Ian Ross Griffith (25 September 1925 – 8 November 1992) was an Australian politician and a member of 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 1956 until 1978. He was a member of 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 ...

and held ministerial positions in the governments of Sir

Robert Askin Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG (4 April 1907 – 9 September 1981), was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but ...

and

Eric Willis Sir Eric Archibald Willis (15 January 1922 – 10 May 1999) was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated ...

Early life

Griffith was born in

Caulfield, Victoria Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Caulfield recorded a population of 5,748 at the 2021 census. It is bound ...

and was the son of a chemical analyst. He was educated at

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1905, the school caters for boys from Year 9 t ...

and worked as a bank officer for the

National Bank of Australasia The National Bank of Australasia was a bank based in Melbourne. It was established in 1858, and in 1982 merged with the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney to form National Australia Bank. History In 1858, Alexander Gibb, a Melbourne gentlema ...

eventually becoming a public relations officer in Sydney. During the Second World War, he served with the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

and reached the rank of Lieutenant.

State Parliament

Griffith entered the New South Wales parliament at the 1956 election as the Liberal member for

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

. He defeated the sitting Labor member, Tom Dalton, who won the seat in a surprise result at the previous election. The Liberal Party's hold on Sutherland was adversely affected by a redistribution at the 1959 election and Griffith successfully contested the new and safer seat of

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney ...

.He retained the seat until he lost the Liberal Party's endorsement before the 1978 election and retired from public life.

Government

Griffith was promoted to the position of Chief Secretary and Minister for

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, under Sir Robert Askin, between 1972 and 1975. He was demoted to the backbench when Askin retired and was succeeded as Premier by Tom Lewis but was appointed as the Minister for

Housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

in the short lived government of

between January and May 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Ian, Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales 1925 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Chief secretaries (British Empire) Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Royal Australian Navy officers People from Caulfield, Victoria Politicians from Melbourne People educated at Melbourne High School Military personnel from Melbourne Australian bankers