Peter Howson (politician) explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Peter Howson
Honorific-Suffix:CMG
Office:Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts
Term Start:31 May 1971
Term End:5 December 1972
Primeminister:William McMahon
Predecessor:New office
Successor:Moss Cass
Office1:Minister for Air
Term Start1:10 June 1964
Term End1:28 February 1968
Primeminister1:Sir Robert Menzies
Harold Holt
John McEwen
John Gorton
Predecessor1:David Fairbairn
Successor1:Gordon Freeth
Constituency Mp2:Casey
Parliament2:Australian
Term Start2:25 October 1969
Term End2:2 December 1972
Predecessor2:New seat
Successor2:Race Mathews
Constituency Mp3:Fawkner
Parliament3:Australian
Term Start3:10 December 1955
Term End3:25 October 1969
Predecessor3:Bill Bourke
Successor3:Abolished
Birth Date:22 May 1919
Birth Place:London, England
Death Place:Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Party:Liberal
Alma Mater:Trinity College, Cambridge
Relations:George A. Howson (father)
George J. Howson (grandfather)
Allegiance:United Kingdom
Branch:Royal Navy
Serviceyears:1940 - 1946
Awards:Mentioned in Dispatches

Peter Howson CMG (22 May 1919 ā€“ 1 February 2009) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1955 to 1972, representing the Liberal Party. He was Minister for Air from 1964 to 1968 and Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts from 1971 to 1972.

Early life

Howson was born in London, England, the son of Jessie and George Arthur Howson. His father was a British Army officer, while his grandfather George John Howson was an Anglican archdeacon. Howson was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] During World War II, he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a pilot from 1940 to 1946, and was Mentioned in Despatches for his service.[2] He was shot down while flying a Fairey Albacore over Malta for the Fleet Air Arm, as he and four Hawker Hurricanes were surprised by 70 German planes. This gave him a deep and long scar on his face.[3]

Political career

Howson was the Liberal member for the House of Representatives seat of Fawkner from his defeat of Bill Bourke at the 1955 election until its abolition before the 1969 election. He was then elected as the member for Casey. He was appointed Minister for Air in June 1964 in Robert Menzies' last ministry.

In 1967, Howson was caught up in the VIP affair, which saw allegations that the government had misused the VIP aircraft fleet for ministers' private purposes. When asked to table records on the fleet's movements, Holt and Howson refused and implied that they did not exist, but Senator John Gorton later found that the records did exist and tabled them in the Senate.[4] When Gorton became Prime Minister on 10 January 1968, he retained all of the previous ministers in his ministry, but after he won a seat in the House of Representatives he carried out a Cabinet reshuffle on 28 February 1968 and dropped Howson from the ministry.[5]

Expecting to be rewarded for his support of McMahon during Gorton's ministry, Howson was disappointed when he was appointed as Australia's first Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts. He was reported as commenting: "The little bastard gave me trees, boongs and pooftas".[6] However, according to Rob Chalmers, he subsequently "showed great energy and concern to improve the lot of Aborigines".[7]

Howson was defeated by Labor's Race Mathews at the 1972 election.[8]

Later life

In 1973, Howson founded the Deafness Foundation Victoria.[9]

In 1984, Howson published a diary (edited by Don Aitkin) recording the events during his period as a parliamentarian and as a minister.[10] According to Rob Chalmers, it was "one of the most informative and interesting books on Australian postwar politics ever published".[3]

Howson was active as a commentator on Indigenous matters, strongly supporting their cultural assimilation while deriding the Stolen Generations as a "silly fairy tale".[6] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Howson died in Geelong in 2009, aged 89, after suffering complications from a fall.[15]

Honours

Howson was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1980 for services to Parliament.[16] He was also awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for long and devoted service to improving conditions for Australia's indigenous people.[17]

Notes and References

  1. News: Overington. Caroline. Caroline Overington. Former minister Howson dies at 89. The Australian. 4 February 2009.
  2. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%201963.html Change in Canberra
  3. Book: Inside the Canberra Press Gallery: Life in the Wedding Cake of Parliament House. Rob Chalmers. Rob Chalmers. 2011. ANU Press. 110.
  4. Web site: John Gorton, before . . Australia's Prime Ministers . 18 December 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070831174514/http://www.primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pmId=19&pageName=before . 31 August 2007.
  5. Web site: John Gorton, in office . . Australia's Prime Ministers . 18 December 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070831172825/http://www.primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pmId=19&pageName=inoffice . 31 August 2007.
  6. News: Mungo Wentworth MacCallum . Mungo Wentworth MacCallum . 10 February 2009 . Kevin's package stands up to scrutiny . . 17 March 2010 .
  7. Chalmers (2011), p. 136.
  8. Web site: Members of the House of Representatives since 1901 . . Parliamentary Handbook . 18 December 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071117114013/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/representatives/heitmann.king.htm . 17 November 2007.
  9. Web site: Deafness Foundation . 6 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130409005941/http://deafness.org.au/about.php . 9 April 2013 . dead .
  10. Peter Howson (edited by Don Aitkin) (1984), The Howson Diaries. The Life of Politics, Viking Press, Ringwood, Victoria.
  11. http://www.ipe.net.au/ageapril01.html Peter Howson, Academia's Sorry Obsession: Manne et al. would help Aborigines more by looking at the present, not the past
  12. Web site: Peter Howson, Legal Notes: The Stolen Generations True Believers Take One Step Back, National Observer, No. 49, Winter 2001 . 12 March 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110718011949/http://www.nationalobserver.net/2001_winter_legal.htm . 18 July 2011 . dead .
  13. http://www.bennelong.com.au/articles/howson-moore.php Peter Howson and Des Moore, A Rabbit-proof Fence Full of Holes
  14. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,20487307-7583,00.html "Peter Howson, Live not by land alone: We should know by now that native title doesn't improve indigenous livelihood"
  15. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/02/2480402.htm Former Aboriginal affairs minister Howson dies
  16. https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1066439 HOWSON, Peter
  17. https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1117406 HOWSON, Peter