Pat Hills

The Honourable Pat Hills AO
6th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
In office 30 April 1964 – 13 May 1965
Premier	Jack Renshaw
Preceded by	Jack Renshaw
Succeeded by	Charles Cutler
22nd Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales Elections: 1971, 1973
In office 2 December 1968 – 17 November 1973
Deputy	Syd Einfeld
Preceded by	Jack Renshaw
Succeeded by	Neville Wran
70th Lord Mayor of Sydney
In office 9 December 1952 – 30 November 1956
Preceded by	Ernest Charles O'Dea
Succeeded by	Harry Jensen
Personal details
Born	(1917-12-31)31 December 1917 Sydney, Australia
Died	22 April 1992(1992-04-22) (aged 74) Sydney, Australia
Resting place	Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	Stella Steele Hills

Patrick Darcy 'Pat' Hills AO (31 December 1917 – 22 April 1992) was a New South Wales politician. He served in various high offices across the state most notably the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Leader of the Opposition and as the Lord Mayor of Sydney.

Early life

Hills was born in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills. He was educated at Marist Brothers High School, Darlinghurst and was apprenticed as an electrical engineer.

He was an alderman on Sydney City Council from 1948 to 1956 and Lord Mayor of Sydney from 1953 to 1956, when only in his thirties.

Political career

Hills was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Phillip in 1954, representing the Australian Labor Party; he held the seat till its abolition in 1981. Then, until 1988, he served as member for Elizabeth.

He was Minister for Local Government in the cabinet of Premier Robert Heffron (1959-1964), and Deputy Premier under Heffron's successor Jack Renshaw. Following Renshaw's departure from the Labor leadership, Hills was the State Opposition Leader from 1968 to 1973; at the 1971 and 1973 state elections he was narrowly defeated by the Liberal Premier, Sir Robert Askin.

During his long Parliamentary service of 34 years, Hills served terms as Deputy Premier and as Minister in a number of portfolios including Local Government, Highways, Mines, Energy, Industrial Relations, Technology, Roads and Employment. In opposition he served as Deputy Leader for three years and Leader for five years. His many notable initiatives and achievements as a Minister include the Sydney to Newcastle Highway, the construction of the Gladesville Bridge and establishment of the State Planning Authority now known as the NSW Department of Planning. One of his major achievements was the building of the Eraring and Bayswater power stations.

He was also responsible for the Hilton Hotel, which he rubber stamped. More importantly, he has been accused of sabotaging the 1948 Cumberland County Plan for Sydney, "flogging the green belt out the back door before the ink was dry".^[1]

He served as a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sports Ground Trust from July 1961 to December 1989, and was Chairman of the Trust during its significant expansion period from 1977 to 1989. Hills died in Sydney and was cremated with his ashes interred at Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens.

Honours

Hills was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988.^[2]

The suburb of Hillsdale, New South Wales is named after Hills.

References