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WILKINSON, Lawrence Degenhardt (1903–1991)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1966–74 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WILKINSON, Lawrence Degenhardt (1903–1991)
Senator for Western Australia, 1966–74 (Australian Labor Party)

Lawrence Degenhardt (Laurie) Wilkinson, telecommunications engineer, grazier and peace activist, was born in Fremantle on 12 November 1903, eldest of three children of Harold Wilkinson, secretary of the Fremantle Gas Company, and Lina Ellie Constance Wilkinson, née Degenhardt. Brought up in Beaconsfield on the fringes of Fremantle, Laurie was a student at Fremantle Boys’ School prior to winning a scholarship to Perth Modern School,

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WILLESEE, Donald Robert (1916–2003)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1950–75 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WILLESEE, Donald Robert (1916–2003)
Senator for Western Australia, 1950–75 (Australian Labor Party)

Donald Robert Willesee was born on 14 April 1916 at Derby, Western Australia, second son of William Robert Willesee, a ‘hard drinking’ drover, cattle buyer and stock inspector, and Ethel May, née Wrightson (also known as Flinders), a boarding house proprietor. The family moved to Carnarvon, where Don attended state and convent schools. The cosmopolitan population of Carnarvon, its proximity to Asian ports, and

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WITHERS, Reginald Greive (1924–2014)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1966, 1968–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WITHERS, Reginald Greive (1924–2014)
Senator for Western Australia, 1966, 1968–87 (Liberal Party of Australia)

As Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Reg Withers was at the centre of events leading to the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, on 11 November 1975. Withers marshalled a slim majority of non-government senators to vote to defer the passage of appropriation legislation, and held them firm against doubts and growing turmoil during October and

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WOOD, Ian Alexander Christie (1901–1992)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WOOD, Ian Alexander Christie (1901–1992)
Senator for Queensland, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Ian Alexander Christie Wood, travel agent, environmentalist and notable Senate committee chairman, was born on 31 January 1901 in Mackay, Queensland, the first child of John Wood, a bookkeeper, and Annie, née Christie, a Scottish immigrant. John deserted the family shortly before the birth of Wood’s sister in 1903. Annie, who had been a cook before her marriage, took in dressmaking. More than once

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WRIEDT, Kenneth Shaw (1927–2010)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1968–80 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WRIEDT, Kenneth Shaw (1927–2010)
Senator for Tasmania, 1968–80 (Australian Labor Party)

Kenneth Shaw Wriedt’s political life was long and eventful. He upheld principles and standards to an unusual degree. His career saw real, if limited, success. Intensely interested in politics from an early age, and with an acute sense of the ‘enormity of injustice’ throughout history, he used his strong analytical powers to distance himself from some issues. Quietly spoken, he could be scathing about

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WRIGHT, Sir Reginald Charles (1905–1990)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)</span>

WRIGHT, Sir Reginald Charles (1905–1990)
Senator for Tasmania, 1950–78 (Liberal Party of Australia; Independent)

Reginald Charles Wright, known always as Reg, was born on 10 July 1905 at Central Castra, Tasmania, one of ten children of John Forsyth Wright, a farmer, and his wife, Emma Maria, née Lewis. Reg’s brother, also John Forsyth Wright, was a Member for Darwin in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1940 to 1941, and another brother, Roy Douglas (‘Pansy’) Wright, became Chancellor

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YOUNG, Sir Harold William (1923–2006)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1968–83 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

YOUNG, Sir Harold William (1923–2006)
Senator for South Australia, 1968–83 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Harold William Young, pastoralist and President of the Senate, was born on 30 June 1923 at Port Broughton, South Australia, to Frederick James Young, a farmer of Bews, and Edith Mabel, née Scott. Harold’s great-grandfather and his family arrived at Port Adelaide from the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland in January 1852, on board the Charlotte Jane. In 1886 Harold’s grandfather took

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