5. Arthur Male (c1871-1946), merchant and politician
The KIM pearl lugger first registered in 1908 to Arthur MaleArthur Male was born and educated in Dorset, England. He migrated to Perth in 1890. He initially worked on a farm in Guildford before heading north to Broome in 1894. Male managed a store in Broome for E. W. Streeter, a London jeweller who had pearling and pastoral interests in the region. A partnership of Streeter and Male was formed, and Arthur was eventually sole manager.
Arthur Male was joined by his brother, Archie, and together they expanded their business interests. They purchased Hill Station between Broome and Beagle Bay, and Ida Valley near Leonora where they fattened cattle from the north for sale in the Eastern Goldfields and Perth.
After World War I, world demand for pearl shell declined and the economic conditions of the 1920s curtailed the cattle industry. The Male brothers had originally shipped cattle to Java in return for reciprocal trade in sugar and rice for their Asian indentured labour. In 1921, the Federal government prohibited imports of sugar and rice in order to protect local industry. In 1929, the outbreak of a cattle disease meant the prohibition of all cattle from the north for the southern markets.
Arthur Male represented the Kimberley in the Legislative Assembly 1905 to 1917. He was a member of the Broome Road Board, and from 1928, Honorary Consul for Japan. He retired to Perth in 1930, handing management of the Broome business to his eldest son, Sam Male. In March 1998, his grandson, Kim Male, announced the closure of the Streeter and Male Supermarket. After nearly 100 years of serving the people of Broome, the store could no longer compete with the national chains.