Sir Eric Willis | |
|---|---|
 Willisc. 1965 | |
| 34thPremier of New South Wales | |
| In office 23 January 1976 – 14 May 1976 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor | Sir Roden Cutler |
| Deputy | Leon Punch |
| Preceded by | Tom Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Neville Wran |
| Minister for Education | |
| In office 19 June 1972 – 23 January 1976 | |
| Premier | Robert Askin Tom Lewis |
| Preceded by | Sir Charles Cutler |
| Succeeded by | Neil Pickard |
| 24thLeader of the Opposition of New South Wales | |
| In office 14 May 1976 – 16 December 1977 | |
| Deputy | John Maddison |
| Preceded by | Neville Wran |
| Succeeded by | Peter Coleman |
| Member of theNew South Wales Parliament forEarlwood | |
| In office 17 June 1950 – 16 June 1978 | |
| Preceded by | New district |
| Succeeded by | Ken Gabb |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1922-01-15)15 January 1922 Murwillumbah, New South Wales |
| Died | 10 May 1999(1999-05-10) (aged 77) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Relations | Max Willis |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Branch/service | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1941–1958 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Intelligence Corps Citizen Military Forces |
| Battles/wars | |
Sir Eric Archibald WillisKBE, CMG (15 January 1922 – 10 May 1999) was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34thPremier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated atMurwillumbah High School and theUniversity of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts with double honours. Enlisting duringWorld War II, Willis served on the homefront and later served in New Guinea and the Philippines. He continued to serve theCitizen Military Forces until 1958.[1]
After serving a period as a geographer, Willis was elected to theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly as theLiberal member forEarlwood in 1950. He rose to become a long-serving Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 1959 to 1975 underRobert Askin. When the Coalition won the 1965 election, Willis was made a Minister of the Crown as Chief Secretary, Minister for Labour and Industry, Tourism and Sport but rose to prominence in his role asMinister for Education from 1972 to 1976. When Askin retired in 1975, Willis failed in his attempts to succeed him.[1]
Following the ousting of Askin's successor,Tom Lewis, by the party, Willis was elected as the Parliamentary Leader of the Liberal Party and subsequently became Premier. However, after only four months in office, his Liberal/National Country Party Coalition was defeated at the1976 election by theLabor Party underNeville Wran. Continuing as Leader of the Opposition, Willis resigned in 1977 and retired from politics a year later.[1] Thereafter he served in various organisations and directorships until his death in May 1999.[2]
Willis was born in January 1922 inMurwillumbah, New South Wales, the first son of Archibald Clarence Willis (1893–1975), a butter factory hand and First World War veteran, and his wife, Vida Mabel Buttenshaw (1894–1984).[2] His younger brother wasNSW Legislative Council Member and President,Max Willis.[1] He was educated atTyalgum Public School and then atMurwillumbah High School, at which he was Dux of his year and won a scholarship to study arts at theUniversity of Sydney.[1]
He received aBachelor of Arts with double honours in Modern History and Geography (BA (Hons)) from Sydney University in 1942.[2] He served in theSecond Australian Imperial Force from 1941 to 1946 inArmy Intelligence inNew Guinea and Philippines during World War II ending the war with the rank ofSergeant. He remained in the military after demobilization, being discharged from the regular military on 3 June 1946.[3] He continued to serve in theCitizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1946, achieving the rank ofmajor in 1948, until retiring in 1958. He married Norma Dorothy Thompson on 11 May 1951[4] and they had a daughter and two sons. Willis was employed as a senior geographer and investigation officer forCumberland County Council[5]
Willis joined the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia in 1945, after hearing a speech bySir Robert Menzies.[6] He sought preselection for the federalseat of Evans in the1949 federal election but was defeated in favour ofFrederick Osborne.[1] Instead, he gained preselection for and contested the Labor seat ofLang and gained 45.3 per cent of the vote but was defeated by the sitting member,Dan Mulcahy.[1]
At theJune 1950 state election, at the age of 28, Willis was elected to the newly createdLegislative Assembly seat ofEarlwood,[7] in the inner southwestern suburbs of Sydney, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament.[8] He gained the seat with 55.53% against a single Labor candidate.[7] He soon gained a reputation as rebel in the House, always attacking the Labor Speakers, and consequently being expelled from the house more than any other member.[6] At theFebruary 1953 election, Willis narrowly retained his seat with 50.33%,[9] but at the following1956 election, he increased his margin to 58.04%.[10]
During his time as member for Earlwood, Willis catered to the changing demographics of his electorate by creating the first-ever Greek branch of the Liberal Party and formed the firstYoung Liberals branch in Australia, which counted among its recruits future Prime MinisterJohn Howard (1996–2007).[6] Following the1959 election, at which Willis retained his seat with 58.43%,[11] the Liberal leadership was vacated byPat Morton. Willis declined to run for the leadership and Deputy LeaderRobert Askin was made Leader. Willis then ran unopposed and subsequently became Deputy Leader.[6] At theMarch 1962 election, despite losing the election, Willis went on to retain his seat for a fifth time with 57.26%.[12]
In 1965, theMay general election ended 24 years of Labor government and began Willis's ministerial career, which spanned the entire length of the Coalition Government. After retaining his seat again with 59.95%,[13] he was appointed to the post of Chief Secretary and Minister for Tourism by Premier Askin in May 1965 to June 1972.[2] Willis was appointed Minister for Labour and Industry from 1965 to March 1971 and during that same time he was also Minister for Sport. From June 1972 to January 1976 he was Minister for Education, where he presided over a huge expansion of schools, teachers and ancillary staff. Willis served as a Fellow ofUniversity of Sydney Senate in 1972. Willis was regarded as the outstanding minister of the Askin Government and is considered one of the state's greatest Education Ministers.[6] For his service as Minister, Willis was appointed aCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St George on 15 June 1974.[14]
