Allen Maxwell Hodges (11 February 191731 July 2009) was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly 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 Assembly ...

Early life

Hodges was born 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 ...

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_ ...

, the son of Arthur John Hodges and his wife Helen Allen (née Mitchell). His great grandfather,

William Mitchell William Mitchell may refer to: People Media and the arts * William Mitchell (sculptor) (1925–2020), English sculptor and muralist * William Frederick Mitchell (1845–1914), British naval artist * William M. Mitchell, American writer, ministe ...

, had represented the seat of Maryborough in the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 1904–1909. He was educated in Maryborough and on leaving school he did farm-related work. 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 ...

he served in the

2nd AIF 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 ...

, being stationed at

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

, and was discharged in 1946 at the rank of

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...

.HODGES, ALLAN MAXWELL
– World War II Nominal Roll. Retrieved 15 April 2016. Hodges married Rita Fox Currant on 19 December 1939 and together had a son and two daughters. Rita died in 1969 and he then married Pamela Helen Hayward (died 1978) on 23 April 1973.

Public life

Hodges, a member of the Country Party, won the seat of Nash at the

1957 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 3 August 1957 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The major parties contesting the election were the Queensland Labor Party led by Premier Vince Gair, the ...

. The seat was renamed

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River (Queen ...

at the 1960 state election, and he went on to represent it until he retired from politics in 1979. He held many positions in parliament including: * Member of the Parliamentary Printing Committee 1957–1960 * Member of the Parliamentary Building Committee 1960–1962 * Temporary Chairman of Committees 1963–1968 * Minister for Works and Housing 1968–1974 * Minister for Works and Housing and Minister for Police 1974–1975 * Minister for Police and Leader of the House 1975–1976 * Minister for Tourism and Maritime Services 1976–1979 Not long after being promoted to the role of Police Minister, Hodges appointed

Ray Whitrod Raymond Wells Whitrod, (16 April 1915 – 11 July 2003) was an Australian police officer and criminologist. He was considered a world leader in the way society treats victims of crime. He was known as a man of high professional standards, with ...

with a view to cleaning up the corruption in the

police force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

. He found himself clashing with the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

on issues, and eighteen months after being made Police Minister he was removed from the portfolio.

Later life

Hodges died in July 2009 at

New Farm New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , New Farm had a population of 12,542 people. Geography The suburb is located 2 kilometres east of the Brisbane CBD on a large bend of the ...

and was buried in the

Gympie Cemetery Gympie Cemetery is the cemetery for Gympie, Queensland, Australia. The cemetery is located on Corella Road and is managed by the Gympie Cemetery Trust. History It was first unofficially located on the corner of Alfred and King Street, currently ...

.Gympie Cemetery Mapping Portal
Gympie Cemetery Trust; retrieved 15 April 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Allen Maxwell Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1917 births 2009 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians