Roger Corfield Anson Wotton (14 June 1919 – 6 September 2012) was an Australian politician. He was the Country Party (later National Party) member for Burrendong from 1968 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1981, and then for Castlereagh from 1981 to 1991 in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

. Wotton was born in

Ardlethan Ardlethan () is a small service town in the Coolamon Shire in New South Wales, Australia. Ardlethan is at the intersection of the Burley Griffin Way and Newell Highway. Ardlethan lays claim to be the birthplace of the Australian kelpie. Histor ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and attended the local public school and then

Yanco Yanco is a village with a population of 505 in Leeton Shire in south western New South Wales, Australia. Yanco is a Wiradjuri aboriginal language word meaning ''the sound of running water''. Yanco is located from Leeton along Irrigation Way. ...

Agricultural High School. He served in the

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1940–45, rising to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

and serving in Darwin,

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

and

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. He married Shirley Crick on 3 February 1945, with whom he had five children. He became a farmer and grazier after the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, and joined the Country Party in 1950. He served on Coonabarabran Shire Council from 1963 to 1968, and as Deputy Shire President from 1965.

Political career

In 1968, Wotton was selected as the Country Party's candidate for the new state seat of Burrendong, which largely replaced the old seat of

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gover ...

. He was elected without difficulty on

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 ...

preferences. In 1971, however, he was challenged by

Leo Nott Leo Mervyn Nott (27 October 1915 – 19 September 1992) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1953 and 1968 and again between 1971 and 1973. He was a member of the NSW Branch of the Labor ...

, the former

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 labour ...

member for Mudgee who had retired at the previous election. Nott was narrowly successful, but Wotton defeated him in 1973. In 1981, Burrendong was abolished, and Wotton contested the seat of Castlereagh, which, despite being held by Labor MP

Jim Curran James Lawrence Curran (15 April 1927 – 18 May 2005) was a NSW politician (Australia) from Gilgandra, NSW. He was a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1981, representing the electorate of Castlereagh. ...

, now had a notional NCP majority. Wotton was successful, and held the seat until its abolition in 1991, when he retired.

Cricket career

Wotton was a talented cricketer who represented the New South Wales Country side and played Sydney grade cricket. Later, he managed the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...

's 1977 tour of

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Honours and recognition

In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours Wotton was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for "service to the community and to the New South Wales Parliament" and was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

in 2000 in recognition of "27 years voluntary service to cricket administration at state level".

Death

Wotton died in September 2012, shortly before his 93rd birthday.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wotton, Roger 1919 births 2012 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers