Roger Bede Nott (20 October 1908 – 28 September 2000) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1941 until 1961. He was a member of the Labor Party and held numerous ministerial positions between 1954 and 1961. He was the Administrator of the Northern Territory between 1961 and 1964.

Early life

Nott was born at Gulgong, New South Wales and was the son of a farmer. Leo Nott, Gulgong Shire President and member of the Legislative Assembly for Mudgee and Burrendong, was his brother. He was educated to elementary level at Gulgong Public School and initially worked as a shearer and farm hand. He later became a wheat farmer at Dunedoo.

Political career

Nott was elected to the parliament as the Labor member for Liverpool Plains at the

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

state election. He replaced the Country Party member Harry Carter and defeated the Country Party candidate Alfred Yeo who had been the member for Castlereagh. Liverpool Plains was one of a number of rural seats that Labor won at the 1941 election and these victories contributed to the formation of the Labor government of William McKell. Nott was a member of the governments of Joseph Cahill and Robert Heffron. He was appointed as a

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

in 1954 and between 1956 and 1957 was the Secretary for Lands and Secretary for Mines. From 1957 until his retirement he was the

Minister for Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

Later life and career

Nott retained his seat in parliament at a further six elections, but resigned in 1961 to accept an appointment from the Federal government as the Administrator of the Northern Territory. It is uncertain why the

Liberal/Country coalition The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as "the Coalition" or informally as the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in ...

government of

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

offered the position to a Labor minister. Accepting the position required Nott to resign from parliament, and the Country Party's

Frank O'Keefe Frank Lionel O'Keefe, AM (6 October 1912 – 21 April 1989) was an Australian politician. Born in Gunnedah, New South Wales, he attended state schools before becoming a farm machinery distributor and oil merchant. He was mayor of Gunnedah Sh ...

, who had been an unsuccessful candidate at four previous elections, won the resulting by-election. He resigned as administrator of the Northern Territory to be appointed Administrator of Norfolk Island in July 1964. Nott ran as the Labor candidate for the

1969 Gwydir by-election A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Gwydir on 7 June 1969. This was triggered by the resignation of Country Party MP Ian Allan, who had been appointed Secretary-General and regional director of ANZAC war ...

and the subsequent

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. He then ran for the 1970

Upper Hunter The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shir ...

by-election caused by O'Keefe's transfer to the federal seat of

Paterson Paterson may refer to: People * Paterson (surname) * Paterson (given name) Places Australia *Paterson, New South Wales *Paterson River, New South Wales * Division of Paterson, an electoral district in New South Wales *Paterson, Queensland, a lo ...

, coming within 1.6% of winning the seat. Granted retention of the title "The Honourable" in 1961, Nott was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1977 for services to the state of New South Wales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nott, Roger 1908 births 2000 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Administrators of Norfolk Island Administrators of the Northern Territory Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire