Bill Wentworth

[citation needed] Returning to Australia aged 23, Wentworth worked briefly as a factory hand at Lever Brothers in Balmain, Sydney, before becoming Secretary to the Attorney General of New South Wales, Sir Henry Manning.At the 1943 federal election, he stood as an independent for the House of Representatives seat of Wentworth (named after his great-grandfather), arguing for an all-party "national government".[6] He was a leading member of the "Taiwan lobby" in the Liberal Party, which also included Wilfrid Kent Hughes and the young John Gorton.He made important recommendations on solving one of Australia's longest-standing infrastructure problems, the incompatible rail gauges in the different states, a legacy of colonial times.[citation needed] As Minister, Wentworth was disappointed that the Cabinet was reluctant to take any steps to pass the kind of far-reaching legislation he wanted, mainly due to the resistance of pastoral interests represented by the Country Party.Nevertheless, Wentworth took the first practical step towards the granting of Indigenous land rights when he proposed giving the Gurindji people control of their land at Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory (which was at that time under Commonwealth control): this scheme, in a fine irony given Wentworth's history, was denounced as "communist inspired" by the Cattle Producers Council[16] (a reference to the fact that the Communist writer Frank Hardy was an adviser to the Gurindji).In March 1975 it was Wentworth who moved the motion in the Liberal Party room to depose Snedden from the leadership in favour of Malcolm Fraser.Having already announced his intention of retiring from Parliament at the next election, he resigned from the Liberal Party on 11 October 1977, citing the government's handling of the economy and industrial relations.[20] In 1993, Wentworth was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to the Australian Parliament, particularly in relation to Aboriginal rights and to the standardisation of inter-state rail gauges".
Wentworth in 1953
The HonourableMinister for Social ServicesJohn GortonWilliam McMahonIan SinclairBill HaydenMinister in charge of Aboriginal Affairs under the Prime MinisterPeter HowsonAustralian ParliamentMackellarJim CarltonSydneyNew South WalesLiberal DemocraticLiberalMungo MacCallumAlma materNew College, OxfordLiberal PartyMinister in charge of Aboriginal AffairsHouse of Representativescrossed the floorbarristerWilliam Charles Wentworthcolonial New South WalesThe Armidale SchoolArmidaleTom HampsonLever BrothersBalmainAttorney General of New South WalesSir Henry ManningKeynesianism1943 federal electionWentworthUnited Australia PartyEric HarrisonJessie StreetLiberal Democratic PartyErnest WhiteRobert MenziesLiberal Party of Australia1949 electionMcCarthyismparliamentary privilegeWilfrid Kent HughesAustralian Labor PartyH. V. EvattGough Whitlamhead of the South Australian RailwaysAboriginalAustralian Institute of Aboriginal StudiesAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoplesAct of Parliamentconstitutional referendumHarold Holt1967 referendumCountry PartyIndigenous land rightsGurindji peopleWave Hill StationNorthern TerritoryCommunistFrank HardyBilly SneddenMalcolm FraserSenateDecember 1977 electionGrey Power1984 electionby-election in the seat of WentworthJohn HewsonOrder of AustraliaQueen's Birthdaynorth QueenslandGeorge HillGeorge Richard GriffithsGeorge Neville Griffiths M.L.A.John Scott M.L.A. and M.L.CPolitical families of AustraliaWentworth familyThe IndependentWayback MachineHarcourt, J. M.The Argus (Melbourne)Parliament of New South WalesAustralian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian National UniversityCarol ListonMinister for Aboriginal AffairsParliament of AustraliaMember for Mackellar