John Gorton

John Gorton was born on 9 September 1911 in Wellington, New Zealand, or Prahran, Victoria, Australia. His father was John Rose Gorton, a wealthy English businessman who had migrated to Australia via South Africa. His mother was Alice Sinn, a daughter of a German immigrant. He had a troubled childhood as his parents separated when he was six and he was raised by various relatives. He attended Sydney Church of England Grammar School and Geelong Grammar School. He then studied law at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated with honours in 1932. He returned to Australia and practised law in Melbourne. He also joined the Militia and became a lieutenant colonel by 1939. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1940 and trained as a fighter pilot. He served in Britain, Singapore, Darwin and Papua New Guinea during the Second World War. He was wounded twice and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He married Bettina Brown in 1935 and they had three children: Mary, Iven and Geoffrey. He entered politics in 1949 as a Liberal Party senator for Victoria. He held various ministerial portfolios under Robert Menzies and Harold Holt, such as Navy, Works, Interior and Education and Science. He became Prime Minister of Australia in January 1968 after Holt's disappearance and presumed drowning. He was the first and only senator to become prime minister; he resigned from the Senate and won a by-election for the House of Representatives seat of Higgins in February 1968. As prime minister, he continued Holt's pro-US policies by increasing Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. He also introduced several reforms in immigration, education, social services and Aboriginal affairs, such as abolishing the White Australia policy, establishing the Australian Council for the Arts, increasing pensions and benefits, and granting citizenship rights to Indigenous Australians. He faced several challenges during his term, such as the French nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, the student protests against conscription and the Vietnam War, and the growing dissent within his own party over his leadership style and policies. He lost his leadership by one vote in a party room ballot in March 1971 and resigned as prime minister. He was replaced by William McMahon. He remained in parliament as a backbencher until 1975 when he resigned after being expelled from the Liberal Party for supporting the Labor Party's motion of no confidence against Malcolm Fraser's caretaker government during the constitutional crisis that resulted in the dismissal of Gough Whitlam by Governor-General John Kerr. He married Nancy Home in 1993 and lived in retirement until his death from pneumonia on 19 May 2002 at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney. He was buried at Melbourne General Cemetery with state honours¹.