麻豆APP

William Charles Wentworth. Photo by James Anderson-

Top 10 Interesting Facts about W. C. Wentworth

William Charles Wentworth, known as Bill Wentworth and sometimes referred to by others as William Charles Wentworth IV, was an Australian politician.

For most of his career, he was a member of the Liberal Party and held ministerial office in the government of William McMahon and John Gorton.

During his final months in politics and parliament, he crossed the floor and served as an independent.

Learn more about W.C Wentworth in these top 10 interesting facts.

1. Wentworth was the son of a Prominent Barrister

Wentworth was born on September 8, 1907, in Sydney. He was the son of a prominent Sydney barrister of the same name and the great-grandson of William Charles Wentworth, a leading political and literary figure in colonial New South Wales.

Sometimes he is referred to as William Charles Wentworth IV, but he never used this name. His family and friends called him Billy or Bill.

2. Wentworth Educational Background

Wentworth was educated at The Armidale School in Armidale in northern New South Wales. He joined New College, Oxford, where he gained Master of Arts and Blue in athletics.

He was a half-miler and ran as a first string to the future Olympic champion and world record holder Tom Hampson.

3. He used to Work in Public service

Photograph of William Charles Wentworth. Photo by Dalton’s Royal Photographic Gallery Sydney-

Wentworth returned to Australia aged 23, briefly working as a factory hand at Lever Brothers in Balmain, Sydney, before becoming secretary to the Attorney General of New South Wales, Sir Henry Manning.

Later he joined the New South Wales public service as an economic advisor to the Premier鈥檚 Department and the Treasury, a position from which he resigned in 1937 in protest against what he saw as the state conservation government鈥檚 timid economic policies.

Wentworth was an early exponent of Keynesianism and favored an expansion of state credit.

4. Wentworth Started His Political Career in 1941

From 1941 to 1943, he served in the Australian Army in administrative positions. During the 1943 federal elections, he stood as an independent for the House of Representatives seat of Wentworth, arguing for an all-party 鈥渘ational government.鈥�

Wentworth polled 20 percent of the votes against United Australia Party incumbent Eric Harrison. However, his preference allowed Harrison to see off a spirited challenge from Labor candidate Jessie Street.

5. Wentworth Served in the Government Members Committee on Rail Gauge Standardization

Photograph of William Charles Wentworth. Photo by Dalton’s Royal Photographic Gallery Sydney-

He was the chairman of the Government Members Committee on Rail Gauge Standardization. He made an important recommendation on solving one of Australia longest standing infrastructure problems, the incompatible rail gauge in the different states, a legacy of colonial times.

Gough Whitlam, a no admirer of Wentworth in other respects, credited him with being one of the architects of the rail standardization agreement that led to the opening of the single-gauge rail line from Melbourne to Sydney in 1961.

The head of the South Australian Railways discovered his intrusion into the debate. His advocacy for nothing more than inter-capital links doomed the chances of an integrated standard gauge railway network being achieved forever.

6. He Fought for Aboriginal Affairs

Aboriginal Australians are various indigenous people of the Australian mainland and many of its islands. Wentworth fought for Aboriginal affairs.

In 1959 he proposed to the cabinet the start of an Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. He argued for a more diverse approach by the government to recording Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures.

The institute was started by an Act of Parliament in 1964. It is now called the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

Wentworth was one of the Liberal backbenchers who supported a constitutional referendum to give the Commonwealth the power to legislate specifically for the benefit of indigenous Australians. This was achieved under Menzie鈥檚 successor Harold Holt in 1967.

When Wentworth’s friend Gorton succeeded Holt, he made him Minister in Charge of Aboriginal Affairs, the first minister to hold this office and Minister for Social Service.

As Minister of Aboriginal Affairs worked towards granting Indigenous land rights. He proposed giving the Gurindji people rule their land at Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory. This was denounced and referred to as 鈥渃ommunist-inspired.鈥�

7. Wentworth Was a Member of the Liberal Party

In 1945 Wentworth joined Robert Menzies’s new party. The Liberal Party of Australia. During the 1949 elections, he was elected to the House of Representatives for Mackellar in the northern suburbs of Sydney.

In the 1940s, he became a fierce anti-communist to the extent that even some in his party regarded excessive. He was accused of McCarthyism in making allegations under parliamentary privilege,

Wentworth was a leading member of the 鈥淭aiwan lobby鈥� in the Liberal Party. In 1977, he announced his intentions to retire from parliament at the next election and resigned from the Liberal Party on October 11, 1977.

8. Wentworth Served his Final Months in Parliament as an Independent

William Charles Wentworth. Photo by James Anderson-

He resigned from Liberal Party in October 1977. He then stood as an independent for the Senate in New South Wales in the December 1977 election poolling 2.1 percent of the vote.

Later, Wentworth was active in the Grey Power movement and stood for the Senate as a Grey Power candidate in the 1984 election again, failing.

In April 1995 was his last appearance in Australian politics, when he contested the by-elections in Wentworth’s seat caused by Dr. John Hewson’s resignation.

Without a Labor candidate, Wentworth polled 18 percent of the vote, 52 years after he first contested the seat in 1943.

9. He Was Appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an honor that recognizes Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. In 1993, Wentworth was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia.

He was appointed during Queen鈥檚 Birthday Honors for service to the Australian parliament, particularly concerning Aboriginal rights to the standardization of inter-state rail gauge.

10. He was a Family Man

Wentworth was married to Barbara, and they had four children. The well-known journalist Mungo MacCallum is his nephew.

After political life, he retired to north Queensland with his family. He maintained writing pamphlets and newspaper articles until his death in Sydney in 2003 at 95.