Eric Willis

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

New South Wales Parliament
for Earlwood
In office
17 June 1950 – 16 June 1978
Preceded byNew district
Succeeded byKen Gabb
Personal details
Born(1922-01-15)15 January 1922
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Military service
AllegianceAustralia
Branch/serviceAustralian Army
Years of service1941–1958
RankMajor
UnitIntelligence Corps
Citizen Military Forces
Battles/warsWorld War II
Korean War

Sir Eric Archibald Willis

CMG (15 January 1922 – 10 May 1999) was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated at Murwillumbah High School and the University of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts with double honours. Enlisting during World War II, Willis served on the homefront and later served in New Guinea and the Philippines. He continued to serve the Citizen Military Forces until 1958.[1]

After serving a period as a geographer, Willis was elected to the

Minister 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,

Labor Party under Neville 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]

Early life

Willis was born in January 1922 in

Murwillumbah, 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 was NSW Legislative Council Member and President, Max Willis.[1] He was educated at Tyalgum Public School and then at Murwillumbah High School, at which he was Dux of his year and won a scholarship to study arts at the University of Sydney.[1]

He received a Bachelor of Arts with double honours in Modern History and Geography (BA (Hons)) from Sydney University in 1942.[2] He served in the Second Australian Imperial Force from 1941 to 1946 in Army Intelligence in New Guinea and Philippines during World War II ending the war with the rank of Sergeant. He remained in the military after demobilization, being discharged from the regular military on 3 June 1946.[3] He continued to serve in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1946, achieving the rank of major 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 for Cumberland County Council[5]

Political career

Willis on his election as Deputy Leader in July 1959.

Willis joined the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia in 1945, after hearing a speech by Sir Robert Menzies.[6] He sought preselection for the federal seat of Evans in the 1949 federal election but was defeated in favour of Frederick Osborne.[1] Instead, he gained preselection for and contested the Labor seat of Lang and gained 45.3 per cent of the vote but was defeated by the sitting member, Dan Mulcahy.[1]

At the June 1950 state election, at the age of 28, Willis was elected to the newly created Legislative Assembly seat of Earlwood,[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 the February 1953 election, Willis narrowly retained his seat with 50.33%,[9] but at the following 1956 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 first Young Liberals branch in Australia, which counted among its recruits future Prime Minister John Howard (1996–2007).[6] Following the 1959 election, at which Willis retained his seat with 58.43%,[11] the Liberal leadership was vacated by Pat Morton. Willis declined to run for the leadership and Deputy Leader Robert Askin was made Leader. Willis then ran unopposed and subsequently became Deputy Leader.[6] At the March 1962 election, despite losing the election, Willis went on to retain his seat for a fifth time with 57.26%.[12]

Minister of the Crown

In 1965, the

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George on 15 June 1974.[14]

Premier

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,

Lieutenant 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, including

Daylight 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 of

Labor Party under Neville Wran. The election was notable for being very close run; with the seats of Gosford and Hurstville 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]

Willis (4th left, front row) with his Cabinet, following their swearing in, at Government House on 23 January 1976.

The Willis-Punch Cabinet

See also: Willis–Punch ministry
  • Sir Eric Willis, Premier and Treasurer
  • CP
    )
  • John Maddison, Attorney General, Minister for Justice
  • Tim Bruxner, Minister for Transport, Minister for Highways (CP)
  • Neil Pickard, Minister for Education
  • Dick Healey, Minister for Health
  • Bruce Cowan, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Water Resources (CP)
  • Peter Coleman, Chief Secretary
  • Tom Lewis, Minister for Local Government
  • George Freudenstein, Minister for Mines, Minister for Energy (CP)
  • Sir John Fuller MLC, Minister for Planning and Environment, vice-president of the Executive Council (CP)
  • Max Ruddock, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Revenue
  • Frederick Hewitt MLC, Minister for Labour and Industry, Minister for Federal Affairs, Minister for Consumer Affairs
  • Ian Griffith, Minister for Housing, Minister for Co-operative Societies
  • David Arblaster, Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Minister for Tourism
  • Milton Morris, Minister for Decentralisation and Development
  • Col Fisher, Minister for Lands, Minister for Forests (CP)
  • Jim Clough, Minister for Youth, Ethnic and Community Affairs

Later life

Opposition

After the election he retained the Liberal leadership but proved to be less than suited for opposition. On 19 January 1977, the Granville 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 by Peter 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]

After politics

On his retirement, he was permitted by

Neutral 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]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Death of Sir Eric Archibald Willis KBE, a Former Premier of New South Wales". Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 12 May 1999. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Sir Eric Archibald Willis (1922–1999)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  3. ^ World War II Nominal Roll: Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine WILLIS, ERIC ARCHIBALD
  4. ^ "Eric Archibald Willis". New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2007.
  5. ^ "Liberals pick bank officer". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 April 1949. p. 3. Retrieved 7 July 2010 – via Trove.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Clune, David; Turner, Ken (2006). The Premiers of New South Wales 1856–2005: Volume 2, 1901–2005. Sydney: Federation Press. 387–399.
  7. ^ a b Green, Antony. "Elections for the district of Earlwood". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Won new seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 June 1950. p. 4. Retrieved 7 July 2010 – via Trove.
  9. ^ Green, Antony. "1953 Earlwood". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  10. ^ Green, Antony. "1956 Earlwood". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  11. ^ Green, Antony. "1959 Earlwood". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  12. ^ Green, Antony. "1962 Earlwood". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  13. ^ Green, Antony. "1965 Earlwood". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George entry for Mr Eric Archibald Willis". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 15 June 1974. Retrieved 25 July 2020. Minister of Education in New South Wales
  15. ^ "Willis Premier if he let me help". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 August 1975. p. 2. Retrieved 7 January 2011 – via Google News Archive.
  16. ^ "The Order of the British Empire - Knights Commander (KBE) entry for Mr Eric Archibald Willis". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 14 June 1975. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-1-86287-659-0
    .
  18. ^ "Swearing in of new Ministry under Sir Eric Willis". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  19. ^
    ISBN 978-1-86287-600-2
    .
  20. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 1999, p. 8
  21. ^ "Sir Eric Stands down", Sydney Morning Herald, 16 December 1977 pg.6
  22. ^ Green, Antony. "1978 Earlwood by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  23. ^ "No. 46930". The London Gazette. 8 June 1976. p. 8115.
  24. ^ "LIST OF CORONATION MEDAL AWARDS". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 June 1953. p. 6. Retrieved 15 April 2021 – via Trove.
  25. ^ "Government Gazette Notices". Commonwealth Of Australia Gazette. No. P7. Australia, Australia. 1 August 1977. p. 22. Retrieved 28 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.

 

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
and 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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