William (‘Billy’) McMahon was born in Sydney, son of a solicitor (William D McMahon). Partly raised by his mother’s brother (Samuel Walder), a former Mayor of Sydney and Member of the NSW Legislative Council, McMahon’s background was upper-middle class Sydney wealth and political conservatism. Educated at Sydney Grammar School, he studied law (and later economics) at the University of Sydney and practised as a solicitor before enlisting in the 2nd AIF in early 1940. Due to a hearing difficulty, he served only in Australia before being discharged in 1945 with the rank of Major.
At the general election in December 1949, McMahon was elected to the House of Representatives as Liberal Party member for the inner western Sydney seat of Lowe. He held this seat for the next 13 elections until his retirement from federal Parliament in December 1982. He retained strong links with the NSW Liberal Party throughout his political career.
After barely 18 months in Parliament, McMahon was given the junior portfolios of Air and Navy, and later the more senior ones of Social Services (1954-56), Primary Industry (1956-58) and Labour and National Service (1958-66) in the Menzies Governments. When Holt succeeded Menzies as Prime Minister, there was a major portfolio reshuffle and McMahon became Treasurer (1966-69) and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. He was also Acting Minister in other portfolios on several occasions.
McMahon made several official visits overseas in the 1950s and lead the Australian delegation at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in New Delhi in 1957. Throughout the 1960s he also represented Australia at meetings of various international bodies including the International Labour Organisation and International Monetary Fund, the Commonwealth Finance Ministers, and was Chairman of the Asian Development Bank’s Board of Governors (1966-69).
On Holt’s death in December 1967 McMahon’s Prime Ministerial ambitions were stalled by John McEwen, Leader of the Country Party in the coalition government. Gorton became Prime Minister instead, and McMahon subsequently took the External Affairs (later, Foreign Affairs) portfolio. The mutual antagonism between McEwen and McMahon had its beginnings in the free trade versus protectionist debates of the 1950s, and came to a head over revaluation of the dollar and the establishment of the Australian Industry Development Corporation when McMahon was Treasurer. However, McEwen retired as Country Party Leader in February 1971, and McMahon successfully challenged Gorton and succeeded him as Prime Minister on 10 March 1971.
One of the 39 Liberal Party ‘forty-niners’, McMahon was the last Prime Minister in 23 years of continuous Liberal-Country Party Coalition Governments. The final five years of this period were marked by political instability. McMahon was a successful Treasurer and presented four budgets. During his 21-month term of office as Prime Minister there was some improvement in Commonwealth-State relations, moves towards self-government in Papua New Guinea and the beginning of the withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam. His Government was defeated at the December 1972 general election when Labor’s slogan ‘It’s time’ brought Gough Whitlam into office.
McMahon was appointed a member of the Privy Council in 1966, made a Companion of Honour in 1972 and knighted in 1977. He married Sonia Hopkins in 1965 (CP 934), and died in Sydney in 1988.
Sources
Sekuless, Peter, ‘Sir William McMahon’ in M Grattan (ed), Australian Prime Ministers, (Sydney, New Holland, 2000), pp 312-323
Parliamentary Handbook 1982, 21st ed. (1982)
Who’s Who in Australia 1971, 20th ed. (1971)
Unregistered agencies associated with person
c1 Jan 1957 - c31 Dec 1959: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, General Council - Member
c1 Jan 1966 - c31 Dec 1969: International Monetary Fund - Governor
c1 Jan 1968 - c31 Dec 1969: Asian Development Bank, Board of Governors - Chairman