Hugh Stevenson Roberton (18 December 1900 – 13 March 1987) was an Australian politician. A member of the Country Party, he served as

Minister for Social Services The Minister for Social Services is the Australian federal government minister who oversees Australian Government social services, including mental health, families and children's policy, and support for carers and people with disabilities, and ...

in the Menzies government from 1956 to 1965. He later served as Ambassador to Ireland from 1965 to 1967.

Early life

Roberton was born in Glasgow, Scotland, son of Sir Hugh S. Roberton, a Scottish composer and founder of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir. He was educated at the West of Scotland Agricultural College and Glasgow University and emigrated to Australia in the 1920s. He became a farmer and grazier at Old Junee and a writer on political and economic subjects, particularly in the rural newspaper the Land under the name, "Peter Snodgrass". During World War II he served as a gunner in the Middle East.

Politics

Roberton stood for the Country Party at the 1949 election for the House of Representatives seat of Riverina and defeated the Labor member,

Joe Langtry Joseph Ignatius Langtry (2 September 1880 – 30 April 1951) was an Australian politician. Born in Kyabram, Victoria, he received a primary education before becoming a teamster. He moved to Barellan in New South Wales and became a wheatfarme ...

. He was a proponent of government intervention to stabilise the price paid to wheat-growers. In February 1956, he was appointed

in the seventh Menzies Ministry, a position he held until his resignation from parliament in 1965. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Country Party's deputy leadership in 1963, losing to

Charles Adermann Sir Charles Frederick Adermann, (3 August 1896 – 9 May 1979) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1943 to 1972, representing the Country Party. He was the party's deputy leader from 1964 to 1966 and se ...

after the retirement of Charles Davidson.

Later life

Roberton was appointed Australia's first ambassador to Ireland in 1965 and served until 1967. Roberton died in Canberra in 1987, aged 86. He was survived by his wife, Eileen, and a daughter.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberton, Hugh Stevenson 1900 births 1987 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Riverina Members of the Australian House of Representatives Ambassadors of Australia to Ireland 20th-century Australian politicians Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish emigrants to Australia Alumni of Scotland's Rural College