Bill Neilson

Bill Neilson (1946)

William "Bill" Arthur Neilson AC (born August 27, 1925 in Hobart , Tasmania , † November 9, 1989 ) was an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), who was Prime Minister of Tasmania between 1975 and 1977 .

Life

MP and Minister

Neilson was elected as a candidate for the Australian Labor Party on November 23, 1946 in Franklin constituency for the first time as a member of the House of Representatives (Tasmanian House of Assembly) , the lower house of the Tasmanian parliament, and was a member of this until his resignation on December 1, 1977. He was just 21 years old when he was first elected and held the record as the youngest member of parliament for several years.

Ten years later he was on 23 October 1956 by Prime Minister Robert Cosgrove as Minister of Tourism and Immigration (Minister for Tourism and Immigration) and Acting Forestry Minister (Minister Administering the Forestry Department) appointed to a government of the state and has held these offices until 22 July 1958. At the same time he was Attorney General from July 22 to October 28, 1958 .

In the government of Cosgrove's successor, Eric Reece , Neilson assumed the post of Minister for Education on August 26, 1958 and held that post for eleven years until Reece's term of office ended on May 26, 1969 April 9 to May 12, 1959 also briefly Minister of Finance (Treasurer) .

After Reece had again become Prime Minister after the Labor Party's victory in the parliamentary elections of April 22, 1972, Neilson took over the office of Minister of Education again on May 3, 1972 and held this office until April 17, 1974. May and May 8, 1972 also as Acting Minister for Tourism and Immigration. As part of a cabinet reshuffle, he was again attorney general on April 12, 1974, and on April 17, 1974 took over the offices of Vice Prime Minister and Minister for the Environment and Acting Minister for Police and Licensing (Minister administering the Police Department and Licensing ) .

prime minister

On March 31, 1975 Neilson finally succeeded Reece as Prime Minister and as chairman of the Labor Party of Tasmania and held this office until his resignation on December 1, 1977. He also acted from March 31, 1975 to December 1, 1977 as Finance minister.

In the parliamentary elections of December 11, 1976, the Labor Party achieved 123,386 votes (52.48 percent) and despite losing two seats with 18 seats, it was able to defend its absolute majority in the 35-member House of Assembly. The opposition Liberal Party of Australia under Max Bingham won 104,613 votes (44.49 percent) and was able to improve its parliamentary seats by three seats to 17.

After the election, on December 22, 1976, Neilson also assumed the offices of Minister for Federal Affairs and Minister for Planning and Development, and also held these two offices until the end of his term on December 1 December 1977. On November 23, 1977, he became Companion of the Order of Australia for his political services .

After his resignation on December 1, 1977, the previous Vice Prime Minister Doug Lowe was his successor and at the age of 35 became the youngest Prime Minister of the state to date. At the same time he was also the successor as chairman of the Labor Party of Tasmania.

After leaving the House of Assembly, he became Agent General for Tasmania in Great Britain . He later worked as a theater critic for the Hobart daily The Mercury during the 1980s .

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Parliament of Tasmania
• Ministers - House of Assembly - 1950 to 1989