Jim Forbes (Australian politician)
|
The Honourable Dr Jim Forbes CMG, MC |
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|---|---|
| Minister for Immigration | |
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In office 22 March 1971 – 5 December 1972 |
|
| Prime Minister | William McMahon |
| Preceded by | Phillip Lynch |
| Succeeded by | Lance Barnard |
| Minister for Health | |
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In office 26 January 1966 – 22 March 1971 |
|
| Prime Minister |
Harold Holt (1966–67) John McEwen (1967–68) John Gorton (1968–71) William McMahon (1971) |
| Preceded by | Reginald Swartz |
| Succeeded by | Ivor Greenwood |
| Minister for the Army | |
|
In office 18 December 1963 – 26 January 1966 |
|
| Prime Minister | Robert Menzies (1949-1966) |
| Preceded by | John Cramer |
| Succeeded by | Malcolm Fraser |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Barker |
|
|
In office 13 October 1956 – 11 November 1975 |
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| Preceded by | Archie Cameron |
| Succeeded by | James Porter |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 December 1923 Hobart, Tasmania |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Alma mater |
Royal Military College, Duntroon University of Adelaide Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Australian Army |
| Years of service | 1940–1947 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | 2nd Australian Mountain Battery |
| Battles/wars | Second World War |
| Awards | Military Cross |
Alexander James de Burgh "Jim" Forbes, CMG, MC (born 16 December 1923) is a former Australian politician and the last remaining member of the Menzies Government. In 1964, as Minister for the Army, Forbes introduced conscription in order to fight the Vietnam War.
Forbes was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 16 December 1923. He graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1942, and was commissioned into the Australian Army. He was stationed in Darwin in 1943, then assigned to the 2nd Mountain Battery. On 24 April 1945, Forbes was awarded the Military Cross (MC) in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in the South West Pacific. Following the end of the Second World War, Forbes was part of Australia's victory contingent in the London Victory Celebrations of 1946.
After his discharge from the army in 1947, he studied at the University of Adelaide and Magdalen College, Oxford.
Forbes was the Liberal candidate for the marginal Adelaide seat of Kingston in the 1955 election, losing to Labor incumbent Pat Galvin.
After the death of Speaker and former Country Party leader Archie Cameron in 1956, Forbes ran as the Liberal candidate in a by-election for Cameron's seat of Barker, a safely conservative seat in rural South Australia. He won the seat, though suffering a swing of almost 10 percent. Forbes was reelected in his own right in 1958 and held the seat until his retirement in 1975. He was Minister for the Army from 1963 to 1966, Minister for the Navy from 1963 to 1964, Minister for Health from 1966 to 1971 and Minister for Immigration from 1971 until William McMahon's defeat in the 1972 election. As Minister for Immigration he was responsible for resisting British pressure to admit ethnically-Asian refugees from Uganda during Idi Amin's regime; he said, "Applications by Asians in Uganda will continue to be considered on their individual merits in accordance with our non-European immigration policies. These policies reflect the firm and unshakeable determination of the Government to maintain a homogeneous society in Australia." He also ordered the deportation of Joe Cocker when a small quantity of cannabis was found by police in his band's hotel room.
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