Sir Reginald William Colin Swartz KBE (14 April 1911 – 2 February 2006) was an Australian Liberal Party politician who was Minister during the governments of

Sir Robert Menzies ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in S ...

and

John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...

. In particular, he is best known as the Minister for Civil Aviation between 1966 and 1969. He represented the

Division of Darling Downs The Division of Darling Downs was an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It was named after t ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

between 1949 and 1972 and was a member of the Government for the entire length of his parliamentary service. Swartz Barracks at the

Oakey Army Aviation Centre Oakey Army Aviation Centre is situated approximately from the town centre of Oakey in Queensland, Australia. It provides a training establishment for Australian Army Aviation, and also hosts the Republic of Singapore Air Force's "Cougar" 12 ...

is named for him.

Early life

Swartz 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 ...

in 1911 and attended

Toowoomba Grammar School , motto_translation = Faithful in All Things , city = Toowoomba , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, day & boarding , denomination = Non-denominational , established = ...

. He joined 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 ...

during World War II. Swartz was a member of the 2/26th Infantry Battalion of the Australian

8th Division 8th Division, 8th Infantry Division or 8th Armored Division may refer to: Infantry divisions * 8th Division (Australia) * 8th Canadian Infantry Division * 8th Air Division (People's Republic of China) * 8th Division (1st Formation) (People's Rep ...

in the

Battle of Malaya The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

. After capture by the Japanese, he was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Changi prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. History First prison Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at Pearl's Hill, beside t ...

and worked on the Burma–Thailand Railway. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his war service. In 1988, he accompanied

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

along with two other parliamentarians who were former POWs, John Carrick and

Tom Uren Thomas Uren (28 May 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Australian politician and Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1975 to 1977. Uren served as the Member for Reid in the Australian House of Representatives from 1958 to 1990, bei ...

, to the opening of the

Hellfire Pass Hellfire Pass ( th, ช่องเขาขาด, known by the Japanese as ''Konyu Cutting'') is the name of a railway cutting on the former Burma Railway ("Death Railway") in Thailand which was built with forced labour during the Second Worl ...

Memorial Museum, commemorating the 2700 Australians who died working on the Burma-Thailand Railway.

Parliamentary career

Swartz was elected as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member for Darling Downs in 1949. As such, he was a "Forty-niner" which was the name for the Liberal and Country Party members first elected in the landslide victory by the Coalition in that year. Menzies appointed Swartz as Parliamentary Secretary for Trade in 1956. In that position, he led Trade Missions to India in 1956 and South East Asia in 1958. He was appointed as Minister for Repatriation in 1961 and served in that position before becoming

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 ...

from 1964 to 1966 and briefly Minister for Social Services in early 1965. Harold Holt appointed Swartz as Minister for Civil Aviation in 1966 and he served in that Ministry for three years. John Gorton appointed him as Minister for National Development in 1969 and he served in that position for three years. He was Leader of the House responsible for managing Government business in the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1972. Swartz was knighted in 1972 and retired as a parliamentarian later that year.

References

"Former Menzies Minister dies", ''Herald Sun Victoria''
3 February 2006
National Library of Australia, Papers of Sir Reginald Swartz

External links

* Articles on Sir Reginald Swartz are also on th

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swartz, Reginald 1911 births 2006 deaths World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Darling Downs Members of the Australian House of Representatives Leaders of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Australian prisoners of war Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Australian politicians awarded knighthoods Australian people of German descent Burma Railway prisoners 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School Australian Ministers for Health