George Dudley Erwin (20 August 191729 October 1984) was an Australian politician who served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1955 to 1975, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He was

Chief Government Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

from 1967 to 1969, and played a role in the ascension of

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...

to the prime ministership after the

disappearance of Harold Holt On 17 December 1967, Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, disappeared while swimming in the sea near Portsea, Victoria. An enormous search operation was mounted in and around Cheviot Beach, but his body was never recovered. Holt was pr ...

. He was briefly Minister for Air in 1969, but a falling out with Gorton ended his ministerial career.

Early life

Erwin was born in

Winchelsea, Victoria Winchelsea is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Surf Coast Shire local government area, the suburb or locality of Winchelsea is predominantly within Surf Coast Shire with a small section within the Colac Otway Shire. Winc ...

, as the fifth of nine children born to Alfreda Mary Elizabeth (née Blake) and Herbert Edward Erwin. He grew up on his father's farming property near

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

. He attended the local state school until the age of 13, leaving during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

to help on the farm. Erwin took a correspondence course in Morse code, later attending the Marconi School of Wireless in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) in January 1940, training as a radio operator. He finished the war with the rank of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

, serving as a navigator with No. 25 Squadron and No. 31 Squadron. Erwin was discharged in October 1945 and bought a farm of near that of his father. He also owned a successful hotel in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

Politics

Erwin was elected for the

as the member of the

seat of Ballaarat at the 1955 election. He was Government

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

from February 1967 to February 1969 and strongly supported

's election as Liberal leader following the disappearance and presumed drowning of Prime Minister

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in S ...

on 17 December 1967. On 13 February 1969 he was appointed Minister for Air, in the reshuffle following

Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding min ...

's appointment as

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. Gorton subsequently appointed one of his young staffers,

Ainsley Gotto Ainsley Gotto (14 February 1946 – 25 February 2018) was an Australian public servant and entrepreneur, who was the private secretary to John Gorton, the Prime Minister of Australia in the late 1960s. Early life Gotto was born in the Brisbane ...

as his private secretary and came to rely on her for political advice. In November 1969, Erwin was left out of Gorton's second ministry. Erwin's explanation for his dismissal was: Erwin chaired the Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary and Government Publications, which produced the first edition of the Australian Government Style Manual. He retired from parliament at the 1975 election. His final political candidacy occurred at the 1979 elections for the

Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly The Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly was the main elected representative body of the Australian Capital Territory between 1975 and 1986, when preparations began to be made for the granting of self-government to the Territory. It ser ...

, where he ran unsuccessfully as an independent.

Personal life

On 8 January 1944, Erwin married Alma Betty Cleburne. The couple had a son and a daughter. However, in 1957 Erwin divorced his first wife on the grounds of desertion. He remarried to Virginia Joan Burrows (née Eagan), an American divorcee, in 1962. His second marriage also ended in divorce, and he married for a third time in 1977 to Gwendolyne Phyllis Potter (née Pennant). After leaving parliament, Erwin split his time between Canberra and

Caloundra, Queensland Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough r ...

, where he owned a block of units. He died of a heart attack in Canberra on 29 October 1984. He was survived by his daughter, youngest son, third wife, and stepson from his third marriage; his oldest son predeceased him.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erwin, Dudley 1917 births 1984 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Ballarat Members of the Australian House of Representatives Leaders of the Australian House of Representatives Military personnel from Victoria (Australia) Royal Australian Air Force officers Australian hoteliers 20th-century Australian politicians Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II