John Grey Gorton was born in Melbourne, the second child of John Rose Gorton and Alice Sin. He was educated at Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore), Geelong Grammar School (Vic) and later obtained an MA from Oxford University in England. On returning to Australia in 1935, he became an orchardist on his father's property at Lake Kangaroo (Mystic Downs) near Kerang in Victoria. In 1940 he joined the RAAF, serving in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Darwin and Milne Bay (Papua New Guinea). He was discharged with the rank of Flight Lieutenant in 1944 after being severely wounded whilst on air operations. After World War II, Gorton served on the Kerang Shire Council (1946-1952) and was its President from September 1949 to August 1950.
Gorton was elected to the Senate in 1949 as a Senator for the state of Victoria representing the Liberal Party. His first important appointment in this capacity was to the Council of the Australian National University (1951-1952) and his first Ministerial portfolio was Navy (1958-1963). However, it was not until the early 1960s that he became more prominent, holding the portfolios of Interior (1963-1964), Works (1963-1967), and Education and Science (1966-1968). During this period he also assisted or acted in other portfolios, served on several Parliamentary Committees, and lead or was a member of various Australian delegations associated with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Colombo Plan and Antarctic Treaty. In July 1967, he was the Australian representative at the Coronation of the King of Tonga.
During the Holt Government, Gorton became Deputy Leader and then Leader of the Government in the Senate. He also chaired the Commonwealth Literary Fund Committee (1965-1971). Following the disappearance of Harold Holt in December 1967, he was preferred as Leader of the Liberal Party to William McMahon (and others) and became Prime Minister of Australia (from 10 January 1968). This was formally effected through his resignation from the Senate on 1 February 1968 and election to the House of Representatives as Member for Higgins (Holt’s former seat) in a by-election on 24 February 1968. A man of considerable charm, laconic and irreverent, Gorton’s term of office was somewhat controversial. His Government was returned at the October 1969 elections and Gorton was re-elected Leader of the Liberal Party but, on 10 March 1971, he was successfully challenged by William McMahon and stepped down as Leader and Prime Minister.
In the McMahon Government, Gorton was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and Minister for Defence until 13 August 1971. He resigned from the Liberal Party in May 1975, but continued to sit in the House of Representatives as an Independent until November that year. He contested the following general election as an Independent Senator for the ACT, but was unsuccessful and retired from federal politics on 13 December 1975.
Sir John Gorton was appointed a Member of the Privy Council in 1968, made a Companion of Honour in June 1971, knighted in 1977 and made a Companion within the Order of Australia in 1988. He married his first wife, Bettina (Betty) Brown (CP 935) in 1935, by whom he had three children (a daughter and two sons). In 1993, ten years after her death, he married Nancy Home. Gorton died in Sydney in May 2002.
Sources
Henderson, Gerard, 'John Grey Gorton', in M Grattan (ed), Australian Prime Ministers (Sydney, New Holland, 2000), pp 298-311
Parliamentary Handbook 1951-56 (12th ed), 1971 (17th ed), 1975 (19th ed) and 1976 (supplement, 19th ed)
Who’s Who in Australia 1974 (21st ed) and 2002 (38th ed)
Unregistered agencies associated with person
08 Nov 1940 – 05 Dec 1944: RAAF (units to be established) – Flight Lieutenant
22 Aug 1946 – 28 Aug 1952: Kerang Shire Council (Vic) – Councillor
Sep 1949 – Aug 1950: Kerang Shire Council (Vic) – President
?Sep 1949 - ?Aug 1950: Loddon Valley Regional Committee (Vic) – Member