Reginald Wright

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Sir Reginald Charles Wright (10 July 1905 – 10 March 1990) was an Australian politician, a Liberal Party Senator for Tasmania from 1950 to 1978.

Wright was born in Castra, Tasmania and educated at Devonport High School and the University of Tasmania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Bar in 1928 and lectured in law at the University of Tasmania. In 1941, he enlisted in the second Australian Imperial Force and was promoted to captain in 1943.[1][2]

[edit] Political career

Wright was elected as a Liberal member for the Tasmanian Legislative Assembly seat of Franklin in November 1946 and was the first State president of the Liberal Party in Tasmania. In November 1949, he resigned to contest the 1949 election and was elected to the Senate, and he took his seat in July 1950. He was appointed to the ministry in February 1968 in the John Gorton government as Minister for Works and Minister in charge of Tourist Activities and held these positions until the defeat to the of the William McMahon government at the 1972 election.[3][1]

Wright holds the record in the Australian Parliament for "crossing the floor" to vote against his own party – 150 times.[4][5] He did not contest the 1977 election. He left the Liberal Party in June 1978 and sat as an independent until his retirement on 30 June 1978.[6]

An accomplished barrister and orator, Wright returned to practising law on retiring from the Senate in 1978 and he was made a Knight Bachelor the same year. In retirement he returned to a farm near the farmhouse in Castra where he had been born and died there; he was accorded a State Funeral in Ulverstone, Tasmania.[2]

His brother, Emeritus Professor Sir Roy Wright, AK, was Chancellor of the University of Melbourne 1980-89.[2] Two of Sir Reginald's sons achieved distinction in the law in Tasmania, one as a Supreme Court judge and the other as a Magistrate.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Button, John (8 May 1990). Death of the Hon. Sir Reginald Wright. Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  2. ^ a b c Watson, John (8 May 1990). Death of the Hon. Sir Reginald Wright. Hansard. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  3. ^ Wright, Reginald Charles. The Parliament of Tasmania from 1856. Parliament of Tasmania . Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  4. ^ "The lost art of crossing the floor", The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 August 2006. Retrieved on 2008-02-05. 
  5. ^ Crossing the floor in the Federal Parliament 1950 – August 2004. Parliament of Australia (12 August 2006). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  6. ^ Members of the Senate since 1901. Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.


Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Bert Kelly		 Minister for Works
1968 – 1972		 Succeeded by
James Cavanagh
Preceded by
Don Chipp		 Minister in Charge of Tourist Activities
1968 – 1971		 Succeeded by
Peter Howson


Persondata
NAME Wright, Reginald Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH 10 July 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Castra, Tasmania
DATE OF DEATH 10 March 1990
PLACE OF DEATH Castra, Tasmania