Leslie Leeder Webster (9 June 1891 – 6 September 1975) was an Australian politician. He was a Country Party member of 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 presiding ...

from 1944 to 1947, representing the electorates of Bulla and Dalhousie (1944-1945) and

Mernda Mernda is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 28 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Mernda recorded a population of 23,369 at the 2021 census. Hi ...

(1945-1947). Webster was born at Caulfield, and attended Caulfield Grammar School and the Dookie Agricultural College. He worked on a farm, and subsequently managed an Oakleigh timber firm from 1913 until 1918. He farmed at

Flinders Island Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal Tasmanian population were exiled by the colo ...

from 1918 to 1928, running Red Poll and Corriedale cattle and sheep studs, and serving as chairman of the Flinders Island Butter Factory Company, as a member of the local licensing court, and as a councillor for the Flinders Island Council for seven years, including a stint as shire warden. He returned to Victoria in 1928, running a Melbourne timber and hardware business until 1932, and was a dairy farmer at Greendale from 1932. He was the treasurer and acting secretary of the Milk Producers Association at the time of his election. Webster was elected to the Legislative Assembly at a 1944 by-election for the seat of Bulla and Dalhousie following the death of Country Party MLA and Milk Producers' Association treasurer

Reginald James Reginald Alfred John James (1 June 1893 – 27 September 1944) was an Australian politician. He was a Country Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1943 to 1944, representing the electorate of Bulla and Dalhousie. James was ...

. The electorate was abolished at the 1945 election, when Webster contested and won the electorate of

. He again contested Mernda in 1947, but was defeated by

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 ...

candidate Arthur Ireland. After his parliamentary defeat, Webster remained a prominent figure in agricultural circles, serving as vice-president and secretary of the Milk Producers' Association, president of the Victorian Chamber of Agriculture, as a member of the Intermediate Sentences Board, and as a member of the Milk Board and the producers' representative on the Milk Supply Committee. Webster died at

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...

in 1975, and was buried at Bulla Cemetery. Webster's son, James Webster, was a Country Party (later National Country Party) Senator for Victoria from 1964 until 1980, and served as federal Minister for Science and the Environment in the

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal e ...

government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Leslie Leeder 1891 births 1975 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians