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Peter Howson (politician)

The Hon.
Peter Howson
CMG
Peter Howson.jpg
Peter Howson, ca. 1956
13th Minister for Air
In office
10 June 1964 – 28 February 1968
Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies
Harold Holt
John McEwen
John Gorton
Preceded by David Fairbairn
Succeeded by Gordon Freeth
Constituency Fawkner
1st Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts
In office
31 May 1971 – 5 December 1972
Prime Minister William McMahon
Succeeded by Moss Cass
Constituency Casey
Personal details
Born (1919-05-22)22 May 1919
London, UK
Died 1 February 2009(2009-02-01) (aged 89)
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Nationality Australian
Political party Liberal Party of Australia
Alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge
Awards Mentioned in Dispatches
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service 1940–1946

Peter Howson, CMG (22 May 1919 – 1 February 2009) was an Australian politician.

Howson was born in London, England in 1919 to Jessie and George Arthur Howson, and was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge. During World War II, he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a pilot from 1940 to 1946, and was Mentioned in Despatches for his service.

Howson was the Liberal Party of Australia member for the House of Representatives seat of Fawkner from his defeat of William Bourke at the 1955 election until its abolition before the 1969 election. He was then elected as the member for Casey. He was appointed Minister for Air in June 1964 in Robert Menzies' last ministry.

In 1967, Harold Holt's government was attacked over allegations that it had misused the VIP aircraft fleet for ministers' private purposes. When asked to table records on the fleet's movements, Holt and Howson refused and implied that they did not exist, but Senator John Gorton later found that the records did exist and tabled them in the Senate. When Gorton became Prime Minister, on 10 January 1968, he retained Howson in his ministry, but after he won a seat in the House of Representatives he carried out a Cabinet reshuffle on 28 February 1968 and dropped Howson from the ministry.


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