Everything about Allen Fairhall totally explained
Sir
Allen Fairhall KBE (
24 November 1909 –
3 November 2006) was an
Australian politician and Member of the
Parliament of Australia for the
Division of Paterson from 1949 to 1969. During that period he held a number of ministerial portfolios, most notably Supply and Defence.
Fairhall was born at
Morpeth and attended East
Maitland Boys' High School. After school he was apprenticed as an electrical fitter at the Walsh Island Dockyard in
Newcastle, while attending
Newcastle Technical College. At the same time he developed an interest in radio and gained an
amateur radio licence. He was able to convince the then
Postmaster-General's Department that Newcastle needed a second commercial radio station. In 1931 he established
2KO. During
World War II he worked on the supply of signals equipment for the
Australian armed services. From 1941 to 1944 he was an
alderman of the
City of Newcastle.
Political career
In 1949, Fairhall entered the Federal Parliament as the
Liberal Member for Paterson. He was
Minister for Interior and
Minister for Works (1956-58),
Minister for Supply (1961-66) and
Minister for Defence (1966-69). In the latter role, he was responsible for the introduction of the
F-111 fighter aircraft and the reintroduction of
conscription for the
Vietnam War. The purchase of the F-111 was a major political issue in the late 1960s and early 1970s due to price escalation and late delivery, although many of them are still in service and some of them are now expected to have a service life of well over 50 years.
Following the drowning of
Harold Holt in December 1967, Fairhall had support to nominate for the Prime Ministership, but he declined to do so.
Conscription was an important factor in the defeat of the
Liberal government, after 23 years of power, by
Gough Whitlam's
Labor Party in
1972.
After retirement Fairhall wrote a book on
Henry George,
Towards a New Society. He was made a
Knight of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, received an honorary Doctorate of Science by
Newcastle University and was awarded the James N Kirby Medal from the Institution of Production Engineers (Australian Division) and life membership of the
Wireless Institute of Australia.
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