Editing Neville Howse (section)

==Politics==
[[File:Neville Howse - Lafayette (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Undated photo, c. 1920s]]
In 1922, Howse resigned his army commission to enter politics, as regulations at the time forbade political campaigning by members of the regular army. He was elected to the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], standing for the [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist Party]] in the [[Division of Calare]]. He subsequently represented Australia at the [[Organisation of the League of Nations|League of Nations Assembly]] in 1923. In January 1925, Howse was elevated to cabinet by Prime Minister [[Stanley Bruce]] as [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|Minister for Defence]] and [[Minister for Health (Australia)|Minister for Health]]. In the defence portfolio his primary responsibility was for [[repatriation]]. He was a member of the Australian delegation to the [[1926 Imperial Conference]] in London, but was taken ill and had to resign his portfolios in April 1927. He was kept on in the ministry as an honorary minister without portfolio.<ref name=adb/>

In February 1928, Howse was reappointed Minister for Health and also made [[Minister for Home Affairs (Australia)|Minister for Home and Territories]]. He relinquished the latter portfolio in November 1928 after [[1928 Australian federal election|that year's election]]. Howse made a significant impact during his two periods as health minister. He helped establish the Federal Health Council of Australia, supported the formation of the [[Royal Australasian College of Surgeons|Australian College of Surgeons]] and the first conference of Australian cancer organisations, and was instrumental in the decision to site the [[Australian Institute of Anatomy]] in Canberra. In 1928, he convinced cabinet to spend the considerable sum of £100,000 to establish one of the world's first [[radium]] banks, allowing Australia to become a centre of radiological research. He was also credited with inspiring public confidence in [[Commonwealth Serum Laboratories]] and the government's immunisation programs, at a time when a series of fatalities – including the [[Bundaberg tragedy]] of 1928 – had led to a distrust of immunisation among the general population.<ref name=adb/>

Howse lost his seat in parliament in the Labor landslide at the [[1929 Australian federal election|1929 election]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Members of the House of Representatives since 1901 |work=Parliamentary Handbook |publisher=[[Parliament of Australia]] |url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=HANDBOOK;id=handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2008-12-19%2F0077;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fnewhandbook%2F2008-12-19%2F0071%22 |access-date=11 November 2010}}</ref>