Upon Askin's retirement in January 1975, Willis was seen as the favourite to take the premiership. However, despite Askin's initial support, Willis refused his help, preferring to gain the leadership on his own merits. Askin then put his support behind the Minister for Lands,Tom Lewis.[15] Willis, sure he had support, refused to campaign, and the party put its support behind Lewis, leading to his election to Premier. Willis was then replaced as Deputy byJohn Maddison. For his service as Deputy Leader he was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 14 June 1975.[16] Lewis was Premier for only one year and looked increasingly likely to lead the state Liberals to defeat. At the party room meeting on 20 January 1976, parliamentary backbencherNeil Pickard called a spill motion which carried 22 votes to 11. Lewis opted not to contest the ensuing leadership ballot, leaving Willis to take the leadership unopposed.[17] Willis was then duly sworn in as Premier on 23 January, alongside his reconfigured Cabinet, by theLieutenant Governor of New South Wales,Sir Laurence Street.[18]
In his brief time as Premier he extensively reshuffled the cabinet, dropping five ministers in an attempt to distance himself from the past, includingSteve Mauger andJohn Mason, and appointed new cabinet faces such as Pickard andDavid Arblaster.[17] His most significant decision was to set up in April 1976 the long-demanded inquiry into the prison system in the form of aRoyal Commission under Justice Nagle. Willis also introducedDaylight Saving time, to be decided upon in a referendum,[6] scrapped the unpopular petrol tax and announced a masterplan for Sydney's transport system.[19]
When former Minister Steve Mauger resigned on 27 January 1976, sparking a by-election in his seat ofMonaro in May, and early polls had indicated a large swing to Labor, Willis announced an early election on 1 May, thereby cancelling the by-election in the hope of preventing a larger move of voters against the government.[19] In the May 1976 election, Willis's government lost power to theLabor Party underNeville Wran. The election was notable for being very close run; with the seats ofGosford andHurstville being lost by only 74 and 44 votes respectively. Had Willis retained those seats he would have remained in government.[6] At that same election Daylight Saving time for New South Wales was passed by 68.4 per cent for and 31.6 per cent against and whenever Willis was asked what his greatest achievement as Premier was, he would always say "Daylight Saving".[20]
After the election he retained the Liberal leadership but proved to be less than suited for opposition. On 19 January 1977, theGranville rail disaster claimed the lives of 83 people—the worst rail disaster in Australian history at the time. In response to this, Willis declared that there had never been as many deaths on the railways during the Liberal Government. The insensitive remark led several Liberal MLAs to introduce a no-confidence motion in Willis' leadership.[6] While Willis survived the motion, speculation about a leadership challenge continued for the rest of his term. On 15 December four party MPs declared that they would oppose him in a leadership ballot the next day. On 15 December 1977, Willis called a press conference to announce his intention to resign as leader:
"In 27 years in parliamentary life I have won many times and I have lost many times. I have experienced the pleasures of success and the frustrations of failures on a number of occasions...I leave the position of Leader of the Oppostition with no bitterness but naturally with a great amount of sadness"
— Sir Eric Willis, 16 December 1977[21]
On 16 December, he formally resigned as leader at the party meeting and was replaced byPeter Coleman.[17] Willis resigned as Member for Earlwood on 16 June 1978, at the age of 56.[2] At the resulting by-election, Earlwood fell to the Labor candidate,Ken Gabb.[22]
On his retirement, he was permitted byQueen Elizabeth II, on the Governor's recommendation, to continue to use the title "The Honourable" for life.[23] As a member of parliament he received theQueen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953), and theQueen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977).[24][25] After retiring from politics Willis held positions with theRoyal Australian College of Ophthalmologists and the Arthritis Foundation, of which he was executive director from 1984 to 1991. Willis also spent time as vice-president of the Red Cross (NSW Branch) and was a Fellow of theRoyal Society of St George, a Member of theAustralian Institute of Political Science and theAustralian Institute of International Affairs.[2] Willis left his residence inBardwell Park and moved toNeutral Bay, where his marriage collapsed.[6]
He divorced his first wife, Norma, and remarried to Lynn. He died in Sydney on 10 May 1999.[2]
Minister of Education in New South Wales
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| New district | Member for Earlwood 1950–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party 1959–1975 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party 1976–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Labour and Industry 1965–1971 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Secretary of New South Wales 1965–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Minister for Tourist Activities 1965–1968 | Succeeded by Himself as Minister for Tourism | |
| Preceded by Himself as Minister for Tourist Activities | Minister for Tourism 1968–1971 | Succeeded by Himself as Minister for Tourism and Sport |
| Preceded by Himself as Minister for Tourism | Minister for Tourismand Sport 1971–1972 | Succeeded byas Minister for Tourism |
| Succeeded byas Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Education 1972–1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of New South Wales 1976 | Succeeded by |
| Treasurer of New South Wales 1976 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales 1976–1977 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
