William George Alexander McKenzie (3 December 1883 – 4 February 1969) was an Australian politician. He was born in Woodend to hotel-keeper Henry Daniel McKenzie and Elizabeth Perry. He was educated at Wesley College. Melbourne. On 23 June 1914 he married Mary Germaine, in Woodend, with whom he had three children. After the birth of his first child Joyce in Kyneton, he moved with his family to Wonthaggi, Victoria, where he worked for a time as a clerk at the State owned coal mine. From around 1922 he kept a general store at Wonthaggi, and also invested in gold. He served on the Borough of Wonthaggi Council from 1924 to 1952, and was also founding president of the Woodend branch of the Labor Party. In 1927 he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

for

Wonthaggi Wonthaggi is a seaside town located south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for its coal mining, it is now the largest town in South Gippsl ...

. He was briefly Minister of Agriculture and Mines in 1943, and resumed the portfolio from 1945 to 1947. McKenzie was defeated in 1947, and was subsequently a member of the Council of Adult Education; he was also appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. He died at Oakleigh in 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, William 1883 births 1969 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Vice-Presidents of the Board of Land and Works Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Australian politicians Ministers for Agriculture (Victoria) Ministers of Mines (Victoria)