Gordon Scholes was born in West Melbourne on 7 June 1931.

Before his election to the Federal Parliament he worked for the Victorian Railways (1949-1967) first as a fireman and then engine driver from 1955-1967.

He was Geelong City Councillor from 1965 to 1967 and President of the Geelong Trades Hall Council from 1965 to 1966. In 1955 Scholes joined the Australian Labor Party and was President of the Geelong Branch from 1962-1964 as well as being Chairman of the Labor Housing Society.

He was elected to Federal Parliament at the by-election of 22 July 1967 as the Labor member for the Victorian seat of Corio. He retired in 1993, maintaining the Corio seat until the March 13 election.

Scholes held the parliamentary position of Deputy Chairman of Committees of the House of Representatives from 4 March 1970 to 2 November 1972.

After the election of the Australian Labor Party in December 1972 he was Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees from 28 February 1973 to 27 February 1975.

He was also Speaker from 27 February 1975 to 16 February 1976.

In the course of his parliamentary career Scholes was a member of numerous parliamentary committees. He attended a number of Australian Constitutional Conventions and was a member of several parliamentary delegations overseas. Scholes was also active in the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). As a result of this involvement he held a number of executive positions and attended many overseas conferences.

After the defeat of the Labor government in 1975, Scholes was elected to the Opposition Shadow Ministry and he was appointed Spokesman for the following areas:

Postal and Telecommunications Commissions, 27 January 1976 to 2 June 1977;
Primary Industry, 2 June to 29 December 1977;
Defence, 29 December 1977 to March 1983; and the
Australian Capital Territory, 23 November 1980 to March 1983.

He was also Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives from 27 January 1976 to 29 December 1977.

On the election of the Hawke Government in March 1983, Scholes was given the Defence portfolio which he retained until December 1984. In this capacity he made official visits to New Zealand, New Guinea, Washington USA, South-East Asia, the United States, United Kingdom and the Sinai.

On 13 December 1984 he became Minister for Territories. Scholes was dropped from the Ministry in a major administrative and ministerial change on 24 July 1987.

Scholes was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Queens birthday honours 1993.

Mr Scholes died on 9 December 2018 in Geelong, Victoria.

Sources

Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 21st Edition, 1982, pp 170-171
Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia, 24th Edition, 1988, pp 192-193
Who's Who in Australia 1991, p 1050
A Biographical Register of the Commonwealth Parliament 1901-1972, pp 194-195