Edward Raymond Meagher (22 November 1908 – 31 May 1988) was an Australian politician.

Background

He was born in Brunswick to storeman Edward Roden Meagher and Florence May Williams. He attended

Melbourne Technical College RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

, and from 1933 to 1948 was a municipal officer for Brunswick City Council. On 9 September 1939 he married Winifred Jean Hard; they had one son. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Meagher briefly ran a newsagency, milk bar and grocery in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of Beaumaris, Victoria.

Army career

On 2 May 1940, Meagher was appointed as a captain in the Australian Imperial force. By October of that year he had been promoted to the rank of Major. He served in Syria and Java in

before his capture, after which he was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

working on the

Burma Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...

(1942–45). He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

and awarded the

Efficiency Decoration The Efficiency Decoration, post-nominal letters TD for recipients serving in the Territorial Army of the United Kingdom or ED for those serving in the Auxiliary Military Forces, was instituted in 1930 for award to part-time officers after twe ...

for his service.

Political career

In 1955 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

as the

Liberal and Country Party The Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), branded as Liberal Victoria, and commonly known as the Victorian Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria. It was formed in 1949 as the Liberal and Countr ...

member for Mentone, and transferred to Frankston in 1967. From 1956 to 1958 he was

government whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

, and from 1958 to 1961, secretary to the cabinet. In 1961, he entered the ministry but was not given a portfolio. He later held the portfolios of Immigration (1962), Transport (1962–67), Housing (1967–72), Forests (1967–73), Aboriginal Affairs (1967–72), and Transport again (1973–76). He retired from politics in 1976, in which year he was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

Controversy

Meagher, who always positioned himself to the right of the Liberal Party, once famously said: "I didn't get filled full of bullet holes on the

to see a bunch of socialists take over this country".

Death

Meagher died in

Frankston, Victoria Frankston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Frankston recorded a population of 37,331 at the 2021 census. Due ...

on 31 May 1988. He was survived by his son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meagher, Norman 1908 births 1988 deaths Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Vice-Presidents of the Board of Land and Works Chief Secretaries of Victoria Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Burma Railway prisoners Politicians from Melbourne People from Brunswick, Victoria Australian military personnel of World War II Military personnel from Melbourne