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WHEELDON, John Murray (1929–2006)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Western Australia, 1965–81 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WHEELDON, John Murray (1929–2006)
Senator for Western Australia, 1965–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Intellectual, lawyer, anti-war protestor, Labor senator, journalist and ‘Orwellian socialist with anarchist tendencies’, John Murray Wheeldon was born on 9 August 1929 at Subiaco, Perth. He was the son of Murray Walter Wheeldon, bank official, and Marjorie Lillian, née Cartwright, nurse and daughter of Tom Cartwright, prominent unionist and founding president of the Fremantle Trades Hall. Despite his maternal heritage, his early political direction

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WHEELWRIGHT, Thomas Clive (1953– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1995–96 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WHEELWRIGHT, Thomas Clive (1953– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1995–96 (Australian Labor Party)

Thomas Clive (Tom) Wheelwright was chosen on 25 May 1995 by the New South Wales Parliament in accordance with section 15 of the Australian Constitution to fill a Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Stephen Loosley. He was a senator for thirteen months, the balance of Loosley’s term, and for most of this time his own party, the ALP, was in government. Wheelwright

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WHITESIDE, George Irvine (1902–1976)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1962–63 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

WHITESIDE, George Irvine (1902–1976)
Senator for Queensland, 1962–63 (Australian Labor Party)

George Irvine Whiteside was born in Footscray, Victoria, on 20 September 1902, son of John Whiteside, a fitter born in Rochford, Victoria, and Caroline, née Hale, born in Wigan, England. Educated in state schools, in his youth Whiteside was an active sportsman and a noted amateur boxer. His first job was in a Victorian stone quarry. In 1917 he joined the Australian Workers’ Union

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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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WILSON, Sir Keith Cameron (1900–1987)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1938–44 (United Australia Party)</span>

WILSON, Sir Keith Cameron (1900–1987)
Senator for South Australia, 1938–44 (United Australia Party)

Keith Cameron (K. C.) Wilson was born on 3 September 1900 at East Adelaide, South Australia, to Algernon Theodore King Wilson and his wife, Lillian Charlotte, née Laurence. Keith Cameron’s great-grandfather, Thomas Wilson, who migrated to South Australia from England, was a solicitor, as were his grandfather and father. K. C. himself, and his two sons, would enter the law. The family were also staunch

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WILSON, Sir Reginald Victor (1877–1957)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for South Australia, 1920–26 (Nationalist Party)</span>

WILSON, Sir Reginald Victor (1877–1957)
Senator for South Australia, 1920–26 (Nationalist Party)

Reginald Victor Wilson, businessman, was born at Adelaide on 30 June 1877 to James Wilson and Elizabeth Ann, née Tonkin. Wilson was educated at Riverton, where his father was a storekeeper, and Whinham College, North Adelaide. He left school at fourteen to work in stores at Happy Valley and later at Port Pirie. From 1898, he owned shops at Broken Hill and Adelaide, becoming

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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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WOOD, William Robert (1949– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for New South Wales, 1987–88 (Nuclear Disarmament Party)</span>

WOOD, William Robert (1949– )
Senator for New South Wales, 1987–88 (Nuclear Disarmament Party)

William Robert Wood (known as Robert) was born on 13 November 1949 in Gateshead, UK. His father, William Ernest Wood, was a steelworker, who in 1946 had married Lidia Tittavelli at Iesi, inland from Ancona on Italy’s Adriatic coast. The family emigrated to Australia as ‘ten pound Poms’ when Robert was thirteen years old. Like all British subjects permanently residing in Australia and registered

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WOODLEY, John (1938– )<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Queensland, 1993–2001 (Australian Democrats)</span>

WOODLEY, John (1938– )
Senator for Queensland, 1993–2001 (Australian Democrats)

In her valedictory speech after John Woodley’s retirement from the Senate, Australian Democrats Senator Vicki Bourne suggested that he had always followed the advice of Proverbs 25:21 to comfort enemies with food and drink. It was natural that Senator Bourne should turn to the Bible in speaking of Senator Woodley, a Uniting Church minister who was sometimes called ‘Rev’ by his parliamentary colleagues. John

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WORDSWORTH, Robert Hurley (1894–1984)<br /> <span class=subheader>Senator for Tasmania, 1950–59 (Liberal Party of Australia)</span>

WORDSWORTH, Robert Hurley (1894–1984)
Senator for Tasmania, 1950–59 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Robert Hurley Wordsworth, army officer, civil administrator and farmer, who confessed to entering politics as an ‘afterthought’, was born on 21 July 1894 at Collarenebri, New South Wales, son of William Henry Wordsworth, storekeeper, and Robena, née Walker.[1] William later became a pastoralist in the Cowra district. Robert was educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School (1908-10), where he was a military cadet.

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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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ZAKHAROV, Alice Olive (1929–1995)<br /><span class=subheader>Senator for Victoria, 1983–95 (Australian Labor Party)</span>

ZAKHAROV, Alice Olive (1929–1995)
Senator for Victoria, 1983–95 (Australian Labor Party)

Throughout her life Olive Zakharov was a grassroots campaigner for human rights and social justice. She eschewed personal publicity and political advancement in favour of promoting the causes and issues that she believed in. Born in Kew, Melbourne, on 19 March 1929, Alice Olive Hay was the youngest of four daughters of Robert and Alice Anderson Hay, née Dobie. Scottish-born Robert Hay was a

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