Jack Charles Allan Pizzey (2 February 1911 – 31 July 1968) was a

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Country Party politician. He was

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

, in a coalition with 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 ...

, from 17 January 1968 until his death on 31 July that year. To date, he is the most recent premier of an Australian state to die in office.

Early life and sporting career

Pizzey was born in

Childers, Queensland Childers is a rural town and locality in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Childers had a population of 1,584 people. Geography Childers is in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, situated ...

in 1911 to John Thomas Pizzey and his second wife Ellen Elliott (née Brand). He was educated at Childers State School, Maryborough Central Boys' School, and Bundaberg High School. He was a student teacher at Bundaberg South State School in 1927, and taught at the Childers State School (from 1932) and Leichhardt Street State School (from 1935).Paul D. Williams
'Pizzey, Jack Charles Allan (1911–1968)'
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, 2002, pp 9–10. Involved in

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

as a youth, Pizzey excelled in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and was selected for the Queensland Colts cricket team in 1929. In 1931, he was selected to represent

in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, but the match was cancelled due to rain and Pizzey was unable to represent the state.

Military career

On 15 July 1940, Pizzey was mobilised in the

Citizens Military Force The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

militia reserve unit as a gunner. Reaching the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he transferred to the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

where he served during

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 opposin ...

in Australia as a

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

in the 5th Field Regiment until his discharge on 25 January 1945. As he was stationed in Australia, Pizzey continued his education, studying a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(1942) at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

Political career

Following his discharge from the AIF, Pizzey returned to teaching, and by 1946 was involved in administration at the Queensland Board of Adult Education. He resigned from the Department of Public Instruction in 1949 and became involved in representing the interests of

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

farmers as manager of the Childers Cane Farmers' Co-Operative and secretary to the Isis District Cane Growers' Executive. This representative role encouraged Pizzey to run for parliament, and in 1950 he won the safe Country Party seat of

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

. In 1957, a split in the Labor Party's Queensland branch brought down the Labor government, forcing an election. The Country-

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

won a sweeping victory, its first in 22 years. With his educational background, Pizzey was appointed Minister for Education in

Frank Nicklin Sir George Francis Reuben Nicklin, (6 August 1895 – 29 January 1978) was an Australian politician. He was the Premier of Queensland from 1957 to 1968, the first non-Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party premier since 1932.

's cabinet, and retained this job for more than a decade. He was also deputy leader of the Country Party, but he took other concurrent roles also: he held the portfolios of migration (1960–68), Aboriginal and Islander affairs (1962–68) and police (1962–68). As education minister, Pizzey presided over a period of unprecedented growth, particularly in secondary education, and played a key role in establishing Queensland's second university,

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cairn ...

in Townsville in 1961. He was praised for his focus on secondary schooling, although his sweeping intervention in education matters was considered to have led to Brisbane's first teachers' strike in 1968. Nicklin retired as Premier and party leader on 17 January 1968, and Pizzey succeeded him in both posts. Just over six months after his appointment, Pizzey died suddenly, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, of a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

. He was accorded a

State funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

and cremated. Pizzey was succeeded as premier for a week by the Leader of the Liberal Party and Deputy Premier,

Gordon Chalk Sir Gordon William Wesley Chalk, Gordon William (Chalkie) (1913 ...

, until the Country Party chose its new leader,

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...

Jack Pizzey Cup

The Jack Pizzey Cup was donated by Pizzey in 1963 when he was Education Minister as a prize for a national schools championship tennis competition, replacing the Bruce Cup established in 1938 which then become a primary school competition prize. Although the Jack Pizzey Cup was intended to be a national competition, it was only contested between Queensland and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

until 1978 when it was played in conjunction with the

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

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 ...

and become a national competition. As at 2018, the Pizzey Cup continues to be the national schools championship competition.

Legacy

Pizzey is commemorated by the

Pizzey Memorial Clock Pizzey Memorial Clock is a heritage-listed memorial originally located at 63 Churchill Street, Childers, Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992 but was removed from the regi ...

in Childers. He is also commemorated by the Pizzey Park Sporting Complex which was established on a site in 1969 on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzey, Jack 1911 births 1968 deaths Premiers of Queensland National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland University of Queensland alumni 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers