Thomas Lancelot Lewis (23 January 1922 – 25 April 2016) was a

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 ...

politician,

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

and minister in the cabinets of Sir Robert Askin and Sir Eric Willis. He became Premier following Askin's retirement from politics and held the position until he was replaced by Willis in a party vote. Lewis was first elected to 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 ...

for the

Electoral district of Wollondilly Wollondilly is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Nathaniel Smith of the Liberal Party. History Wollondilly was first established in 1904, partly replacing Bowral. ...

for 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 ...

in 1957, and served until his resignation in 1978.

Early life

He was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, the son of Lancelot Ashley and Gretta Lewis, and was educated at

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

, from 1931 to 1940. Subsequently, he managed the property of his uncle,

Essington Lewis Essington Lewis, CH (13 January 18812 October 1961) was a prominent Australian industrialist. He was the Director-General of the Department of Munitions during World War II. Biography Early life Essington Lewis was born in Burra, South Austr ...

, Managing Director of

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

and Director-General of Munitions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was a member of the Australian Imperial Force from 1940 to 1946, and served in Sydney,

Celebes Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu A ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

as a lieutenant. He was on the staff of the

Embassy of Australia, Washington, D.C. The Embassy of Australia in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the Commonwealth of Australia to the United States. The chancery is temporarily located in the National Geographic Building at 1145 17th Street NW. This temporary location wi ...

from 1946 to 1951.

Early career

Lewis was elected as the member for

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area adjacent to the south-western fringe of Sydney, parts of which fall into the Macarthur, Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands regions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wollondil ...

representing the

in 1957. When the

Askin Askin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ambrose Askin, British rugby player *Frank Askin, professor and activist *John Askin (1739–1815), fur trader in Canada *John Askin Jr. (c1765–1820), fur trader and government offici ...

Government came to power in 1965, Lewis was given relatively junior portfolios of Lands and Mines. As lands minister he was responsible for setting up the

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the ...

in 1967. In 1970, he set up the

Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife is an Australian not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that was incorporated on 29 June 1970. Its purpose is to foster the protection of Australia's native plants, animals and cultural heritag ...

as an independent not-for-profit organisation, in order to be the fundraising arm of the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service. In 1972, Tourism was added to his ministerial responsibilities when

Eric Willis Sir Eric Archibald Willis (15 January 1922 – 10 May 1999) was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated ...

moved to Education.

Premier

Askin announced his resignation late in 1974, and Lewis was chosen as leader over Willis and Justice Minister John Maddison. He was sworn in on as Premier on 3 January 1975. He was elected during an uneasy time for the Liberal government, being engaged in almost daily warfare with the Whitlam Labor Government in Canberra, most notably over the

Medibank Medibank Private Limited, better known as simply Medibank, is one of the largest Australian private health insurance providers, covering 3.7 million people in 2021. Medibank initially started as an Australian Government not-for-profit insurer i ...

health care scheme, to which New South Wales was the last state to sign.Federation Press, ''The Premiers of New South Wales 1856–2005 – Volume 2, 1901–2005'' (Syd, 2005)pg 387–399 The defining moment of the Lewis government was the decision taken by Lewis to break with convention when Whitlam appointed his Attorney-General,

Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...

, a Senator from New South Wales, to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

. In a break with long-standing convention, Lewis refused to appoint a replacement Senator from the same party, instead appointing the 72-year-old Mayor of Albury,

Cleaver Bunton Cleaver Ernest Bunton (5 May 190220 January 1999) was a long-serving Mayor of Albury, New South Wales, Australia, who came to national prominence in 1975 when he was controversially appointed to the Senate by New South Wales Liberal Party Prem ...

. This triggered immediate outrage, not only from the Labor Party but also the executive of the Liberal party. By the end of 1975, Lewis' image was badly damaged and he soon lost the confidence of his party. Sentiment was growing in favour of replacing him with Sir Eric Willis. At a caucus meeting on 20 January 1976, parliamentary backbencher

Neil Pickard Neil Edward William Pickard (13 February 192913 April 2007) was a New South Wales politician and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Sir Eric Willis and Nick Greiner. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for 26 years ...

called a spill motion, which was carried 22 votes to 11. Lewis opted not to try to regain his post, leaving Willis to take the leadership unopposed. Lewis's term as Premier came to an end on 23 January 1976, his 54th birthday. Lewis was the only non-elected non-Labor premier who did not take the Coalition into an election.

Later life

Lewis served as Willis' Minister for Local Government until May 1976, when the Liberal Government was narrowly defeated by the Labor Party. In opposition Lewis did not hold any position within the Shadow Cabinet and later resigned from Parliament on 7 September 1978, the vacancy becoming one of the justifications for calling the election for 7 October 1978. At the election, his seat fell to the Labor candidate Bill Knott. On his departure from parliament, he was permitted by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, on the Governor's recommendation, to continue to use the title "The Honourable". He was made an

Officer 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 ...

on 26 January 2000 ''"For service to the Parliament of New South Wales, to the environment as the founder of the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, and to the community"''. On 1 January 2001 he was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

. Lewis died on 25 April 2016, aged 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Tom 1922 births 2016 deaths People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Australian Army officers Australian Army personnel of World War II Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Premiers of New South Wales 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Treasurers of New South Wales Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal