Frank Wilkes
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The Honourable Frank Wilkes AM |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Northcote |
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In office 21 September 1957 – 30 September 1988 |
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| Preceded by | John Cain |
| Succeeded by | Tony Sheehan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Frank Noel Wilkes 16 June 1922 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 20 August 2015 (aged 93) |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Wilma Richards |
| Children |
Suzanne Jennifer Wilkes Helen Buckingham |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1943–1945 |
| Rank | Signalman |
Suzanne Jennifer Wilkes
Frank Noel Wilkes AM (16 June 1922 – 20 August 2015), Australian politician, was Leader of the Labor Opposition in Victoria from 1977 to 1981. Wilkes was born in Melbourne and educated at Northcote Primary and Secondary Schools and Preston Technical College. During the Second World War he served in the southwest Pacific in the Australian Army as a radio operator. After the war he studied accountancy, and worked in his father's furniture factory, of which he later became manager. In 1954 he was elected to Northcote City Council, which he almost completely dominated. Wilkes served as a Councillor until 1978, but he never became Mayor, as work commitments being both a councillor and a parliamentarian were too great.
The state electorate of Northcote had been held since 1917 by John Cain, leader of the Australian Labor Party and three times Premier of Victoria. Wilkes became a protégé of Cain's and joined the Labor Party in 1948, despite his family background in business. He was Cain's campaign manager at the 1952 and 1955 state elections. Upon Cain's sudden death in 1957, Wilkes was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly at the subsequent by-election. He became Labor Whip in 1959, and Deputy Leader in 1967.
Wilkes was a loyal deputy to Clyde Holding, who led the ALP in opposition from 1967 to 1977 and lost three elections to the Liberal Party, first to Henry Bolte and then to Dick Hamer. When Holding resigned after the 1976 election, Wilkes claimed the leadership by right of long and loyal service, rather than any outstanding ability. He was an uninspiring speaker and no match for the urbane Hamer in Parliament or on the hustings.
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