Goff Letts
| Goff Letts | |
|---|---|
| 1st Majority Leader of the Northern Territory | |
|
In office 1974–1977 |
|
| Deputy |
Paul Everingham (1974-1975) Bernie Kilgariff (1975) Grant Tambling (1975-1977) |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Paul Everingham |
| Member of the Northern Territory Parliament for Victoria River |
|
|
In office 1974–1977 |
|
| Preceded by | First holder |
| Succeeded by | Jack Doolan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Godfrey Alan Letts 18 January 1928 Donald, Victoria |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party |
Country (1966-1974) CLP (1974-1981) Independent (1981-present) |
| Cabinet | Letts Executive |
Dr Godfrey Alan (Goff) Letts CBE (b. 18 January 1928) was the Majority Leader of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1974 to 1977.
Born in Donald, Victoria, Letts attended Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne and Sydney Universities, graduating with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 1950. Letts gained employment with the Victorian Department of Agriculture and married Joyce Crosby on 29 November 1952. Together they had three sons and three daughters.
Letts moved to the Northern Territory in 1957, initially working in Alice Springs before transferring to Darwin as the District Veterinary Officer for the Northern Region of the Northern Territory. He was appointed Director of the Animal Industry and Agriculture Branch of the Northern Territory in 1963, Chair of the Northern Territory Wildlife Council and to the Northern Territory Lands Board in 1964. Awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1966, Letts was appointed to the Northern Territory Legislative Council in 1967 as an official (non-elected) member representing the Department of Lands and Primary Industry before his growing disillusionment with the bureaucratic control of the Territory from Canberra led to him resigning from these positions in 1970 to enter private industry as a vet.
A founding member of the Northern Territory branch of the Country Party in 1966, Letts' high political profile in the Territory led him to successfully contest the Legislative Council seat of Victoria River for the Country Party at the 1971 elections and subsequently become leader of the Country Party in the Council. Following the announcement of the creation of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly to replace the Council, Letts helped merge the Territory's Country and Liberal parties into the Country Liberal Party and led the CLP to victory at the 1974 election, winning 17 of 19 seats. He was elected Majority Leader—the equivalent of a first minister in the federal and state governments.
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