John Gorton

Biography

John Grey Gorton was born in Melbourne in September 1911. His parents were not married, and his early childhood was unsettled; after his mother's death he was raised partly by his father's estranged wife in Sydney. He was educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School and Geelong Grammar School, and then studied history, politics and economics at Brasenose College, Oxford. While in Europe he met Bettina Brown, an American student, whom he married in 1935.

Returning to Australia, Gorton took over his father's orchard at Mystic Park near Kerang in northern Victoria. In 1940 he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and trained as a fighter pilot. He served in Britain and then in the Pacific, and in 1942 suffered serious facial injuries in a crash landing during the defence of Singapore; he later survived the sinking of a ship evacuating personnel. After the war he returned to farming and became active in local government as a shire councillor.

Gorton was elected to the Senate for Victoria as a Liberal at the 1949 election. He became Minister for the Navy in 1958 and later held responsibility for works, the interior, and education and science, overseeing the expansion of Commonwealth support for universities and the introduction of science facilities grants to schools. In 1967 he became Leader of the Government in the Senate.

After Harold Holt disappeared in December 1967, Gorton won the Liberal leadership ballot in January 1968, aided by the Country Party's refusal to serve under William McMahon. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on 10 January 1968, the only senator to hold the office, and moved to the House of Representatives by winning Holt's former seat of Higgins at a by-election in February 1968. Gorton favoured a stronger national government and clashed with state premiers over federal financial relations and control of offshore resources. His government established the Australian Film Development Corporation and the Australian Council for the Arts, and began the reduction of Australia's military commitment in Vietnam, announcing the first troop withdrawals in 1970.

At the election of 25 October 1969 the Coalition was returned but with a sharply reduced majority, and Gorton survived a leadership challenge soon afterwards. His informal style, centralist views and disputes with colleagues eroded his support. In March 1971, following the resignation of Defence Minister Malcolm Fraser and a public attack by Fraser on Gorton's conduct, a confidence motion in the Liberal party room was tied. Gorton used his own vote against himself and resigned, and William McMahon succeeded him. Gorton was elected deputy leader and served as Minister for Defence until McMahon dismissed him later in 1971.

Gorton remained in Parliament but grew estranged from the Liberal Party, particularly after Malcolm Fraser became leader. He left the party and stood unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for the Senate in the Australian Capital Territory at the 1975 election. He was knighted in 1977 and later appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia. Bettina Gorton died in 1983, and he later married Nancy Home. Sir John Gorton died in Sydney on 19 May 2002.