served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1910 to 1917, including as Government Whip from 1914 to 1917.

Rudolph Ready is primarily remembered for the controversial circumstances of his resignation.

Rudolph Ready was the son of Mary and Samuel Ready, his father working as a saddler.

Rudolph Ready joined the Reform League, a short-lived liberal organisation, in 1903, but soon resigned and joined the Tasmanian Workers' Political League.

Rudolph Ready helped establish the Campbell Town branch of the league in 1908 and was its honorary secretary.

Rudolph Ready was elected to the state executive the following year and was secretary and treasurer of the divisional council for the Franklin electorate.

At the 1910 federal election, aged 31, Rudolph Ready was elected to a six-year term in the Senate.

Rudolph Ready was re-elected at the 1914 election following a double dissolution.

In parliament, Rudolph Ready served on the select committee into the 1913 election and the royal commission into the fruit industry.

Rudolph Ready was the assistant secretary of the ALP caucus and served as the party's Senate whip from 1914 to 1917.

Rudolph Ready spoke primarily on Tasmanian matters and supported the ALP platform.

In December 1916, Rudolph Ready was appointed as the chairman of the Tasmanian Recruiting Committee by Donald Mackinnon, the federal director-general of recruiting.

Rudolph Ready's appointment was poorly received by the public, particularly returned soldiers, and he quickly resigned from the position.

Rudolph Ready supported the "No" vote at the 1916 referendum on overseas conscription, remaining loyal to the ALP following the subsequent party split which saw Prime Minister Billy Hughes expelled.

Rudolph Ready resigned from the Senate on 1 March 1917, aged 38, due to ill health.

Rudolph Ready received a show cause notice from the Tasmanian Labor Federation, but refused to reply; the central executive eventually decided to take no action.

In 1922, Rudolph Ready supported the re-election of Herbert Smith, a Nationalist member of the Victorian Legislative Council.

Rudolph Ready married Vida Constance Lee in 1901, with whom he had five children.

Rudolph Ready moved to Melbourne in about 1920, living in the suburb of Kew and working as a publicity agent and dairy broker.

Rudolph Ready died in Kew on 28 July 1958, aged 80.