David Stanley Leitch (9 January 1923 – 18 January 1988) was an Australian politician. He was the Country Party member for

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

from 1973 to 1978. Leitch was born in Leeton; his maternal grandfather was William Killen, a member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

from 1922 to 1931. Leitch was educated by correspondence from All Saints College in Bathurst. He studied medicine at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and was subsequently appointed an honorary surgeon to the Armidale and New England Hospital. In 1942 he enlisted in the AIF; he was posted to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, where he fought the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese at

Shaggy Ridge Shaggy Ridge is a long razorback (stratigraphic) ridge in the Finisterre Range, in north eastern Papua New Guinea. Its highest point is above sea level. The ridge is located between the valleys of the Mene and Faria Rivers and culminates at ...

. After his return he returned to his medical practice. In 1973, the Country Party member for

Davis Hughes Sir William Davis Hughes (24 November 1910 – 16 March 2003) was an Australian politician. He was notable for his involvement in the controversial resignation of architect Jørn Utzon from the Sydney Opera House project in 1966. Early life ...

, resigned to accept the post of Agent-General in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Leitch was one of two Country Party candidates for the by-election, in which he narrowly defeated the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate. He held the seat at the 1973 and 1976 elections, but he was defeated in 1978 by Labor candidate Bill McCarthy. Leitch died in 1988 in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leitch, David 1923 births 1988 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians People from Armidale Australian Army personnel of World War II People from Leeton, New South Wales