Aurel Vernon Smith (20 June 1915 – 6 February 2011) was an Australian politician.
Aurel was born in
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
to wool merchant William Smith and Ruby Emily Young, he was the eldest child with a younger brother Collin Smith. A keen yachtsman, he would spend weekends competing for the Royal Geelong Yacht Club winning numerous titles Phoenix Wool Company Pty Ltd. He was a director of various other companies including J. C. Taylor and Sons Pty Ltd, Coca-Cola Bottlers (Geelong) Pty Ltd, Smith Wool Co., Warrangee Pty Ltd, Ceres Lookout Estate Pty Ltd.
Aurel enlisted and served during
World War II firstly in the
Middle East, then to
New Guinea and
Borneo. He attained the rank of
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
for 2/2 Australian Anti Aircraft Regiment. A founding member of the
Liberal Party, he was president of the Geelong branch and chairman of the Western Area finance committee. In 1967 he was elected to the
Victorian Legislative Assembly for
Bellarine
The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Pe ...
. He switched to
South Barwon in 1976 and retired in 1982.
Aurel has one son Campbell William Aurel-Smith and three grand children, Kate, Timothy and Camilla.
Smith died in 2011.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Aurel
1915 births
2011 deaths
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria
Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly