William Joseph Hutchinson (7 January 1904 – 29 September 1967) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

from 1931 to 1949, representing the seats of

Indi Indi may refer to: *Mag-indi language *Division of Indi, an electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives *Indi, Karnataka, a town in the state of Karnataka, India *Instrument Neutral Distributed Interface, a distributed control sys ...

(1931–1937) and Deakin (1937–1949) for the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

and its successor the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

. Hutchinson was born in

Maindample, Victoria Maindample is a town in north east Victoria (Australia). It is located in the Mansfield Shire local government area, north east of the state capital Melbourne. South, just outside the town, are twin hills known as The Paps. The Aboriginal nam ...

, and educated at Bonnie Doon State School, Mansfield High School and Scotch College in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He worked for a Melbourne motor company and as a woolclasser in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for the Australian Estates Company, before returning to work as a grazier on the family farm at Bonnie Doon, ultimately taking the farm over upon his father's retirement. He was a member of the central executive of the National Federation and a leading figure in the Young Nationalists' Association, and locally was captain of the Bonnie Doon Football Club. In 1931, he was elected to the

as the

member for

, at 28 years of age being the youngest member of that parliament. Together with

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 la ...

member for

Oxley Oxley may refer to: Places Australia Australian Capital Territory * Oxley, Australian Capital Territory is a suburb of Canberra, Australia Queensland *Oxley, Queensland is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia ** Oxley railway station, Brisba ...

Francis Baker, he was the first member of the House born after

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

. He travelled widely overseas and in parliament was considered knowledgeable about international affairs; he was also a prominent voice within his party on primary producers' issues. Hutchinson held Indi until 1937, when he successfully contested the new seat of Deakin, which had consumed the southern end of the old Indi seat in an electoral redistribution. He attempted to list for World War II service in 1940, but was rejected on account of defective eyesight. In 1944, the United Australia Party became the

, which Hutchinson duly joined. He held Deakin until 1949, when he retired to become a grazier. He died in 1967.

References

United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Deakin Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Indi Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1904 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians Australian pastoralists Ministers for Agriculture (Victoria) {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub