Robert Donald McKenzie (19 March 1865 – 14 May 1928) was an Australian businessman and 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 1904 to 1916. He was a minister in the first government of Frank Wilson. McKenzie was born in

Eaglehawk, Victoria Eaglehawk is a suburb within the City of Greater Bendigo and a former gold-mining town in Victoria, Australia. The town is situated to the north-west of Bendigo on the Loddon Valley Highway. The highway is known locally as High Street until th ...

(near

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

), to Margaret (née Reid) and Hugh McKenzie. He came to Western Australia in 1894, during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

, and opened a general store at Hannans (near

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

). McKenzie later expanded his business, becoming a timber and hardware merchant. He was elected to the Kalgoorlie Municipal Council in 1895, and would serve as Mayor of Kalgoorlie from 1897 to 1898. McKenzie was elected to parliament at the 1904 Legislative Council elections, defeating Arthur Jenkins in North-East Province. He was re-elected in May 1910, and when Frank Wilson replaced

Newton Moore Major General Sir Newton James Moore, (17 May 1870 – 28 October 1936) was an Australian politician, businessman and army officer. He served as the eighth Premier of Western Australia from 1906 to 1910 and, following service in the First World ...

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

a few months later he was made 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 the new ministry. Wilson's government was defeated in October 1911, and McKenzie left parliament when his term expired in 1916. He died in Perth in 1928, aged 63.Robert Donald McKenzie
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Robert 1865 births 1928 deaths Australian people of Scottish descent Mayors of places in Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council People from Bendigo Western Australian local councillors