Neil Malcolm McInnes (26 August 1924 – 2 April 2005) was an Australian politician. He was born at

Loy Yang The Loy Yang Power Station is a brown coal- fired thermal power station located on the outskirts of the city of Traralgon, in south-eastern Victoria, Australia. It consists of two sections, known as Loy Yang A (4 units) and Loy Yang B (2 units). ...

to farmer Norman Willie McInnes and Christina Elizabeth Pentland. Educated at

Tinamba Tinamba is a dairy farming town in Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia, located on Traralgon - Maffra Road between Heyfield, Victoria, Heyfield and Maffra, Victoria, Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington. It has a country pub, a church, enginee ...

and

Maffra Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area and it is the second most populous city of the Shire. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and is the sit ...

, he subsequently studied at Dookie Agricultural College and

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. In 1941 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, and from 1943 to 1945 was a

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. On his return he ran the family property at Tinamba and worked as a civil air pilot, being awarded the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

silver medal in 1947 for his role in an air rescue. He was also a company director, primarily in aviation companies, and in 1953 was the first pilot in the Citizen Air Force to break the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

. It’s reported he was the first civilian pilot to break the sound barrier in 1953. The flight in an RAF Sabre Jet took place at

North Luffenham North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 704, decreasing to 679 at the 2011 census. It lies to the north of the River Chater, east of Uppingham and west ...

in England when McInnes was a Flight Lieutenant in the City of Melbourne Squadron of the Australian Citizens Air Force. He had been selected by his unit to represent them with their sister city of London Squadron. From 1951 to 1955 he served on Maffra Shire Council. On 5 May 1956 he married Madge Jessep, with whom he had one daughter. In 1973 he was elected to 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 ...

as the Country Party member for Gippsland South. In August 1980 he resigned from his party (now known as the National Party) and defected to 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 ...

. He was defeated in 1982. McInnes died in 2005 at Sale.

References

1924 births 2005 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub