Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Ian Wilson (politician)

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Preceded by
  
Nationality
  
Australian

Succeeded by
  
Name
  
Ian Wilson


Preceded by
  
Parents
  
Keith Wilson

Succeeded by
  
Education
  
University of Adelaide

Ian Wilson (politician) wwwabcnetaunewsimage46061881x1700x700jpg

Born
  
2 May 1932Adelaide, South Australia (
1932-05-02
)

Political party
  
Liberal Party of Australia

Role
  
Former Member of the Australian House of Representatives

Died
  
April 3, 2013, Adelaide, Australia

Party
  
Liberal Party of Australia

Previous offices
  
Member of the Australian Parliament (1972–1993), Member of the Australian Parliament (1966–1969)

People also search for
  
Keith Wilson, Elizabeth Bonython, John Lavington Bonython

Ian Bonython Cameron Wilson AM (2 May 1932 – 2 April 2013), solicitor, company director and Australian politician, was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Sir Keith Wilson, a prominent United Australia Party and Liberal Party politician. His mother, Elizabeth, (Lady Betty Wilson CBE), was a granddaughter of Sir John Langdon Bonython, owner of The Advertiser and a member of the first federal House of Representatives, and a great-granddaughter of Sir John Cox Bray, South Australia's first native-born premier.

Wilson was educated at St Peter's College and Adelaide University, where he graduated in law, and at Magdalen College, Oxford (S.A. Rhodes Scholar 1955), where he did a higher law degree. He was a solicitor and company director before entering politics.

In 1966, Wilson was elected to the House of Representatives for the Adelaide seat of Sturt, which his father had held with one break since 1949. It was considered a fairly safe Liberal seat, but at the 1969 election there was a strong swing to Labor in South Australia, and Wilson was unexpectedly defeated by Norm Foster, a waterside worker. In the 1972 election, after spending a great deal of family money, Wilson regained the seat even as Labor won government. He held it without difficulty for over 20 years.

Wilson was typical of upper-class South Australian Liberals from the "Adelaide Establishment" in being relatively moderate on most issues. He was a serious Anglican and active in many charitable and social welfare groups. This did not make him popular with the more conservative wing of the party. When the Liberals came to power under Malcolm Fraser in 1975, he was initially passed over for ministerial preferment in favour of the more conservative John McLeay.

In 1981, McLeay was dropped from cabinet and Wilson was appointed Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment. In 1982 he was shifted to Aboriginal Affairs, a notoriously unpopular portfolio in Coalition governments. He held this position until the defeat of the Liberal government in 1983. He was not included in the Opposition Shadow Ministry after the elections, and remained as a backbencher. He lost Liberal pre-selection ahead of the 1993 election to Christopher Pyne, 35 years his junior, and retired after the election.

Wilson died in Adelaide on 2 April 2013, aged 80.

References

Ian Wilson (politician) Wikipedia