Norman Eric Baxter (21 June 1909 – 14 November 2003) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1950 to 1958 and again from 1960 to 1983. He was a minister in the government of Sir

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party. Early life Court's family e ...

Early life

Baxter was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

to Jessica Minnie (née Milsom) and Charles Farquharson Baxter. His father was also a member of parliament and government minister. Baxter attended the Perth Boys' School and

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to be ...

. From 1929 to 1946, he had a farm at Balingup, which until 1933 he owned in partnership with his brother. After 1946, Baxter worked as an organiser for the Country Party.Norman Eric Baxter
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

Politics

Baxter first ran for parliament at the 1947 state election, as a Country Party candidate, but was defeated in the seat of Northam by Albert Hawke (a future

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

premier). In March 1950, his father, who represented East Province in the Legislative Council, died in office. Baxter stood for the resulting by-election (which was held for Central Province due to a redistribution), and was successful. Having served out his father's term, Baxter was re-elected at the 1952 Legislative Council election, but in 1958 was defeated by

Charles Abbey Charles Roy Abbey (24 November 1913 – 2 September 1982) was an Australian farmer and politician who served as a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1958 to 1977. Abbey was born in Fremantle to Clara Ger ...

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 ...

. He re-entered parliament just two years later, following the retirement of Sir Charles Latham, a former Country Party leader. Baxter would be re-elected on another three occasions, at the 1965, 1971, and 1977 state elections. After the Liberal–NCP coalition won power at the 1974 election, he was made

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

and Minister for Community Welfare in the new ministry. However, the coalition broke in May 1975, and he and the two other NCP ministers (

Ray McPharlin Walter Raymond McPharlin (21 February 1916 – 13 July 1991) was the Country Party member for Mount Marshall in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1967 to 1983. He played football for East Fremantle from 1938 to 1939 and in 1 ...

and

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) resigned from cabinet. The disputes which had led to the split were quickly resolved, and Baxter re-entered the ministry the following month, where he remained until a reshuffle following the 1977 election.

Later life

Baxter retired from parliament at the 1983 state election. He died in Perth in November 2003, aged 94. He had married twice, firstly in 1934 to Dulcie Armour, with whom he had four children. He divorced her in 1966 and remarried the following year to Joan Ellis (née Hughes), although he was widowed in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Norm 1909 births 2003 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People educated at Hale School Politicians from Perth, Western Australia